I found a place to pull over as the sun set, and made camp. I was reasonably confident I could retrace to pavement easily enough. Plans were about to change.
The rest of the time I spent planning alternative activities. I decided to visit some places I’d seen on the way out to Austin: Cold Springs and Earthquake Fault.
Cold Springs is host to a Pony Express stop, a stagecoach stop, and an early telegraph station. They are all separated, so I turned it into a run (10K with some reasonable climbing), and got my exercise as well.