Shoal Creek Trail 5/9/15

Saturday, May 9th, 2015

Hike: Shoal Creek Trail, Austin, TX

Weather: HUMID, upper 80s, cloudy

Hikers: Ian

Length: 4.2 miles

I had a little bit of time in the early afternoon before a friend’s wedding so I decided to get out to Shoal Creek.  We usually take the dogs here, but it has been raining a lot lately and I didn’t feel like getting Biff all muddy and having to bathe him before the wedding, so I went on my own.  Court was getting ready for the wedding all day with the bride.  I’m hoping to get to some less urban spaces soon, but haven’t had the time lately and I guess I should be thankful that there are some good options in the middle of the city.

I didn’t know how far I was going to go, but ended up stopping at 5th Street, just before the trail hits the Hike and Bike trail around Town Lake.  I have never been down that far and the trail was pretty interesting.  The creek is way up right now, as we’ve had over 4 inches of rain in the first week of May.  There was also a new section of trail in Pease Park that has great tread and goes a little more into the woods, as opposed to following the creek.

The part of the trail that goes through downtown was all new to me.  It gives unique views of all the new buildings downtown.  Easy to forget that the creeks flow among the buildings and always have.  The 6th Street Bridge below was built in 1887.

I didn’t quite make it all the way to Town Lake, as I wanted to make sure I got back in time to get ready for the wedding, so I turned back at 5th Street.  This has always been a good trail and I think Court and I are talking about doing the full length from 38th Street to the River at some point.