Big Thicket National Preserve

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August 27th 2008

Published: August 27th 2008

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Pine Trees

View looking up from the Kirby trail

The second part of my weekend was spent traversing the little ranch roads north of Beaumont, TX. There are limited forest areas in Texas and they are mostly concentrated in east Texas. These are called the “Piney Woods.” Since I am desperately missing my Redwoods, Sequoias, and Ponderosa Pines, I figured this little side trip would be good for my mental health. I needed to experience the forest (if only on a small scale) to get me though the next 10 months before I will be in Yellowstone National Park again.

The first area we came upon is called the Big Thicket National Preserve. We drove through a small area of the preserve and parked at the trailhead for the Kirby nature trail.

I headed off into the woods and something struck me immediately: I could still see the parking area, but I could hear NOTHING except the faint whistle of a bird and what sounded like the creak of a frog. It was so amazingly quiet. I mean, deathly quiet. As I walked farther in, the canopy thickened overhead and it began to mist. It was unreal.

I knew when I walked in that it was partly

Magnolia Leaf

The large Magnolia (Magnolia acuminate) leaf was a raincatch for insects

cloudy, but it did not look like rain was on the way. The forest was creating this little rain itself. It was awesome!

I have to mention that I am obsessed with ferns, pine trees, lichens, fallen leaves, and the little details that seem to get missed in everyday life (in case you don’t come to that conclusion yourself after seeing my blog and photos).

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