Here’s a brief account of what we did last week. It took 8 hours of driving to get there but it was worth it. Our destination was the Girl Scout Camp at Mitre Peak, site of the annual symposium sponsored by the Native Plant Society of Texas.

There were accomodations available at the camp, but we had an invitation to stay with some former college classmates who live in nearby Alpine. However there was ample opportunity to enjoy the campgrounds in between field trips and presentations in the dining hall.

At the turn of the century (the previous one) this was a Texas Ranger camp. In 1947 it was purchased by the Girl Scouts, who recently made the facilities available to the public for events like this.

One of the attractions was Fern Canyon located just behind the dining hall. During a mile and a half hike up the canyon on the first day there was a noticeable drop in temperatures. For the most part it was an easy trail but there were a few boulders to scramble over. The reward was the waterfall and pool at the top. The water comes from a natural spring.…