Taking a Spring Break in the outdoors

Lindsay Martinez 

I am excited to be entering the final month of spring courses for my master’s degree in Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management. The next few months - before my graduation in August - are going to be a whirlwind of final exams and projects, continued research work, and of course my thesis defense and submission. Things are moving quickly with the many aspects of research that I work on regarding the effort to plan the reintroduction of an additional ocelot population in Texas. I am excited to hopefully be sharing more information about my project soon via the website RecoverTexasOcelots.org.

It can be a little overwhelming to have so many things going on at once, but it is an exciting time for my project and for my academic career. Before launching myself into all the work that is left to do until August, I had to take a short break. I really needed just a little bit of time away from my cell phone and my laptop to refresh myself for the work ahead. I also needed some fresh air and a break to clear my mind and rest a bit. The solution was a quick two-night camping trip in Garner State Park over the last part of Spring Break. 

I love to camp and catch fish, and Garner is a great place in Texas to do both. It is about 1.5 hours to the west of San Antonio and can be found along the Frio River in the Hill Country. The Frio River isn’t exactly frio (Spanish for ‘cold’), but it is a nice stream and it is home to lots of hungry bass. Since the Frio is so clear, you can see fish swimming around under the water and, hopefully, making a dart for your lure. 

Tragically, a rough cold front struck Garner during my trip. However, I’ve camped with my family in Montana for my entire life. I’ve had to deal with rainy nights and even mornings where I wake up and there’s frost covering the ground and the tent. You would think I would be tough enough to survive spring weather in Texas. Yet, the cold front in Garner led to something unique: my first ever time having to leave my tent at night and go sleep in the car. The wind that blew through Garner on my first night of camping was borderline terrifying and it was louder than anything I’ve had to sleep through while in the tent. Going to sleep in the car was the right move for being able to get a few hours of shut eye and prepare myself for the next day. Despite the cold and limited sleep, I did get to spend several hours with my feet in the Frio River catching bass with just my Walmart fishing rod and some fake green worms. The feeling of catching a fish is hard to beat, and I hadn’t had the chance to go out and do it in many months. I’m proud to say I caught the biggest fish on the trip. I also had the strangest and most laughable catch, as I snagged my lure on the opposite riverbank only for a bass to literally leap from the water and take the lure as it came unhooked from the bank. Every bass caught on the trip was so fun to reel in, take some pictures with, and then release them back to the river.

My personal and career interests lie in wildlife conservation. I’m inspired by real life, in-person moments out in the outdoors with wildlife. Lately, I’ve been spending lots of time reading on the computer and typing documents. This little break to hold a fish in my hand and enjoy the Texas outdoors was a literal and mental breath of fresh air.