I wanted to see more of the surrounding hill country, so I left the creek and headed back to the trail.  The afternoon continued to warm up as I hiked along, and here and there more of the Texas Earless Lizards and Texas Spotted Whiptails would cross my path.  Most of the Earless Lizards appeared to be young males, and I got a kick out out watching them scurry away with their curved tails held high.

The trail curved to the left and eventually crossed over Bee Creek, which held just a trickle of water this far upstream.  I took the time to poke around a bit, but could only turn up another dozen Cricket Frogs.

Further on up the trail I reached the primitive camping area, situated on a bluff overlooking the Pedernales River.  There were a lot of oaks in this area, and I saw several more Texas Spiny Lizards on overhanging branches.  Low on the trunk of one oak I spied a lizard with a slightly different look - blue belly marks, blue under the chin, and a flatter profile.  This critter proved to be an Eastern Tree Lizard, a subspecies I hadn't seen before.  I chased him around the tree a few times for photos, and then he became confused and chased me, bobbing his blue-chinned head up and down.

Urosaurus ornatus ornatus

I went up the trail for another half hour or so, but decided I had better head back, since I was out of water.  Me the typical tenderfoot, coming out to Texas and not thinking much about water.  I had a thirsty three-mile trip back to the parking lot ahead of me, so I decided to call it a day.  It wasn't the most stunning day in terms of herpetofauna, but I had lizards keeping me company all the way, and heck, any day spent in the great outdoors is a good day, indeed.