Eric and I went to Bastrop State Park today to hike the Lost Pines trail. I'll be honest, it is not my new favorite park.
The walk was nice at first, peaceful and fragrant and green. In a bizarrely delightful coincidence considering we were 30 miles from home, we ran into my coworker Brant on the trail and stopped to chat for a few minutes before continuing on. It was warm and breezy out. It was nice to spend time in the wilderness. It was Just What We Needed. Etc. Etc.
But after about 45 minutes of pure pleasure, the scenery started to get extremely monotonous. Pines, pines, so many pines. The only other vegetation on the trail was winter-denuded oaks and some
dead ferns, and the only wildlife I saw was a lizard and a couple of
daddy longlegs. The rest was just pines, and pine cones, and pine needles. Also pine branches and pine stumps.
I started thinking about pine trees--there wasn't a hell of a lot else for inspiration on the way--and I realized I've never really cared for them all that much. They smell great, sure, but they always look spindly and stunted to me, even when they're 70 feet tall. Besides, their needles gunk up everything, which I suppose is forgivable in a pine forest but an ugly mess just about everywhere else.
So. If you love pine trees, Bastrop State Park is the place for you. Call in sick this instant and rush right over there. Do not delay, as there are so very many pine trees there that this may well be the best day of your life. Ok, maybe not. But you would probably like it a lot.
Even if you have a slight, heretofore undiscovered antipathy toward pine trees, it's really not a bad place to spend an afternoon. I just think there are probably nicer places to hike around here.
Oh, and did you know if you just keep driving east on MLK that you'll eventually end up in Bastrop? Amazing but true! Just like the lost pine forest!