Drive Through Geologic Time
We went exploring. We drove north on FM 1431 to Hwy 29 and turned east, across the Inks Lake bridge. On the left side of the road is the Buchanan Dam. We turned south on Park Road 4 and entered another geological age.
This short drive took us past igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks and outcroppings. Huge blocks of rocks were strewed around as if a giant had been playing and left his blocks where they landed.
Also on this road, granite quarries that date from the 1880s and were the source of the pink granite that was used to build the Capitol building in Austin.
Inks Lake with Buchanan Dam in far distance
The Valley Spring gneiss, one billion years old, has been carved by Spring Creek, exposing an interesting area called the Devil’s Water Hole. We are moving to Inks Lake State Park on Tuesday, so we may explore more of this area.
Devil’s Water Hole
Love the descriptions you used. I never knew that there were areas in the US that were that old, like the 1 Billion year old Valley Spring gneiss.
.-= ConnieFoggles´s last blog ..Blog Giveaways 8/16/09 =-.
It looks a beautiful place to explore. Are there any caves or fossils to discover in the area? Those trees could be hiding anything :-)
.-= John | English Wilderness´s last blog ..Painted Lady on Brambles =-.
This is reallyu interesting and you really know your rocks! Geography was my favourite subject at school and I used to know so much about rocks and so on. Nowadays, my memory isn;t so good and I only have vague recollections of cloud formations and weathering and erosion and so on. Thanks for showing me a bit of the Texan countryside!
.-= Emm´s last blog ..Dispatches – Terror in Mumbai =-.
I love the rock formations – great shots! I’m very taken with the stunning green of the trees around the Devil’s Water Hole. Our trees in the UK are starting to show the first signs of autumn, with the seeds and fruits turning colour.
Wow! Beautiful pictures! Kind of reminds me when I moved from the swamplands of Louisiana to the mountain areas of Kentucky. The drive was wonderful as we watched the slate walls rise up on the sides of the road. Makes me realize what I had been missing all those years.
.-= Saphrym´s last blog ..The mind is a terrible thing to close. =-.
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