why is this water so dirty?

View over Horseshoe Lake

This is probably what the alligators at Brazos Bend State Park complain about.

Gunner and I visited the state park this afternoon since the weather was nice. Each time I visited the park, I saw something new and this time was no exception. We were met by many other park visitors who were hiking with their pups and cycling through the trails.

We started our hike near Horseshoe Lake and meandered over to Big Creek Loop Trail. This was the first time I had ventured on this trail and I was excited about what we would see.

View over Big Creek

One of the new scenic views we saw was of Big Creek. I loved seeing how water carved its way through the earth. Time and time again, water sculpts the earth into the magnificent sights we see today. While this was on a smaller scale, it is still a sight to see.

It was refreshing to hear the water running underneath us and Gunner was trying to scale the cliffside to enjoy it, but it was too steep and too far for us.

Armadillo at Brazos Bend State Park

Big Creek Loop Trail offered a different side of
Brazos Bend State Park which included the native wildlife. As we were making our way through, we saw this little guy foraging through the leaves. He did not seem overly afraid, but he started in the other direction once he saw us. The only shots that I could get of him were of his tail.

Brazos Bend 

One of the benefits of walking through Brazos Bend is the large, old oak trees. These oak trees were probably hundreds of years old. I was imagining what the American Indians would see. Would they have seen the same trees that I was seeing?

I wondered what would happen if the trees could talk. These trees might have seen some of the first people to journey into Texas. They might have seen the Texas Revolution and the Civil War. What kind of history could they teach us?

No trip to Brazos Bend State Park is complete without a walk around Elm Lake to see all of the alligators. Brazos Bend offers protection to alligators from people who consider them nuisance animals and kill them.

The alligators were not as active as I have seen in the past, but they were still out and about. It is true that alligators are dangerous, but it is also true that if you keep your distance you are safe. As my dad taught me when I was younger, they are more scared of me than I am of them.

It was eerie how quietly the gators can move through the water. We found this one while we were stepping on to one of the covered piers over the lake. Gunner enjoyed walking on the piers because each one conveniently had a piece of food left behind from a picnic lunch earlier in the day.

3 alligator musketeers

This guy was probably the biggest one that we saw on our trip. He didn't budge the entire time that we walked by.

As we were leaving the park, I saw this doe on the side of the street. I stopped to grab the camera only to see that she had spotted me and was bounding across the street into the tall grass. I was able to snap this shot as she hid in the grass. I was very excited that I was able to capture it because we had seen many deer but were unable to get pictures of the deer until we left.