About Friends of Enchanted Rock

Our Mission

Friends of Enchanted Rock is a volunteer based organization dedicated to assisting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with the preservation, maintenance and improvement of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

The primary tenets of the Friends of Enchanted Rock are:

1. Assure the long-term financial health of Enchanted Rock through fund raising activities and contributions to the Lone Star Legacy Endowment.
2. Preserve the natural beauty and resources of Enchanted Rock through important conservation initiatives including trail construction, erosion control, waste management and control, and scientific study.
3. Maintain, improve and construct important infrastructure at Enchanted Rock that is consistent with designation as a State Natural Area and which provides necessary amenities to support park users and programs.
4. Create and support interpretive and educational programs including topics of natural science and history.

Friends of Enchanted Rock Board Members

President

Gail McClanahan fell in love with Enchanted Rock over 20 years ago. It has become an important place for her to hike, camp, rock climb, photograph, bird watch, and explore this unique part of the Texas Hill Country.

Since the early 1990’s, Gail has played an active role in securing conservation grants for projects at Enchanted Rock. As board member of The Access Fund, she secured a grant for a trail building certification class and the construction of the Clivus Multrum backcountry-composting toilet in Echo Canyon. While serving as the Co-Chair of the American Alpine Club, the major funding for the Trail Project was started. As the Secretary and Treasurer for the Central Texas Climbing Committee, contributions from the annual Granite Gripper were held in trust to be used for trail building and conservation projects at Enchanted Rock. She has also served as the Treasurer for the Austin climbing club, Central Texas Mountaineers, and has been a member for 18 years. As the president of the Friends of Enchanted Rock, she has been involved with all aspects of the organization.

A native of San Antonio, Gail graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-TV-Film. Later, she completed two additional years in botany at UT. She has resided for 25 years on the shores of Lake Travis northwest of Austin.

Barry Wilson was born in Nashville,Tennessee, and has been a Texas resident since 1951 and an Austin Resident since 1970. He is the father of two wonderful daughters.

When not remodeling houses Barry can be found climbing, hiking, cycling, and camping all over North America. He has been climbing at Enchanted Rock since 1975.

Accumulating over 1,000 volunteer hours at Enchanted Rock , Barry has supervised the Enchanted Rock Trail Project since 1992 And supervised construction of the Clivus Multrum in Echo Canyon.

Member Central Texas Climbing Committee, American Alpine Club And Access Fund.

Rick Watson is an owner of Rock-About, Inc. Climbing Guide Service and an elected Member of the Central Texas Climbing Committee since 1996. He has been a Board Member of the Friends of Enchanted Rock since its foundation, and he is currently Chair of the Education Committee.

Mike Lewis is a true friend of Enchanted Rock since the late 1970's. He is an accomplished rock climber and has many climbs to his credit at Enchanted Rock. He served 16 years on the Central Texas Climbing Committee, an advisory board to Texas Parks and Wildlife for rock climbing related issues and was one of the original organizers of the Granite Gripper Climbing Competition held annually at the park.

Mike has been actively involved in conservation related issues at Enchanted Rock since the early 1990's. Proceeds for the Granite Gripper were held in trust and used to fund some of the initial trail reconstruction efforts at the park, such as Echo Canyon and Motorboat Rock trails. As the Conservation Committee co-chair for the American Alpine Club, he was able to acquire some of the initial grants to fund these projects. In addition he was responsible for proposing and securing Federal funding for the Summit Trail reconstruction, recently completed by the Friends of Enchanted Rock. Mike currently sits on the Board of Directors for the American Alpine Club and is the 2004 recipient of their prestigious David Brower Award for mountain conservation.

Mike holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently a Ph.D. student at UTSA. He is a licensed Professional Engineer, Professional Geologist and works as District Manager for EFI, an environmental and forensics engineering firm in San Antonio, Texas. Mike has a wife and two children and resides in Helotes, Texas.

David T. Cain was born and raised in West Virginia but has lived in San Antonio, Texas since 1979. He started out mountaineering in the 1970's but grew to love rock climbing after moving to Texas, climbing primarily at Enchanted Rock. Mountaineering is still a passion of his and he still enjoys climbing classic routes in Colorado, Wyoming, Canada, and the North Cascades. He also loves hiking and camping and is an avid mountain biker, currently racing in the 2004 Texas Mountain Biking Championship Series.

David has been a member of San Antonio's Alamo City Climbing Club for over 12 years during which time he has held a number of offices, including Program Director, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor and three terms as President. He has served on the Central Texas Climbing Committee for four (3 year) terms including one term as Chairman.

He has worked as an organizer of Enchanted Rock's Granite Gripper Climbing Competition since it began 12 years ago and has been Director or Co-Director for 6 years of those years.

He received a Bachelor's Decree in Arts from the West Virginia University and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Saint Mary's University. He holds a law license in both Texas and Washington states and currently practices law at his firm in San Antonio where he currently lives with his wife and daughter.

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