The descent back to the day-use area through the plateau uplands and grasslands — the different, drier ecosystem above the canyon, and the loop's gentle close.
From the overlook, the trail carries you along the top of the plateau for a spell and then begins its long, gentler descent back toward where you started. And notice, as you walk this high ground, how completely different the country is up here from the lush canyon you climbed out of. Up on top, out of the shelter of the walls, it's the real Edwards Plateau: drier, sunnier, thinner-soiled, an open country of grasses and low twisted Ashe junipers — what Texans just call cedar — and scattered live oaks. No maples up here; they can't take it. This is warbler country, remember, all this juniper.
It's a good stretch to let your mind wander and your legs loosen up after that climb. Watch for deer browsing in the open, for wildflowers in season, and for the big sky overhead that you couldn't see down in the canyon. You're walking the rim of the country the river cut.
Before long the trail will bend back down off the uplands and rejoin the canyon and the shade, and lead you home to the day-use area and your car. Take these last easy miles slow and savor them — the walk's nearly done, and it's a fine thing to have done. Keep following the trail down and around; I'll see you back at the bottom for a proper farewell.
Photo: Lorenzo The Snail · CC BY-SA 4.0
