#4: [23-Jan-10]

#3: [04-Feb-02]

#1: [04-Jul-01] (incomplete)

04-Jan-2002 --

After reviewing The Roads of Texas we found a route that would bring us closer to the confluence than the previous attempt (this reference is second only to TxDOT's own authoritative cartography). By taking County Road (CR) 223 to CR 224 from Oakalla we would come within 1 mile of the confluence itself.

Burnet County is to be highly commended for the upkeep of its county roads. CR 223 was a beautiful, winding, tree-lined, and smoothly paved lane. Only someone who has driven the county roads of Bell County can fully appreciate the virtues of a road that does not require four-wheel drive.

We walked up several rocky hills before coming to a closer county road, which we later found to be CR 224 E Spur. If we had come down this road, we would have been within a quarter-mile of the confluence. Amused, but not vexed, we proceeded onwards. GPS in hand, we slowly rose about 40 feet in altitude while passing very near a cluster of Live Oak trees. The confluence itself had an excellent view to the northeast.

In the distance was a small house with goats grazing around the sides. A wooden object, some relic of ranching, was lying about 50 feet away. The soil was extremely rocky (Burnet County is home to many limestone quarries). We walked back around to the car, and went on a short drive to discover the split of CR 224 and the East Spur (deceptively assuming the look of a private driveway).

We left the confluence by way of scenic CR 223, and stopped at its origin near the Lampasas River at Oakalla, which is worth stepping out of the car to see. We then drove to Storm's Burgers in Lampassas (located on US 190 and serving up great burgers since 1950), and finally back to our own GPS coordinates.