At the Tip Top

What's this? Why the very tippity-tip of Mt. Livermore, the 5th highest peak in Texas known as Baldy Peak. Since 97 percent of Texas is privately-held land, you're in luck with Baldy-- the land is owned by the Nature Conservancy and they have open house days that allow guests to explore their small part of the Davis Mountains.

Interesting fact: Baldy Peak was the location of a very sacred site to the Livermore people and they buried almost 2,000 arrowheads there as offerings. Read the whole story in Texas Monthly, written by F.t Davis Historian Lonn Taylor.

Here's a view once you get to the top of Baldy:

Montezuma Quail

Yesterday, we were treated to a BEAUTIFUL Sunday in the Texas Mountains, crisp and cold early rising to the 40s and 50s in Fort Davis.  We headed north 10 miles past McDonald Observatory (24 miles north of Fort Davis) to the Nature Conservancy's Madera Canyon Trail, since it is open to the public every day of the week, and has easy (and free) access at the Lawrence E. Wood Picnic Area off Hwy 118.

The Madera Canyon Trail is 2.4 miles (rated moderate) and is a site on the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail, a collaborative project between our own Texas Mountain Trail and Texas Parks and Wildlife.  Would you like your own map?  Click here for purchase information.

Owned and maintained by the Nature Conservancy's Davis Mountains Preserve, it is open to foot traffic 365 days a week. (To protect the sensitive landscape, pets are not allowed on the trail.)

The Nature Conservancy offers this description of the trail:

"A moderately difficult hike, the trail offers views of Madera Canyon, Pine Peak, Mount Livermore (the highest peak in the Davis Mountains), Sawtooth Mountain and the whole of the upper watershed for Madera Creek.  At one point, the trail drops down into Chico Canyon, where it follows the creek and takes hikers past a historic stock tank.

Hikers traverse stands of stately ponderosa pines, pinion-juniper woodlands and grassy meadows.  Wildlife that may be present, particularly at dawn or dusk, includes gray foxes, ringtails, western scrub jays, acorn woodpeckers, Montezuma quail, golden eagles, Davis Mountains cottontails, javelina, white-tail and mule deer, mountain short-horned lizards and, rarely, mountain lions.  At dawn, visitors may listen for the bugling of elk in the fall or the chorus of coyotes any time of year.

 

We were lucky enough to see Montezuma Quail...first one, then two, then several right at the trailhead, and later in the hike at elevation, we saw many more.  The wonderful birding website from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says this about the Montezuma Quail:

"The Montezuma Quail usually crouches and stays still when danger threatens, and then explodes into flight from a leaping start if the danger comes too close."

That's EXACTLY what happened to us...as we hiked along we never saw them in the grass, then as we approached....all of a sudden, there was an "explosion" of birds taking to flight.  What fun!

More views of the trail:

Head to the region on December 1 for some great holiday fun!

Van Horn's Lighted Christmas Parade!

Head to Van Horn for that community's evening Lighted Christmas Parade!  A charming event involving the entire community.  Read more here.

Cut your own Christmas Tree on December 1 (and December 8) at the Davis Mountains Preserve run by the Nature Conservancy north of Fort Davis.  Read more here.  You can also hike, watch birds and wildlife, have a picnic, just enjoy the Preserve!

Mount Livermore Hike View

The trail to Mount Livermore offers terrific views of the Davis Mountains and the desert below.  Access is limited to special groups and public Open Days and Open Weekends.  The Nature Conservancy protects the Davis Mountains Preserve; read about their work here.

From the Nature Conservancy's website:

"The 33,000-acre Davis Mountains Preserve (with conservation easements on 65,830 acres of adjoining property) includes Mount Livermore, the summit of the Davis Mountains. It encompasses the heart of a functioning landscape with intact watersheds and a unique assemblage of animals and plants."

Would you like to see it yourself?  The calendar for open days and open weeks is here.

Thanks to our friend, Monte Riggs, for sharing his photo from the trail!

Tomorrow is Open Day at Davis Mountains Preserve

Tomorrow, the Nature Conservancy opens its Davis Mountains Preserve to visitors for hiking, picnicking, bird and wildlife watching for one of its Open Weekends.

Click here for more information about visiting the Preserve during its public days.  More photos of our visit to the Preserve last year are here.

Unlike the rest of the Preserve, the Madera Canyon Trail is open 365 days a year and is ready for your visit!  Read more about it here.

From the Nature Conservancy's website:

"The wild and remote Davis Mountains is considered one of the most scenic areas of Texas.  Indeed it is one of the most biologically diverse.  Rising above the Chihuahuan desert, the range forms a unique “sky island” surrounded by the lowland desert. Animals and plants living above 5,000 feet are isolated from other similar mountain ranges by vast distances. These are true ecological islands, preserving living remnants that occur otherwise nowhere else in Texas.
The 33,000-acre Davis Mountains Preserve (with conservation easements on 65,830 acres of adjoining property) includes Mount Livermore, the summit of the Davis Mountains. It encompasses the heart of a functioning landscape with intact watersheds and a unique assemblage of animals and plants."

View of the Davis Mountains, Hiking down from Mt Livermore

High in the Davis Mountains, hiking down from the summit of Mt Livermore we're treated to some of the best views anywhere.  Owned by The Nature Conservancy, this unique place is protected for us to enjoy.  From their website:  "Rising above the Chihuahuan desert, the range forms a unique “sky island” surrounded by the lowland desert. Animals and plants living above 5,000 feet are isolated from other similar mountain ranges by vast distances. These are true ecological islands, preserving living remnants that occur otherwise nowhere else in Texas."

Open public access is available on special days set aside by The Nature Conservancy.  Next on the schedule may be a few months away, but it is a special one....so plan ahead.  Why not come out to the mountains to select and cut your own Christmas Tree, December 3 or 10?