18/07/2025
Normally the Guadalupe river is a sleepy waterway. The cool, clear waters are great for swimming and camping. During heavy, localized rains the river is susceptible to rare flooding events as we have seen with the tragic floods around Kerrville, Texas. In recent years the Texas hill country had suffered a drought and sections of the river were actually bone dry. A stark contrast to the river we see in the news today.
The river originates in the central Texas hills west of Kerrville and flows east for 250 miles before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of Texas' swiftest and clearest rivers and it cuts a deep canyon through the hills. The rocky terrain is lined with century-old cypress trees. The massive root systems of the Bald Cypress hold the tree in place during high water and reduce erosion of the riverbank. The horizontal roots can extend 20-50 feet and the taproot can reach 6-12 feet deep. Here’s an interesting fact: The early economy of Kerrville was actually based on harvesting these trees for shingles
During the pandemic I was looking for a getaway and decided to go camping by the Guadalupe. To have easy access for photography I camped right next to the river. It was October so the risk of flooding was minimal.
I was enchanted by the intertwining, sculptural forms of the Cypress roots and found them to be quite haunting depending on how they were modeled by the light. These roots speak of endurance. Some trees will live over 500 years while resisting periodic floods.
Another feature of the river are the textured rocky bluffs that rise up from the riverbank and reveal layers of sediment deposited over the ages.
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