The Nature Conservancy…New Friends?
We had originally set out, Monday, to hike the Madera Canyon Trail located on The Nature Conservancy’s Davis Mountains Preserve. I first found out about Madera Canyon Trail from West Texas Weekly and have wanted to check it out every since. But as we approached the Lawrence E. Wood picnic area on Hwy 118 (where the trail begins) we could see smoke coming from the area of the trail. As we came closer, a gentleman with a stop sign informed us TNC was setting controlled burns in the area. As our luck would have it, the trail (regularly open 365 days a year) was closed.
The trip wasn’t a total waste. The gentleman directing traffic that day happened to be Chris Pipes, the recently appointed director over TNC’s Davis Mountains Preserve. When I told him how far we had driven just to spend some time in Madera Canyon he apologized and promised to make it up to us. Controlled burns will continue until January 31st, after which, he said I could call and set up some time to hike, not only in Madera Canyon, but within the rest of the Davis Mountain Preserve. I don’t know when I will find the time to head down there but I am excited to be making new friends with TNC.