I must say we’ve greatly enjoyed our time in Texas. Once we got into East Texas where there’s more public lands, we switched gears back into our boondocking habit. We spent a month in the Davy Crocket National Forest in two really great boondocking areas.
The first spot was Neches (pronounced Nā-chez) Bluff overlooking Neches river valley. East Texas is known as the Piney Woods, with rolling hills and pine forests, meandering rivers and lakes. In our travels for the past several months, Calvin and I have noticed that we always breathe a sigh of relief when we get into the tall pines.
There were several things we enjoyed about Neches Bluff: there were great trails to hike with the critters, Mission Tejas State Park is nearby with great trails and interesting history, Caddo Mounds historical site is also very close. The towns of Palestine (wonderful historic districts), Crockett, and Nacagdoches are also nearby.
The best thing about Neches Bluff were the friends we made. Every few nights we’d host a campfire and enjoy great stories and conversations with Al from Minnesota, Justin from Michigan, and Daniel who grew up in the area and was a wealth of knowledge.
After about two weeks we moved, with some of our new friends, to the opposite end of the Davy Crockett National Forest to an area known as Holly Bluff, also on the Neches River. We found a great spot right on the bank of the river near the dirt boat ramp. Again, great trails, the sounds of the river, beavers and birds, and proximity to the communities of Apple Springs and Lufkin. Because we were next to the boat ramp, we got to meet several locals and had some fun interactions: we invited a group of four young kayakers to dry off and get warm by our fire while they waited for their ride, and learned a lot about the area; helped get a boat trailer free that had been pinned under some roots; learned about the history of the area from the people who lived there.
One evening, a tiny little kitten came mewing out from the bushes toward me and our Lab Daisy. She was just skin and bones and had a very stuffy nose. Such a sweet tiny thing. We brought her inside and gave her all the food she could eat and a warm place to sleep and she didn’t step foot outside of Moose for days.
When the forecast turned frigid leading up to the Texas Snowpocalypse, a few locals came down and made sure we had enough firewood, and even cleared the road of some trees that had fallen from the ice and snow. We stayed put with our friends, making sure we worked together to keep everyone safe and warm. It ended up being a fun time in the snow, and our critters loved it.
We tested our diesel heater once again and it kept us plenty warm, even on below zero days. By the 20th of February, we were ready to move, left cyclist/tent-camper Justin with firewood and fond farewells, and headed out with little more than a general direction for our next adventure location.