Remember that when you leave this Earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. -St. Francis of Assisi

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Charlie's Pasture Nature Preserve




The history of Charlie's Pasture
The Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture encompasses 1,217 acres. Charlie Buhan was born on Mustang Island on Sept. 6, 1906.  His father, Matteo Bujan, settled on this island in 1885.  Charlie had a herd of about 250 cattle that ran on the island for many years until the law required cattle to be fenced in.  The land he leased from the State of Texas extended from the current Charlie's Pasture pier to the end of the island at East Flats.  He moved his cattle onto the lease land and built stock pens across from the pier.  Charlie's Pasture was also the place where, as far back as the 1950's, island youngsters hung out or spent many a night camping out under the stars.  Charlie's Pasture is a major part of the local heritage on Mustang Island. In May 2002, the City began an effort to preserve this section of natural habitat, enlisting the talents and ideas of many local residents and area agencies.  The Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture is truly a gift for future generations - a sense of history, a study of habitat and an appreciation of nature at its best.








Saturday was a long walking day for me. I started out in the morning at the Community Center Health Fair, picked up a free pedometer from the Walgreen's table. My blood pressure, sugar and oxygen levels all checked out good. Still not happy with my weight or body mass index, but I'm working on that. I read that walking 5,000 steps a day is considered sedentary, you must walk at least 10,000 steps a day to be considered "active". I walked over 13,000 steps on Saturday.




The Nature Preserve is along the Shipping Channel. After I left the health fair, I walked along Port Street and around the fishing docks to get to the preserve. There are several walking and biking paths through the Nature Preserve, some are dirt paths, but mostly you are on boardwalks built over the wetlands area.  The area was very dry with a few ponds here and there. I'm assuming that since I was walking on boardwalks at least a foot above the ground, that there may be times when this area is flooded.  I thought I would have a chance to see a lot of birds in this area, I only saw a few.  It's either too early in the season or it's because of the drought.  After walking over 4 miles, I took a break at a picnic area near the shore and watched the big cargo ships and sailboats.  I still needed to walk back to an area where I could catch the bus back to the RV park.  I walked at least 2 more miles through the Nature Preserve and back through town to the bus stop.



I figure this is a good way to get in shape for hiking. I want to do some hiking in the National Parks. I've applied for Workamping jobs at Mesa Verde National Park and a RV park near Rocky Mountain National Park. I need to meet up with some workamping hiking partners.

Does anyone know of any hiking groups that travel in RV's?

7 comments:

  1. Great looking place to walk. Very peaceful looking to. Glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 13,000 steps is a lot. Congratulations. I don't know any hiking groups but there sure are a lot of people out there that like to hike. If you want, I can give you a couple of blog addresses of two of them that I know that spend a lot of time hiking.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like the looks of that boardwalk. Interesting hike and good for you for doing 13000 steps.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I enjoyed Charlie's Pasture very much. Great seeing your pictures.

    WINS - is a very active RVing group as is Sisters on the Fly... a very active group for women
    http://www.sistersonthefly.com/

    This lady, Diana is just nonstop active .... her blog is
    http://lifeontheopenroad.blogspot.com/

    She's a member of WINS or LOWS ... whatever...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice place to walk. Always good exercise. You'll get some high altitude exercise at Mesa Verde or Rocky Mt. Nice choices. Might find hiking groups in an area of interest with google.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It probably won't be difficult to find hiking partners once you reach the destinations. I love hiking. Can't wait till I can do some of that myself again. Thanks for the great photos! And good luck on the workcamping jobs.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just wanted to say I love reading your blog!

    ReplyDelete

Hi, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Drake Tax Software

Overnight stays in these states:

Overnight stays in these states:
It is the sandstorm that shape the stone statues of the Desert. It is the struggles of Life that form a person's character ~ Native American Proverb