A Weekday Adventure: Sheldon Lake State Park

Friday was one of our warmest days last week, and with an arctic front bearing down on Houston, we knew we would have few chances over winter break to go hiking, so we bundled up and met Gramma and Grampa for a chilly hike at Sheldon Lake State Park. Sheldon Lake is a tiny park, but it is only 35 minutes from our house and it's so lovely to get out of the city and into nature. I would get outside and hike every weekend if time and weather permitted it!

I got a new zoom lens for Christmas that will be really good for birding, but I wanted to try it out before we head to High Island in April, so I unpacked it and we took it along to Sheldon Lake. My shots aren't perfect because I didn't realize the lens wasn't set to auto focus, and there's still more for me to figure out, but it was good to get a feel for it.

Vulture flying overhead

Prairie

Ruby loves an adventure!

One of the most fun features of Sheldon Lake State Park is the watch tower. The views are incredible!

Cormorant

Kayaker

The San Jacinto Monument

It was about 50 degrees and chilly!

Family shots

Henry was enamored of this tree and asked me to take a photo. 

It was too cold for any real alligators.

Mr. Dramatic

We didn't see many birds inside the park, but just a mile or so outside the park was a small inlet that was teeming with herons, egrets, cormorants, and even pelicans!

Fishing lures in the trees

 

Bald cypress

Here's to more outdoor adventures in 2018!