Emma Long and a Hidden Gem at Bull Creek

Last week we all went to Emma Long to swim and picnic. The weather has been cooler than usual for this time of year and it was a bit cloudy, so the water was a little too cold for my liking, but I still enjoyed the "beach". The water was clear and the bottom was sandy.  I'd like to go back on a warmer day....

After we left Emma Long, Skye wanted to go check out Mt. Bonnell. It's been about ten years since she's been there. She enjoyed looking out at the top at downtown....

Yesterday, Toby and I headed to Bull Creek for a hike. He had noticed another trail head nearby our usual entrance to Bull Creek, so we decided to check it out....

I'm not sure how I ever missed, or if we've ever been on it...I don't recall ever having been, but it was a nice find. You could tell the trail was not much traveled because the paths were really small and lined with tall grass and brush, which made me a bit nervous that I may walk up on a snake. I'm not really fearful of snakes in general, but I certainly would like to see them before they see me....

There was a short off set trail that led down to the creek....

This is part of an old wildflower farm from back in the 1940's....

Soon we could hear a waterfall. We took the very grassy, overgrown path that led down to it. I was super nervous about traipsing through the overgrown brush, but it was well worth it. Here's what the brush looked like that we had to walk through at the edge of the creek....

It was so peaceful. We stayed awhile and enjoyed the serenity for a bit. With Austin being so overpopulated now, it's always nice to find these peaceful spots that we don't have to share with a zillion other people.

The trail was just one big loop, so we made our way back around the loop back out....

There were large pasture areas within the trail chock full of seeded wildflower, I'm definitely going to come back next wildflower season, I'm sure it's a beautiful sight...

We headed on to our usual trail to our little swimming spot on Bull Creek. It was not that hot of a day, but we had worked up enough of a sweat to take a dip. It was raining by then, but we didn't care we were getting wet anyway. It was so beautiful to watch the rain drops fall into the water while listening to the sound of the waterfall. It was truly a relaxing day, mostly because we had the whole place by ourselves....

I love this picture of this yellow flower I took. It looks like the sun rays are stealing the color from the flower....

It continued to rain on us all the back out of the trail, but it was pretty cool. Made me feel like a kid again.

Meandering Along Brushy Creek

Last week Skye bought a new bike and since her and Toby were both off on Tuesday we decided to go for a bike ride to Brushy Creek Trail.

It ended up Toby could only fit two bikes in the back of the truck. I was secretly relieved that I would be able to just walk the trail instead of having to ride it. I much prefer walking to riding because I can utilize my camera better and I'm able to stop and smell the roses.

Plus, they both would have smoked me on the trail, and I would have been lagging five miles behind anyway. I'm like a turtle, I don't do much of any fast.

Here are some beauties I saw along the trail...

This Pecan Tree was covered in silk worms. Skye said it creeped her out...

I also got to explore some of the little trails that led to the creek, something I've never been able to do before....

There was this really cool plant that was seeding....

It was a really nice day and I think Skye enjoyed riding her bike, although Toby's bike tire blew out at the end of the trail and he had to run his bike back to the truck for five miles. He didn't seem to mind though, he said it was a good workout.

The next day Toby and I walked downtown. Downtown is our go-to when we are either short on time or can't think of anywhere else to go. We like it there because we get a good mixture of urban and nature hiking and have many different routes to choose from so it never gets boring...

There was a whole bale of turtles at Lou Neff Point. Yes, I had to look up what a group of turtles is called. Learn something new every day, I suppose....

The other night we had a storm roll in with hurricane force winds. They were clocked up to 80mph in my area. After the storm, there was a wonderful light show, rainbow and strange hue in the sky. Me and Skye went out to enjoy it....

This is the rainbow when it was first forming in the dark sky. You can even tell the odd color the sky was in this photo....

Lucas and Emily will be here for the 4th. I'm looking forward to their visit.

Wild Goose Chase

Yesterday Toby and I set out to find the elusive Twin Creeks Historic Park. We were in the right place the whole time, but was unsure as to where to park. We finally stopped into the Twin Creeks Golf Club and asked if they knew where to park for the Historic Park but interestingly enough, none of the workers there had ever even heard of it, despite the fact that the parking area to the entrance of the park was at their maintenance building!!

Once we found its well hidden entrance, we set off to look for the "cave" that was supposed to be in this park. Another goose chase we began as we hunted the cave, which we never found, I may add.

Despite the fact our hike was more of a hunt than a hike, we still had an enjoyable walk. There were many little small falls to dip off into along the way, and the historic home was sure to be something to envy in its day.....

This probably won't be a place I'll ever go back and visit, but at least I got to check it off my hiking bucket list.