Travel
Scene Change, Please
Some extended weekend trips that get you out of Texas, in spirit if not in fact.
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How barren and strange this country looks from 50 miles out when El Capitan is first spotted. How unlikely it is that elk, 14-inch rainbow trout, aspen and the Douglas Fir live and thrive in this desert outback. And yet they do. This unprecedented admixture in Texas of the desert and the mountain occurs because 4,000 feet up behind Guadalupe Peak lies McKittrick Canyon; isolated and protected by the sheer cliffs of Guadalupe Peak, it traps 20 inches of rain or more each year and produces a mountain climate.
The only native rainbow trout in Texas are found in the sparkling four-mile stream that flows through the Canyon. The state's only herd of elk, 150 of them, roam the Canyon slopes. Big tooth maples, ponderosas, rare columbines, Rocky Mountain and alligator junipers grow along side the century plant, creosote bush, yucca and the Chihuahua desert's walking stick cholla. Pronghorn antelope mingle with mule and white tail deer along the base of the escarpment. Jack rabbits, bobcat, racoon and mountain lion prowl through the lower and middle elevations.
It was because of the generosity and good sense of two Texans that this unusual and beautiful part of Texas is now a national park. Wallace Pratt, rancher, geologist and founder of the geology department of Humble Oil, donated 5,632 acres in 1961 to the National Park Service. The ranch had been in the Pratt family since the early 1920's and had been carefully and lovingly protected. J. C. Hunter, local rancher and former mayor of Abilene, sold over 70,000 acres to the United States Government for $1.5 million to complete the land acquisition for the national park.
Both men have spent their lives protecting their land, even forbidding horses and sheep to graze in McKittrick Canyon because of the delicacy of the ecosystem. These two men are a vanishing breed; both were lifelong oilmen and yet both were ardent conservationists, cautious and careful about the land, never rapacious or brutish in their demands.
The National Park Service has carried on the careful spirit of these Texans in their operation of the Park. The rules are strict and they are enforced. Only 55 miles of mountain trails exist, all overseen by Rangers who do not tolerate any deviation from the marked pathways. Open fires are prohibited, but containerized fuel stoves are permitted. A campground with tables, trashcans and pit toilets is available at Pine Springs Canyon, one mile southwest of the Frijole Information Station near Pine Springs. Backpacking is allowed but you must check out with park rangers at the information station before departing. Pets must be leashed and kept in the campground area.
To reach Guadalupe Mountains National Park, turn north on State Highway 54 from I.H. 10 at Van Horn or follow U.S. 62-180 east 110 miles from El Paso. The nearest overnight accommodations are at White City, New Mexico, 34 miles northeast, or Dell City, Texas, 44 miles west.
To camp overnight in the Guadalupes after spending the year in a city is an exhilarating experience. The mood the Canyon evokes gathers its way slowly like a Bach fugue as you watch the late afternoon rays of sun leave the mountain's back. The air is clear and cool; the appetite whetted.
As the blackness settles around you, your feelings are high and on the cusp and you wonder why everything is so complicated back home.
FAIRWAY FARM HUNT CLUB
From the unyielding, hard male landscape of the Trans-Pecos, to the rolling sleepy, lush forests of East Texas is a change not only of terrain but also of temperament. The terse, tightlipped and narrow-eyed cowboy gives way to the gregarious and relaxed East Texan, for in the Piney Woods life is more self-indulgence than struggle.
What makes the difference is an abundance of water: forty to sixty inches of rainfall a year. In much of the deep woods it is unseen, barely beneath the humus and needles that cover the forest floor.
East Texas has it and West Texas wants it.
And with the water comes everything else: the forests, food, the fish and game.
It was here, deep in this verdant section of the state, near its oldest town of San Augustine, that the late H. C. Benedum decided in 1961 to build a magnificent home and private club for his friends. Benedum was the nephew and an heir to the fortune of Mike Benedum, famed wildcatter and founder of Benedum-Trees Oil Company.
On 1,500 acres of East Texas woodlands, Benedum began building Fairway Farm. First, the 110 x 55 foot kidney-shaped swimming pool, flanked by bath house and living quarters. Then, two 18-hole championship golf courses carved out of the fringing forests; the south course was rated in 1967 as among the five toughest courses in the country by Golf Digest.
Next came a beautiful 37-room, 11-bedroom mansion overlooking one of the courses. Living quarters for the owner. Then the 24,000 square foot Lodge with 32 bedrooms, each opening onto separate living rooms; three dining rooms, two bars and a large pool room.
Across from the Lodge he built the Great Hall, a convention center seating nearly 250 people with an enormous bar furnished with the trappings from a 19th Century East Texas drugstore. Finally, another building called the Tavern with a big poker room in the back and an old timey post office ready for use.
Along with pool and golf courses, Benedum threw in tennis courts, skeet range and boats and fishing gear for the three lakes and 15 ponds on the acreage.
Whether the late Benedum realized it or not, he built Fairway Farm equidistant between two of the country's best bass lakes and the two largest lakes in Texas. Twenty five miles to the northeast, Toledo Bend, rated number one in the United States by professional fishermen. Twenty five miles south, Sam Rayburn, rated number three. Guides from either lake come to Fairway Farm, take you fishing, and bring you back.
After Benedum's death in December, 1971, the Club remained closed until it was bought by an energetic land developer named Herman Neusch who opened it to the public in June, 1972. Neusch bought Fairway Farm with a flair.
"I bought it sight unseen after a friend brought me a brochure showing the layout and facilities. I called Benedum's lawyer at 10 one night and signed the papers the next morning."
Although he grew up near Amarillo, Neusch loves East Texas and is confident that the natural environment of the place will insure success.
The food is superb. Three chefs, using no measuring instruments whatsoever, turn out meals comparable to Houston's and Dallas' finest. It seems an ideal mating between luxury and outdoor life.
Owner Neusch spends a great deal of time flying to Fairway Farm (it has a 3,500 foot all-weather landing strip) and planning further development. He has contracted the Los Angeles resort planning company of Wuesthoff-Pearson to oversee and develop future condominiums and private homes. What began as one man's crony club is now Texas' most beautiful golf and hunting club.
Fairway Farm Hunt Club: Located five miles east of St. Augustine, Texas, on State Highway 21. One hundred and sixty-five miles northeast of Houston; one hundred and eighty miles east-southeast of Dallas.
Price: American Plan, double occupancy is $29 per person a day; $34 per person per day, single occupancy. Special family rates available.
For further information write Ms. Dorothy McCallum, Drawer T, San Augustine, 75972; or call 713-275-2145.
SANTA FE
If there is anything Texas has a shortage of, it's mountains. A few years ago The Texas Observer published a parody of the Texas Water Plan, that multi-million dollar boondoggle to shuttle East Texas and Mississippi River water a thousand miles uphill to the arid plains of the Panhandle. Called the Texas Mountain Plan, it proposed to import excess West Texas dirt to construct a range of 18,000-foot peaks from Beaumont to Corpus Christi, because, among other reasons, "Houston has long lacked an adequate waterfall."
Pending Legislative approval of the Plan and the eighty-billion-dollar tax increase it would require, Texans who wish to get away from it all in the cool, dry mountain elevations must be prepared to do some hard driving or shell out for an airplane ticket. One of the most delightful choices within reasonable range, especially for residents of Dallas and Fort Worth, is Santa Fe. Summer is a glorious time of year in the Sangre de Cristo Range, and the village-like New Mexican capital throbs with creative vitality.
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