San Gabriel Dam (Georgetown, TX) – December 2020

 Here was another place that Bill talked about frequently, and I should’ve visited during the time of the Georgetown Running Club 2020 Summer Tour.  There’s a nice parking area on the east side of the dam, and the trail goes northward (which loops around to where I’d been previously on the other side of the river).  I decided I would walk across the top of the dam first, as that would bring me closer to the entrance of the San Gabriel Park.  I did notice a huge open area by a rock wall on the west side of the dam.  I guess if the water level ever got really high, it would spill over there.  Considering there was no shade, I’m glad I went across this in December, as opposed to the brutal summer heat.

 Once I’d come back to my starting point at the dam, I followed one of the side trails which brought me down to the lower portion of the dam.  Yes, of course I was going to take a picture of the danger sign.  I looked at the spillway set-up which was there, and I would’ve loved to climb the rocks next to it.  But there was another trail which paralleled the spillway “downstream.”  That’s a place I’ll have to figure out where the access points are, so I can come back to do that section later.

 

San Gabriel River Trail (Georgetown, TX) – December 2020

 This was a place that Bill talked about frequently, and I never had the chance to get up that way during the Georgetown Running Club 2020 Summer Tour.  Well, blame that on me.  I did venture up here on the weekend, and it was packed full of people, and there was no place to park.  Since I had some time off coming up soon, I knew I could get here on a weekday and actually get in the park.  The turn-off by the water tower isn’t well-marked, but once you realize it’s there, it’s easy to get too.

 The park you enter into is actually Cedar Breaks Park, which has a lot of slots set aside for camping and RVing.  I was heading for the trailhead just past the entryway which was the San Gabriel River Trail (also known as the Goodwater Loop).  Thanks to the nearby dam, this was where the San Gabriel River became Lake Georgetown.  I did poke around a couple of the campsites to get some pictures, and then I got on the trail.

 At first there wasn’t much different than any other trail I was on, but it was still new-to-me, so it was.  Occasionally there would be a break in the trees where I’d try to get some pictures of the lake (also called the “North Fork” of the San Gabriel River).  I’d been told if you went to down the trail far enough there was a really good waterfall.  Once vantage point for pictures was a really nice open expanse, as I stood on the edge of a cliff.

 I’d encountered some individuals on the trail, and we traveled together for a bit.  They had a faster pace than me, as I was going more slow to soak in the view and take some pictures every now and then.  They were soon a distance ahead of me.  This was a case of doing more research before hitting the trail would’ve been good, as the Goodwater Loop technically goes 26 miles around the lake, circling to the far side of the lake, and then back to the dam.  Yeah, I didn’t have enough beverage to do that today.  I still would what I could with the supplies I had.  The views were fabulous.  This was a place I needed to return to, and figure out how I could do the whole thing in manageable chunks.

 

Pace Bend Park (Spicewood, TX) – December 2020

 In the quest to find new places to hike, I used Google Maps to spiral out to find places.  There were a number of parks I discovered, but it was unclear either how to access them or if there was a safe place to leave my car.  And then I came across Pace Bend Park.  Sure it was a bit of a drive, but I figured it would be worth it.  I cruised down Route 620 west of Mansfield Dam, and turned on to Lakeway Blvd.  Then I had to take Highlands Blvd to Bee Creek Road, until finally going north on 2322 which would take me to my destination.  I did note a number of other trails into the hill country here, but no parking spaces.  And the views were pretty nice too.  So even if the park was a bust, at least the drive was nice.

 It was a few bucks to enter the park.  I drove around the main road of it first in order to get a feel of the area.  Considering the time of year, there were a number of side roads for camp sites (or potential other trails) which were blocked off.  On the end of the park opposite the entrance was a private camp ground, which based on the signs was used by some zealot organization for religious indoctrination.  That was good to know.  The park is essentially a peninsula made up by the Colorado River snaking back and forth as it flows towards Austin.

 There were some extensive bike trails, which could also be used for hiking.  My time to explore this today was limited, so those were something I would have to come back for.  At a number of places, I did pull over at camp sites in order to get a view of the water, which was something I rarely got to see on my hikes in the Austin area.  There was one cove I was checking out that had some nice overhangs.  There was a group of people who were setting up a zipline to go across it.  That sounds fun, guys, but I saw few strong trees to anchor the line with.  I left them to it.

 Yeah, a lot of the pictures were taken standing on the edge of a cliff and looking over the water.  One shot had a large hotel-like building on the other side of the water.  Checking Google Maps, I figured out that was the “Island on Lake Travis.”  That’s actually a cluster of high-end condos.  Getting back to the park, due to the time of year, most of the vegetation was brown.  I would like to come back in the spring when it was green.  And that might be the time to spend all day exploring some of those other trails.