The Pecos blog led me to a really interesting movie clip of cave divers exploring Phantom Springs Cave.  The short movie was very informative and furnished me with much information about a place I loved as a young man.  My cousins, Bobby and Lessie, and I spent many saturdays exploring around the cave.  We were never able to explore very far into the cave but we did go far enough to understand that the system was vast.  Little did we know that the cave would prove to be the deepest water cave in the USA.  Wow.  It is now a government owned area because of the PUP fish that lives in the outter water area of the cave.  We called them minnows.  Not sure we ever used any as bait while fishing at Balmorhea lake but we sure could have.  I am sorry if I contributed to their being on the endangered species list.  As I said, we thought they were minnows. 

As a  young man, I explored much of the Pecos area, including the Davis mountains and the lakes, Red Bluff and Balmorhea.  We rarely thought about who owned the land that we were traipsing over and cant remember anyone ever stopping and telling us to get off their land.  We hunted relentlessly, killing rabbits like they carried a disease or plague.  I dont think I ever remember seeing a “NO Trespassing” sign but if there were any, I guess we ignored them.  I think the consensus was “no harm, no foul”.  We werent harming anything so they let us be.

The Davis mountains were a particular haunt of mine.  I have walked many of the passes thru the mountains and have found a number of interesting areas in those mountains,  At one time I knew of an area where you could pick up as many civil war shell casings as you wanted. Not aware of any battle that happened there but is was a few miles north of the fort.  Maybe a battle with indians or perhaps target practice.  You can probably guess what my imagination told me at the time.  In my teen years, these hidden areas became a nice place for a picnic, usually with a female who I was currently interested in. 

The best fried chicken I ever ate was on one of these Sunday afternoon jaunts.  Her mother made fried chicken and buttered bread, wrapped in foil.  It was in the back window of the car and remained warm until it was picnic time.  Not many things nicer than a shade tree alongside a gurgling stream, warm fried chicken and a pretty girl.

I am glad that I had the opportunity to grow up in that area of Texas.  We had much that would interest a young man with an appetite for adventure.  I currently live along the coast of Texas and we have a good stretch of beach front.  However, as nice as the beach is, they need to plant some grass from the dune line right down to the water’s edge.  That sand can get in places where the sun has never shown.

GHC