St. Edwards Park “Red Trail” (Austin, TX) – September 2020

 There are many marked trails at St. Edwards Park, so they are marked by color.  This was helpful when the crisscross you know to be able to stay on the correct on.  I’ve wandered around here a bit, but wasn’t sure if I’d done all the trails or not, so I figured I’d knock out the major ones.  The “Red Trail” went northward from the park, and eventually paralleled Spicewood Springs Road.  The stream (which was to my left) was Bull Creek.  There was a section of the trail where you had to walk on the side of the road for about a 100 feet or so (keeping in mind there ain’t shit for a shoulder on that road).  After cross a private driveway, the Red Trail continued a short distance more and just came to an end.

 I came back down to where the last branch-off was (around the area where it started paralleling the road), and went in the direction which would take me away from the road.  There were a couple areas where I was able to get close to the water for some nice pictures, although I think the panoramic shot I took of the cliffs didn’t turn out as good because I was too close to them (and couldn’t back up much and still have a clear frame).

 Eventually I followed Bull Creek to where it went under Spicewood Springs Road.  I really wasn’t on the Red Trail anymore, because I’d pretty much hit all of that.  But in that area you can cross over to the other side of the creek, and I did that so I could continue on some trails on the other side.  The small waterfall is only a short distance from that crossover area, and it part of a wall which one could use to over over the creek if they were sure-footed enough.

 After that, I went for the elevated trails on the west side of the park.  I was a nice day so I could get a shot of the treetops.  Even the selfie I took, with the camera angled down, really didn’t a sense of how high up I was.  Still it’s a great view.

Brushy Creek Trail (Cedar Park, TX) – September 2020

 With today being Labor Day, here was the outing as part of the Georgetown Running Club’s 2020 Summer Tour, thus the final day of the challenge.  This trip was all about getting those final steps in, so I went to a place I knew well.  After parking at Champion Park, I crossed the bridge to the trail on the opposite side of the creek and followed it upstream.  Considering how hot it was, being in a place which was shady was nice.

 Most of the pictures I took on this trip were simply for the artistic quality, as I went for the shapes of the vines and shadows, as well as texture of the trees.  At the conclusion of the trip I was able to get a good picture of the still water, which was providing some nice reflections.  In one manner, it was a way to reflect on all the trails (old and new) I was able to do during this challenge.

 As far as I was concerned, even though the summer tour had concluded, I still planned visiting other trails and taking these pictorials so I could share the experience with others.

Bull Creek Preserve (Austin, TX) – September 2020

 Here was my near-final sojourn as part of the Georgetown Running Club’s 2020 Summer Tour, as Labor Day was tomorrow (which was the last day of the challenge).  I have to thank Bill for coming up with the idea, and keeping the inspirational fires burning.  This fell into my “new area” category, as while I’d been to Bull Creek before, I’d never gone on this trail.  In the parking lot off of 360, there’s a fenced off area which says access is only allowed between certain months.  It was within that period, and there was a hidden gap in the fence, so entering was easy.

 This trail winds a short distance through the woods, and takes you to an overlook to get a good view of the gorge.  But there’s another trail from the entrance which isn’t as well marked which takes you into the heart of the preserve.  As you increase in elevation, the tree cover goes away.  The farther I went up the trail, I could see a “white object” (barely visible in the third picture) and I decided to head towards that.  I had enough fluids with me, and eventually made it to the plateau which had the white water tower on it.  Not really a nature item, but it was a worthy goal to have gone towards.

 There was a secondary trail which I followed to circle me around back to where I started.  There was even less tree cover, but it was all downhill, thus was easier.  While I was there, I did wander around the gorge area for a brief time, only to add some extra steps to my pedometer count.

Balcones District Park (Austin, TX) – August 2020

 In the final days of the Georgetown Running Club’s 2020 Summer Tour, I was able to find a place I hadn’t been before to explore.  Extra points!  Hoody hoo!  I’ve lived in Austin for years, and this was a place which I drove by a lot, and I thought it was only a playground area.  Thanks to looking on Google Maps I saw there were some trails to explore.  This place is at the corner of Duval Road and Amherst Drive, and initially appeared to be an open grassy area.  But the trail actually took you along a stream (dried up) which had a lot of tree cover.

 This was mostly pavement, and I did see some bicyclists here and there.  After a short time, there’s a Y-intersection.  One branch will take you up an incline which eventually circles you back around to the park near Amherst.  The other direction brings you right to Mopac.  The trail becomes part of the sidewalk so you can cross a narrow pedestrian bridge, which will loop you underneath the Mopac, and out to the other side.  The trail resumes following Walnut Creek, and eventually will lead you to the Gracywoods Neighborhood Park (and the Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park a bit beyond that).  I obviously didn’t go that far on this trip, but I knew I’d have something new to check out on a later trip.

 I did have to point out that near the “under-Mopac loop” there were was another side trail which paralleled the train tracks going north.  There were also other areas where it appeared the trail went off in the woods (heading in the westerly direction, back towards the district park).  There were some No Trespassing signs at most of these sections, so I didn’t explore them.  Even looking on Google Maps it showed that area to be just woods, so I don’t know who owned it to put the signs up.  One of the trails had an archway with some pretty flowers on it.