Berry Springs Park (Georgetown, TX) – August 2020

 I still had a few more days before Labor Day when the Georgetown Running Club’s 2020 Summer Tour was scheduled to conclude, so it decided on a return trip to Berry Springs Park to do some of the side trails.  I remember when I was here to do Vern’s No Frills 5k, Bill would be explaining the race course to us.  He’d mention there were “miles of trails” that we’d find ourselves on if we went off the “marked” portions.  Some of these side trails I’d explored on a previous trip, so I wanted to look at sections I hadn’t been on yet.

 The heat and humidity were pretty brutal that day, so I went through my beverage much sooner than I’d intended to.  You can see one shot of the dry creek bed.  As I was letting low on drink, I circled around some of the sections near the entry point so I could see the old building and some interesting trees.  I also had to take a selfie with the marker for Vern’s No Frills 5k.  I was a late-comer to those events, as I’d only found them a couple years ago, but I enjoyed every one that I participated in.

Bull Creek District Park (Austin, TX) – August 2020

 The Georgetown Running Club’s 2020 Summer Tour was scheduled to conclude on Labor Day, so I was trying to get in as many miles (and places) as I could.  I hadn’t fully explored all of Bull Creek, so it made sense to head back that way.  This time I figured I’d start at a different trail-head to experience a new portion of the trail.  As I was scoping out on Google Maps the other trail entrances, I noticed a marking which said “ancient tracks.”  It provided no other information, but I figured I’d start there (the entrance off of Lakewood Drive).

 Now I was picturing the dinosaur footprints like I’d found in Cedar Park in a river bed off of Parmer (north of 1431) back in 2009.  (Those tracks which now back up to housing development, and no longer reachable, by the way.)  I started off looking around for these tracks going through various trails close to the creek.  Some people I encountered didn’t even know there were such things here.  I soon figured it probably made my sense to walk the dry portions of the creek to see what I could find there.  I eventually did locate them, and they were wagon tracks, like what was over by the “round rock” where that city is named for.  Hardly “ancient” tracks, but still a nice historical find.  Pity there was no marker to provide any information.

 I loved the big rock near the tracks (which I thought looked like a turtle), and moss cliffs behind it.  From there, I just zig-zag along various portions of the trail heading “upstream” (towards the 360 bridge, and areas I’d been before).  There was a nice triangle or diamond-shaped rock out in the still water which I took a picture of.  Eventually, I made my way around to the other side of the creek to get another shot from the opposite view.

 Eventually I came back to my starting point, and worked my way over to a grassy area with what appeared to have a rock wall.  It caught my attention because it had steps.  Behind that was a naturally-formed area created by these rock slabs.  I could just picture some fantasy creatures living here.  The trails of Bull Creek District Park go all over the hillside with some nice elevation changes, and it pretty shady, so was a good place to go on a hot summer day.