Spring break scouting trip to Lake Meredith. Goals: See deer, drink cold beer, enjoy. Accomplished all three, and in the process, fell in love with the vast, uninhabited land that is the Texas Panhandle. Some pictures to tell our story...

"The Drive". Pulled away from Spring TX at 4am, and arrived at 5:30pm after a few pit stops. Some snow on the ground south of Amarillo. Scared us a little (Didn't pack wet weather clothing), but no snow at Meredith.



At the trail head. We parked at Plum Creek, and hiked in on the Devil's Canyon Trail. Hoofed in 3.5 miles before pitching camp.


Glassing for deer from our campsite on our first evening.


Big Country


Deer. How many


Lunch at camp. Learned which MRE's are good, and which are No-No's. (Stay away from the meatloaf)


Saw this fella on the way out. Turkey season opens April 1 at Meredith. I imagine he wont' live long.


Had to stop at an Allsup's to pay homage to Pat Green's lyrics in "I Like Texas"... "Its a two day old Burrito...


Blue Star to the first person that knows where this fine establishment is:


Overall, we had an absolutely great time and a fairly successful scouting trip. For only 2 days inside the park we saw 45 whitetails, 4 mule deer, 3 coyotes and 0 humans. Make no mistake, we wore down some boot leather. By GPS calculation, we put in over 17 miles, and much of that going up, down and around canyons, rocks, and gullys.

Gear Report:

I used this trip as an excuse to update some of my gear (going lightweight), and add pieces I've always wanted.

GPS
Garmin E-Trex: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=6403
Simple, easy to use, and always got us back after wandering off. Withstood cold, wet, and getting pounded in my pack.

Sleeping Bag
Big Agnes Lost Ranger: http://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Bag/LostRanger
Insulated Air Core pad:http://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Pad/InsulatedAirCore

This was my big splurge for the trip. I can't even tell you how comfortable the Big Anges bag system is. Unlike all other down/synthetic bags, Big Agnes doesn't put any filling on the underside of the bag. Instead, there is a slot where you slide in the Air Core pad. The pad keeps you off the ground (warmer), attached to the bag (no rolling off) and the sucker gave me a full nights sleep during a cold, windy night in the Panhandle. The down is great, and I love it. Probably over kill for most of the Texas camping I will ever do, but it sure was nice to have when the temp was dropping and wind was howling.

Long post. Thanks for reading.

Cool pictures.

Probably Coleman, maybe Ballinger.

sounds like a great trip. jealousy is setting in over here.

Star to you ursusguy. Coleman Texas indeed.

The Shoppin Baskit won't let you take out your own cart, even if all you got is a gallon of milk, 2 cases of beer, and a box of .270 shells. If you got a basket of goods, a employee is walking out with ya. Here's to small towns.

Nice report... blue start for the gear review. What was the price on the Big Agnes setup?

Picked up the bag and pad from REI.

Until March 29th, any REI member can save 20% on one full price item. I used that 20% on the sleeping bag. Because I've been an REI member for close to 2 years, I have built up some nice dividend points as well (10% back on every purchase). I cashed that in and got the pad free. The pad will run you $86 for the insulated/long version (long because I'm tall and needed the long bag as well). All together, I got the entire packaged for $200. A steal of a deal, thanks to REI's current deal and my dividends.

You should go back out there this Friday.

Wow! Missed that by a week:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/weekend/USTX0490?from=tenDay_topnav_business

Blizzard Watch?!? Thank you Mother Nature. We had perfect weather. First night was cold, but after that - 70's and 40's, light wind, no clouds.

12 plus inches of snow expected in Spearman with 50 mph wind. Be glad you guys got your trip out of the way last week!

Hey, my boss grew up in Spearman.

Nice review on the sleeping bag/pad system. I've been looking for a new one that will fit me. I may have to go pick that up.

And great pics. I get to go camping far too seldom these days.

Being that I am from the panhandle/south plains, I demand that you pay homage to the Allsup's Fried Burrito for what it is and not for what Pat Green says about it. Those burritos were famous long before Pat Green and will be famous long after his 15 minutes are over!

I think I'll go home this weekend and have a couple.

The bag is great if you like to roll around a little, or sleep on your side. I'm a side sleeper, so the extra space iside the Lost Ranger fit the bill for me. Mummy bags are nice (smaller, little warmer) but offer lest space, and confine you to sleeping on your back.

Man I MISS those nasty, greasy, world famous, fried, beef and bean burritos. Best enjoyed with taco sauce and an ice cold beer. If no beer was available you could get a meal deal that came with 2 Burritos and a 32 oz Tallsup for $1.99. Heck of a deal!

There's nothing wrong with timber or brush country, but I just think that is some of the most beautiful country anywhere.

Nice report and nice pics.

Glad you enjoyed it. Reminds me why I head up there every fall. The Devil's Canyon trail is pretty nice, isn't it?

Very nice trail. Much easier than I anticipated - even more so when it opened up into the dirt road that I assume is used by the oil companies to monitor the check stations. Lots of land to be accessed via the Devil's Canyon trail.

We camped on the edge of Devil's Canyon, searched Big Canyon for a while, then made our way down to the place where the trail takes you to the Canadian River - clear and cold water! Thought about crossing the river and exploring on the other side as well - I imagine very few hunters make is across to hunt on the other side.

Was a little surprised that we saw so many whitetails. I was not anticipating that. Found some great bedding areas in the backs of a few canyons. Never saw any deer in them, but marked it on the GPS for hunting season. Was hoping to see more Mule Deer, but I imagine there is simply a smaller population and even harder to find.

+1 on that Big Agnes bag.

I lived in the Big Agnes Encampment bag for 6 weeks each summer for the past two years for field camp and loved em.

The muleys tend to stay up high. They also go up top more often and earlier. The whitetails tend to stick to the river bottom, which is why you probably saw more of them.

Doc take some pics and I hope we get 12" of snow. We need it up there.

Thanks for sharing, Lostboy. I now know where I'll be hunting this season. I'll be sure to give a (literal) shout out to you and Log should I happen to glass y'all on remote bench.

Great pics, btw.

[This message has been edited by SanAntoneAg (edited 3/26/2009 10:05p).]