The sun sets during the August Light O' the Moon float.

he three rafts meander down the Texas Colorado River in almost total darkness.

The intermittent chit-chat that paced the early legs of the journey has been replaced by longer and longer periods of silence. Stars dot the summer night's sky to a serenade of locusts, bullfrogs and an occasional, distant coyote from the shore.

Paddles rhythmically break the water's surface.

A light begins to glow behind the tree line to the left. It intensifies as the minutes pass. Soon, it looks like a single headlight from behind the thick foliage. Eventually, its beam begins to illuminate the tree tops to the right with an eerie, gray light.

Then, the rafts round a bend and the full moon pops above the tree line, unobstructed for the first time on this summer night.

The guest of honor of LCRA's Light O' the Moon float has arrived.

McKinney Roughs
LCRA's McKinney Roughs Nature Park serves as a liaison between the people of Texas and the Colorado River.

The 1,100-acre park and preserve, about eight miles west of Bastrop off of State Highway 71 offers one-stop shopping for anyone wanting to understand the geography, animal life and plant life of Central Texas.

Visitors can canoe along the Colorado, hike along the trails or watch birds and wildlife or ride horses.

At the Mark Rose Natural Science Center at McKinney Roughs, some 5,000 students in the last year took part in innovative education programs that lasted a day or a week. About 65 percent of the student visitors are in what is called the "underserved" category -- this is a rare opportunity for them.

"In many cases, these are kids who have never been on the Colorado River," said Drew Pickle, supervisor of recreation programs at McKinney Roughs.

"Our big thing is to really give them more than an experience," Pickle said. "We want to give them a physical connection to the river. We want to them to feel that protecting the river is important and that they're part of that."

The Light O' the Moon floats take about 2 1/2 hours.

On the water
One way of achieving that goal is to place the students -- and adults -- in rafts on the river, Pickle said. The trips run from March through October.

"We run river trips throughout the week for schools, youth development programs and for adults from nonprofits or corporate groups," Pickle said. "We'll do river trips for just about anybody Monday through Saturday."

The Light O' the Moon floats -- where LCRA guides load up to eight people per raft for an approximately 2 1/2 hour, four river-mile float down the Colorado River -- occur only once a month, when the moon is full.

"The Light O' the Moon floats are very popular with the general public," Pickle said. "They're easy to market and easy to fill, and they also give us a chance to share information about the river and its role in supporting the health of the basin's cities, industries and natural resources."

The trip down the river
Participants in the Light O' the Moon floats meet at McKinney Roughs around 7 p.m.

They are guided into the natural science center and watch a video detailing the region's wildlife, history and geography. They then climb aboard a bus and are driven to a spot upstream where they take the short hike to the river's edge.

There, they are briefed on safety precautions and given life jackets before boarding the rafts. At least one LCRA guide is assigned to each raft. Although participants are given paddles and taught the safe way to use them, the guide does almost all of the work.

The first awesome sight is the sun setting behind the rafts. Guides turn the boats to allow for a better view.

Minutes later, the warm tones of light on the shoreline begin to darken. That continues as the rafts move downstream. Stars begin to appear and increase in intensity.

Lots of answers
Guides answer questions about the river and its history. They talk about the difficulty early residents had settling the area because of the river's massive floods. They explain how those floods eventually led to the formation of the LCRA in the 1930s and the construction of the six dams upstream from Austin. They talk about the water's cleanliness and the efforts to keep it that way. They offer context to the cacophony of sounds coming from the shore. The loud croaky noise comes from bullfrogs that typically only make noise when they sense danger. The buzzing sound is from locusts. Yes, the howling really is from coyotes.

Three fishermen wave from their anchored boat.

When the moon-rise is complete, rafters applaud. There were jokes about the need for sunglasses because of its brilliance.

The light gives the shore greater dimension and illuminates the last part of the trip.

At approximately 10 p.m., the river trek ends. The guides aim the rafts to the shore and help the participants to land. They walk to the waiting bus for the return to McKinney Roughs.

Reservations
To find out how to reserve your spot on LCRA's next Light 'O the Moon Float Trip, e-mail outdoorprograms@lcra.org or call (512) 303-5073 or 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 8002. Participants must be able to swim and must be age 7 and up.

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