Colorado Bend State Park, Texas
All photos are © The Maverick Grotto and the respective photographer
All Rights reserved!
A new format for the CBSP pictures is being developed. We're dividing up
the photographs into subjects. Please pardon our redundancy while we're changing things up.
Photos from Colorado Bend State Park where Texas Cavers have maintained a
volunteer cave research
project since the early 1980's. The current version of the project
sponsored by the Texas Speleology Association (TSA) was begun, November 1987
after TPWD purchased the Lemons Ranch and combined it with the Gorman Falls
property. Shortly after the project began, the park was opened to the
public but the project continued as it does to this day.
There is no public caving on the park. To enter caves, one must be an
attendee of the volunteer project or go on a fee based guided wild cave tour
offered by TPWD. For more information, visit the link below.
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/colorado/
Map
Pictures taken by Butch Fralia using both film and digital cameras.
Photo credits for other photographers will be given for the individual photo.
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Our Bumble Bee, having finished here prepares to move on to another flower thus ending this chapter of "The Birds and the Bees."
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In the spring time, wild flowers abound, beautifying a stroll around the park.
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Another cactus flower with insects feeding inside, further aiding the pollination process.
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Flowers at Colorado Bend come in all shapes and sizes.
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Flowers aren't all there is to see. This abandoned birds nest with one egg that didn't hatch. According to the TPWD website, there are 155 species of birds on the park.
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By now, you probably thought we'd forgotten about caving. So when do cavers go to the park? Like postal workers, neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow.
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During the February 2004 trip, we were blessed by this rare snow fall. It quickly melted off but was pretty while it lasted.
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Cavers have "enjoyed" all kinds of weather at Colorado Bend including it getting so cold Gorman Falls froze (pictures will be posted when located!)
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What do cavers do at CBSP? Many things including locating karst features. Keith Heuss confuses himself by comparing the same location taken with two GPS receivers.
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Hunting for caves and recording their locations has been a major activity of the project. This maybe one-day
cave is the home for a large Wolf Spider.
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In this picture, Ron Ralph, TWPD archaeologist (now retired) gives a seminar on identifying archaeology sites for cavers and park staff.
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After the archaeology training, (held in the middle of summer) everyone cools off in Spicewood Creek - a spring fed pool created by a natural travertine dam. This is a favorite spot for park visitors during the summer.
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While not likely to grow into a significant cave during our lifetime, this feature was faithfully documented and located.
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Karst features abound at Colorado Bend State Park. There could be a large cave hiding under a few rocks - or maybe not.
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There are approximately 3500 known caves and karst features on Colorado Bend State Park. Big Bad Air Hole, known for it's high levels of CO2 shown.
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