Texas Hill Country James River Road Backcountry Trip

[machine1]

May 2014 - Texas Hill Country

We took a half-day back country trip south of Mason TX down James River Road.

Checking out the view:

A couple of shallow river crossings:

Texas Hill Country:

Trying to beat the sunset:

We encountered tons of deer, rabbits, jackrabbits, emu, goats, and cows. One decided to block the road so we had to go around her.

Here's a video of the James River crossing, it was about a foot deep:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50IEhXo4hGY"]James River Road water crossing Hill Country TX May 31 2014 Forester - YouTube[/ame]

Here's the route I took:

At first we were going to take the South Branch Loop to 87, but there was a No Trespassing sign. Then we were going to take E Mill Rd to get to 385. When we got to the water crossing on Mill Rd, the bottom didn't look solid, it looked like it was at least 2-feet deep. Turn around don't drown in the middle of nowhere, we turned around and headed back the way we came.

We also went to check out the Eckert Bat Cave Preserve, that's what made it a half day trip.

 

[MiddleAgeSubie]

That is awesome, I recently had a similar experience on a Utah county road that drops into an actual stream, not a dry wash. For the key part of the trip, please refer to the Contributor's Den.

At the end of that I hit a rock just a bit, 20-30 yards after which my instrument panel lighted up like a Christmas tree. I did not know at the time that the check engine light on means traction control light on, e-parking break light on, and cruise control light on. Only back into cell coverage did I learn that, after I called my service guy. It is unclear what triggered the check engine light. Dirt is a possible culprit, as the car was very dusty by then, but the hit seems somehow related. The same thing occurred to a friend's brother in his X-Terra 4Pro, or whatever they call the trail version, after hitting a rock on a snowy road. In that case, however, only the check engine light came on, while in my case three more lights came on, as they turned out to be bundled with the check engine light. In his case, the dealer checked the car and cleared it, in my case the light went off after I washed the car on the next day. The car always worked and felt normal.