Saturday was kind of warm out (the outside temperature was somewhere in the neighborhood of about 100—which, if you live in Texas, that IS “kinda warm”). This month is pretty special to me because my 15-year-old daughter is visiting from upstate New York (yeah, she really would rather live here—see, New York, not everyone “(Heart) NY”), and I only get to see her once a year. I normally hike/cave alone or with a guide only, but since she’s in town, it’s daddy/daughter time… now if I could only get her older brother to come out.
Anyway, we had originally planned to go to a bon Odori festival in Austin (Bon Odori is a Japanese summer festival for those of you that don’t know—and the ex/daughter’s mom is Japanese… I was stationed in Japan for 12 years and made a go at going Native, so that’s why we were headed there); but because of Austin traffic at 1:45 PM on a Saturday, we quickly realized that we wouldn’t make it. On the fly going down I-35, we quickly weighed our options—go home and sit around the house, staring at the walls, or go out and do something.
After stopping to figuratively throw darts at a map and to get gas, we were on our way to Longhorn Cavern, in Burnet, Texas. From Round Rock, the GPS said it was an hour-long drive, but it turned out being a little over, with downtown traffic and some construction along the way. God, I hate traffic. Too many cereal-box licenses out there.

We finally made the cavern at about 3:50 ~ish, and bought tickets to the cave tour (which run about $14 for adults; veterans and military retirees get a ten percent discount on that and camping; if you’re a vet, you get free access to the park for hiking/picture taking/picnics. I normally do a lot of hiking, and that’s how I know about this—I’ll throw in the Texas Parks link later—my veteran brothers and sisters, I highly recommend you go out sometime, as it really does help clear the mind and help with finding oneself). It wasn’t a long trek; only about an hour and a half, and that’s because going down you stop a lot to listen to the guide (ours was Misty) tell you about the formations and chances for photo ops. It was also a pretty good way to beat the heat, as most caves are considerably cooler than the surface (no sunlight, y’know). Since this was an “on the fly” stop, we didn’t take any gear—which was a good change for me; I usually take a three-liter Camelback, sunscreen, camera and tripod… everything that manages to say, “Hey! Look at me! I’m a tourist!”, even though I’m not. It was kinda nice not having a pack for once.

I always love going to these places because they’re out of the way. Being out there gives me a way to clear my head; to not have to listen to the hum of the human hive. I think that’s what’s wrong with our society—we’ve gotten too wrapped up in “living” that we’ve forgotten how to live. Working a Nine-to-Five just to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head really isn’t worth a whole lot if you don’t get the chance to disconnect from society for a little bit, listen to the silence for a change, and regain some sanity. I like videogames, TV, and all, but those really don’t bring healing. This does.
Well, anyway, if you ever find yourself around Burnet, stop by Longhorn Cavern. It’s a good way to beat the heat, and maybe enjoy something that seems to be not so common these days.

Guest Writer

Chris White

Chris White served in the US Navy for 20 years, for half of it he was a signalman. He is an avid outdoorsman by accident after plans with friends fell through. He needed to get out of the house for some personal time but didn’t want to spend a lot of money, he ended up at Mother Neff State Park and his journey into the outdoors began. He has done seven hikes and is always looking for the next picture and attempting to help people get out and enjoy the world around them.