Gene Hikes the Appalachian Trail

Tag: travel

  • Southern Walnut Creek Trail

    In chapter 11 of the Book of Judges we are introduced to Jephthah. He is the bastard son of Gilead and gets forced into exile because his legitimate brothers will not share their inheritance with him. While in exile, he is exhorted to lead Israel’s armies against the Ammonites.

    Before the fateful battle, Jephthah prays to God for assistance. In return he vows to make a burnt offering of the first person to emerge from his house. God delivers a victory for Israel and when Jephthah returns home his only daughter is the first person that comes out to meet him. Awkward. Being a man of his word, he made an offering out of her.

    In the twelfth chapter, the Ephramites threaten to burn Jephthah’s house down. Not because he killed his daughter, but because he fought the Ammonites without asking their help first. Jephthah goes to war with the Ephramites and routs them. As the Ephramites attempt to flee over the river, the Gileadites make everyone who tries to cross pronounce the word “shibboleth”. Because of linguistic differences, Ephramites pronounced the word as “sibboleth” making it easy to know which ones to allow to cross the river and which ones to kill. 42000 Ephramites died, so the method was coldly efficient.

    Anyway, that story is where we get the word “shibboleth” which is any word or phrase that can be used to distinguish between in-groups and out-groups. One common shibboleth is in the way place names are pronounced. People local to an area will know the pronunciations, but tourists or recent arrivals will get tripped up and mark themselves as part of the out-group.

    Living in Las Vegas, the most common shibboleth was the pronunciation of the state name. Locals would say it correctly as “ne-VADD-uh”. People whose sole purpose in life was to crawl into casinos and empty their wallets so we could avoid paying state income taxes would pronounce it “ne-VODD-uh” or some other appalling way.

    Massachusetts was full of geographical shibboleths. This happens when the place names are a melange of American English, British English, and Native American words. Then each word gets filtered through a heavy Bawstin accent. This is how you wind up with Worcester pronounced “WOO-stah” or Cochituate as “co-KIT-chew-it”.

    Like those states, Texas also has shibboleths. I dare anyone to say Pedernales correctly the first time you see it. One big one in Austin guaranteed to trip you up within your first month of moving here is Manor. Pronounced “MAY-ner”. Manor is a suburb east of Austin where a host of commuters live.

    Okay, I’m going somewhere with this meandering introduction. Manor is important to this post because there is an Austin To Manor bike trail that runs five miles and terminates at Johnny Morris Road in east Austin. Just on the other side of the street from the end of that trail is the northern end of the Southern Walnut Creek Trail. I did the Northern Walnut Creek Trail earlier this spring, so it was only a matter of time before I grabbed the 25 pound backpack and attacked this one too.

    First things first, this trail was very wide and well kept. It definitely functions chiefly as a bike trail with hiking being a second priority. The entire thing was paved with almost no potholes or visible cracks or anything. Every section had lots of signs about upcoming curves and reminders to slow down in hilly sections. I enjoyed it as a hiker, but I feel like if I was a biker this would be my favorite trail by a wide margin. Oh, and there were lots of trees and shade. This was great because Austin is currently in the grips of a seemingly never ending run of consecutive 100 degree days in August.

    Second thing second, you’ll notice that the sign is showing the miles to the end of the trail instead of beginning at mile zero. Mile zero is on the southern end closer to downtown. I started on my less preferred end for two significant reasons.

    One, the northern end is difficult as fuck to get to using public transit. I had to take two buses and then hoof it almost two miles to reach the start point. Conversely, the opposite end was only about a quarter mile from a bus stop. I figured it would be better to inconvenience myself at the beginning of the day before it got too hot than to walk the entire trail and then have an hour of walking to look forward to.

    Two, doing it this way allowed me to go somewhere exciting close to the mile zero marker. Sort of like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I’ll leave exactly what that place was until the end of this post.

    One of the more interesting sights along the first couple of miles was this painted bench.

    I’d like to say, for the record, that whoever painted this bench never saw my face. If they had they would never say it was better than any view. In all fairness though, I guess I need to share the view from this bench before I can say it is definitely better than my visage.

    You can make out a faint view of downtown beyond the green trees. If you can get past the mountain of tall, brown, dead and dying grass. In addition to being 100 degrees every day in August, water has been in short supply. The airport has seen a grand total of 0.02 inches of rain this month. Most every living thing in town is either slowly dying outside or complaining inside in their underwear sitting next to the air conditioner.

    The trail meanders along for a few miles and then runs along beside Harvey Penick Golf Campus. In addition to a nine hole golf course, they also host a footgolf course. Footgolf is pretty much what you think it is. You kick a soccer ball around a golf course until you kick it into an oversized hole. Fewest kicks wins.

    At least you could see some green grass on the golf course. Check out this bridge over Walnut Creek that showed how low the water level was.

    Not to belabor the dryness in Texas right now, but I’m going to do just that. The Ross fire continues to rage west of the Metroplex. Honestly, as bad as conditions are it could have happened anywhere in the Lone Star State. I passed a “wildflower meadow” in name only.

    If nature’s first green is gold, then her last green is brown. With apologies to Robert Frost, I’d like to wax poetic about summertime in Austin.

    Nature’s last green is brown, once you notice it gets you down.

    As temperatures climb ever higher, everything might catch fire.

    This recap might make it seem like I was depressed the entire trip, but that would be far from the case. Truth is, Austin always gets hot and dry in the summer. It’s not as bad as Lake Powell or anything, so we’ll be just fine. Fingers crossed.

    Nothing much eventful happened until I reached the southern end of the trail at Govalle (pronounced “go-VAL-ee”) Neighborhood Park. Remember when I said earlier that this trail catered to bike riders? Once I got to Govalle Park I realized that there were no bathrooms or water fountains anywhere along the main trail. Fortunately the park had nice restrooms and water fountains with faucets for filling water bottles.

    I took a few other pictures at Govalle Park, so I might as well show them off here.

    After milling around in the park for a while, it was time to go check out that sweet mile zero marker and bring this hike to an end.

    But, of course, this was not really the conclusion because I promised a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. I walked about half a mile down Shady Lane from the park and found my destination, Hi Sign Brewing.

    I had to try their Millie Brown Ale, an American brown, and got a cool cup of delicious ice water to stay hydrated.

    After that, it was time for a Shamus Irish Red.

    Both beers were refreshing but, truth be told, the service was less than desirable. Despite being one of only two people at the bar I had to stare daggers into the bartender before she would stop doomscrolling and come over and assist me. I get it, I’m hideously ugly. But does that mean I’m not entitled to good service? I am not an animal!

    After the second beer it really was time for my journey to end. I don’t really have a closing statement here, so that’s it. Drive home safe.

  • Butler Bike Trail

    When a person from outside the Austin area thinks of Austin, they likely think about all of the sights you can find along the Butler Bike Trail. The kinds of spectacular shots of identifiable downtown landmarks you’d see in a show of the CSI/9-1-1/FBI -insert-your-city-name-here ilk, if there was such a show based in Austin. Wait a minute, there was a show called 9-1-1: Lone Star that was based in Austin. Their opening credits must have shown exactly the kinds of sights I’m thinking about. Let’s see that open.

    Okay. Never mind. That was pretty limp. If 9-1-1: Lone Star actually had an opening, it would show you the sort of things you think of when you think of Austin. And all those things can be seen along the Butler Bike Trail. Just trust me on this. So I threw on the backpack and went lakeside to check it out.

    Butler Bike Trail (officially the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail and Boardwalk At Lady Bird Lake — which rolls off the tongue) is a ten-mile loop along Lady Bird Lake between MoPac and Pleasant Valley Road. I went downtown and picked up the trail at mile zero near Auditorium Shores and hiked in the preferred clockwise direction because my OCD wouldn’t let me complete the loop in any other way.

    Almost exactly at the beginning I encountered my first outdoor fitness area. A decent enough spot with some pull-up bars, push-up bars, and abdominal exercise stations. It also had good sized trees nearby to provide some shade in midday.

    The keen-eyed among you will notice the Bird scooter on the left side of the picture above. I had to include that in the shot since I am now an amateur birdwatcher.

    Before I got too far into the trail, I had to take some shots of downtown. Since Austin is a city on the grow, most of what you see in the skyline is exceedingly new. In the picture on the left you can see Sail Tower on the far left; it looks like a sail. Moving right, you have Northshore, which is a high-end apartment building that looks like stair steps. On the right in the first picture and the left in the second picture is the W Hotel Austin. I’ve been on the roof there before. The views were nice and all but beer tasted the same as it does on ground level, and it’s much cheaper on the ground.

    Just under one mile into the trail I saw a sign for some exercise equipment just off the path. Of course I had to investigate.

    Not 100 yards off the trail I found another fitness area. Two in less than one mile!

    And was that a Swedish ladder I saw along with some rings, a dip station, rope ladder, and suspension trainers? Be still my heart! It had only been one mile, but so far this was the single greatest trail in the entire United States of America. The only thing that could have made this better would’ve been a stand with free beef jerky.

    Sadly, there was no beef jerky. I soon made my way to Lou Neff Point. The location is named for Barbara Louise Neff, who was a civic leader and held many positions with multiple entities such as being President of Austin High School PTA and Heritage Society. Lou Neff Point is a scenic vista where I got another good shot of downtown, although Mister Sun did his best to spoil the shot.

    The next couple of miles were uneventful. Just hiking along the shore, watching people, crossing over and under bridges. Spider webs covering almost everything. Notice how once I crossed over the MoPac bridge the maps on the mile markers flipped over. Not sure why that was necessary.

    Near the Central Library, I got a great look at two particularly photogenic Egyptian geese. I have to include a shot of them here since I am an expert birdwatcher.

    Egyptian geese are an invasive species that are not native to Texas. They are easily identified by the big brown spots around their eyes and colorful back feathers. They are also known to be aggressive when defending their area, to the point of trying to fight off drones. The two I saw were pretty chill and basically ignored me. They may have still been salty about their team blowing that lead against Argentina.

    Here is another shot of downtown that shows off a few different buildings. That super tall tower on the left is Waterline, Austin’s tallest building and her first to break 1000 feet. The buildings on the right are all part of the Rainey Street district. These include the tallest one on the right, which is 44 East.

    Between mile 5 and 6 I crossed under I-35 for the first time. While there I took some time to admire the never ending construction while resting on some park benches.

    Major construction of roadways always reminds me of the Big Dig. If that name sounds sort of familiar to you, but you aren’t sure why, that was the colloquial name given to the public works project that buried I-93 underneath Boston. This was in the nineties and early 2000s. It was contentious because it was largely paid for with federal government money. Meaning some guy in Iowa was getting hit with the tax hammer so some people in some place he had never been could get their city beautified. As someone who hates spending tax money and beauty, I always thought it was unfair for the Big Dig to be funded in such a way. Especially since delays and design flaws ballooned both the cost and the timeline.

    However, as someone who lived in Boston during and after the Big Dig, I have to say it was the most significant and positive change that occurred in The Hub the whole time I was there. It literally took a town that was cut in half by the elevated highway and stitched it back together into a walkable, pedestrian friendly city. It salvaged a mishmash of ancient streets that could not handle modern traffic and at least gave commuters a fighting chance to get home from work before bedtime. It also gave us the Zakim Bridge, which is exactly the kind of landmark you see on TV when they need to tell you their show is set in Boston.

    These old legs needed another break after mile 6, so I wandered just slightly off the trail at Longhorn Dam / Pleasant Valley Road and entered Krieg Athletic Complex. I ate a turkey and provolone sandwich and Great Value key lime yogurt that I had packed myself and then checked out the park. There were probably over a dozen softball fields as well as turf fields and volleyball fields. Lots of space for recreation and whatnot.

    The mile marker maps flipped back over again at mile 7, which meant I was getting close to the end of the sojourn. Here is one more shot of downtown from around that point on the trail. For those of you who want to know more about the diverse buildings of downtown, here is a good little story and quiz from our local NBC affiliate. For everyone else, I promise I will not mention the skyline again in this post.

    I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a third outdoor fitness station. This one was much like the first one, some pull-up bars and inclined ab locations.

    At this point I need to mention one extremely positive thing. Every single fitness station had a working water fountain. More than that, there were working water fountains all over the trail. And lots of working toilets spaced adequately so that it never seemed like you went more than a mile and change without coming across one. And the trail itself was as well kept as you could expect with thousands of yahoos like myself using it every day. Hats off to The Trail Conservancy and their Park Rangers and custodians and everyone involved with making sure that everything was in pristine condition. The effort was much appreciated.

    The homestretch of the trail included the Boardwalk. This reminded me of the Esplanade in Boston. The Esplanade was always a good place to go for a run or catch an event at the Hatch Shell or play ultimate along the Charles. I haven’t lived in Boston for thirteen years, so it was strange to think about it twice in one morning. At least both memories were positive.

    Sadly, my time on the Boardwalk was not all positive. The major drawback was that there was zero overhead cover from mean old Mister Sun. And it was a hot day. Everywhere else on the trail had access to a fair amount of tree cover and shade, but the Boardwalk had none of that. I’m not sure who made that decision, but it was an interesting choice. It definitely made me speed walk the end of my hike to get it over and go somewhere cool.

    I have one final picture that didn’t really fit in anywhere else in my story, but it needs to go somewhere. Here is a shot of four turtles on a log in the lake. Why are they there? What are they doing? Don’t know, don’t care. Enjoy.

  • North Walnut Creek Trail

    So I threw the old backpack on again and headed out to North Walnut Creek Trail, which you should have been able to figure out from the title. This is the northern portion of the Walnut Creek Trail System, a not-yet-completed trail which will extend 19 miles across northern and eastern Austin when finished. I picked up the trail on Lamar Boulevard just north of Oakbrook and four miles from Balcones District Park. This made for a nice eight mile round trip, and since it took me a few miles to get to my origin this wound up being 11 or 12 total miles of hike.

    This entire trail was paved and very wide, easily accommodating walkers, bikers, strollers, and even a maintenance pickup truck. I probably should have taken a picture of the truck, but I didn’t so you’ll just have to trust me.

    Not long after I started I came upon Walnut Creek Metro Park, the first of three trailheads on my route. With ample parking, a gated pool, and a kids’ play area the location seemed like a good place to chillax for a while but I quickly sped through.

    Along this trail there were lots of unpaved side trails that promised adventure. Trails with exciting names like Log Loops Trail and Ski Slope Trail. However I was unusually focused on completing the main hike and not on doing any side quests. I did see lots of mountain bikers going back and forth between the trails so they are obviously very popular.

    The next significant marker I came across was Gracywoods Neighborhood Park Trail. I did do a small detour thinking there would be a nice neighborhood park nearby. Nope, I was dead wrong. The only thing I saw on the trail was the backs of some apartment buildings. I did come across a meadow with some cool flowers. I know I must be spending more time outside than usual when I use “cool flowers” in a sentence without a hint of irony or sarcasm.

    These flowers are known as gaillardia, and they bloom pretty ubiquitously in central Texas. Actually, all across Texas. They are bright and low maintenance and can handle hot weather. It rained way more than usual in April so these and other flowers have been shooting up all over the place. The cloudy weather lingered during my hike, which explains the grey skies in all my pictures.

    Once I got back on the main trail I was treated to the best mile or so of the day. The walkway went through a wooded area that was shielded from any urban noises and became like a secluded country trail. I passed by some young ladies hanging out in a gazebo and smoking reefer. Or is it “the reefer”? This was a great stroll and it saddened me immensely when I came upon Gracywoods Trailhead, the second of three trailheads, at Metric Avenue.

    Metric Avenue, but they still measure speed in mph

    Gracywoods Trailhead had its own play area. I gave everything a try but I honestly have to give it low marks. The swings were too low and the slides were too narrow. I don’t think anyone over the age of ten would enjoy playing there. Zero of ten stars. The benches did work though, which is always a plus.

    The next big landmark on the way to the end was crossing underneath MoPac. I took a picture because there was one of those hideous Cybertrucks at the intersection. MoPac is one of the main roads north-south in Austin. It has express lanes that can be accessed if you pay a toll. And by “express” I just mean everyone in those lanes likes to “express” themselves by flipping you the bird or honking repeatedly like a siren.

    When I first moved to Austin the second question I asked my friends was why is it called MoPac. The answer is because the road follows roughly the same path as the old Missouri Pacific Railway. By the way, the first question I asked was why is everything freaking thing named after Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar? The answer: because he was a bad ass soldier, politician, and poet. He was also a bigoted racist who did more to harm the Native American cause than almost any other Texan, which also must be mentioned.

    From MoPac on to the third and final trailhead was not much to write home about. It wasn’t bad, just nothing worthy of addition to a blog. The trail got noticeably steep for the last half mile or so. Then I finally reached the third trailhead at Balcones District park.

    Balcones District Park is a spacious open area with clean, working toilets and multiple covered benches where you can sit or host a birthday party. And they also had a play area that I would not recommend to anyone old enough to have hair on their chest. They also had basketball courts and working water fountains. This park is a place where you can go and spend a good half a day easily. Cue a small gallery.

    I hung out there for about a half hour before turning around to head back. Not much happened on the return trip until I got back to almost the beginning. This time I decided to take one of those beaten trails near Walnut Creek Metro Park. I chose one called Powerline Hill.

    I hoped it would be a pleasant, brief, uphill climb that would reward me with a panoramic view of part of the city. I was right about the short climb part. The view wound up just being a bunch of power lines. Oh, and a person on a mountain bike who zoomed past me on the ascent.

    Not shown: a fourth power line just off to the right

    And then I went back down and finished up. And there was much rejoicing.

  • Shoal Creek Trail

    I threw on the backpack with 25 pounds in it and went for a round trip on Shoal Creek Trail. Shoal Creek Trail goes from water’s edge of Lady Bird Lake north to 38th Street. It runs roughly parallel to Lamar Blvd and is 3.75 miles each way, so a 7.5 mile round trip. I started from the 38th Street end, which is fairly close to a Spec’s liquor store. That Spec’s used to be a Randalls supermarket. I love HEB as much as any other Texan, but I also love Randalls and since this one and the one near Arboretum closed I can’t get my fix anywhere. Enough whining about retail stores though, let’s start the trail.

    The first sign you’ll encounter at 38th Street

    A short ways in (0.15 miles, give or take) I came upon Seiders Springs. The biggest features of that location are the Seiders Oaks. Below you will see a picture of one of them, just behind a sign reminding people not to have their dogs off leash. You see those signs everywhere on the trail. Or rather, I see them everywhere. Judging by the amount of dogs running around off leash that day I would assume all of these signs are invisible to dog owners.

    To the left of that dog sign is a green obelisk. These things are all over the trail as markers and tell you which way to continue to get to Lady Bird Lake. Except they all say “To Town Lake”. When Longhorn Dam was built on the Colorado River (not that Colorado River) in Austin, the lake it created was called Town Lake. In 2007 it was renamed to be Lady Bird Lake after the former first lady. Most native Austinites over 40 and/or people who moved here in the early 2000s still call it Town Lake and so do these obelisks.

    Back to Seiders Springs. It is named for Edward Seiders (pronounced “Cedars”) who moved to the area along with his friend Gideon White. He lived in the area and was a prominent businessman in the mid-1800s. It also happens to be the site of a particularly gruesome event in 1842. Gideon White was overtaken by Indians and killed on October 25. Later, White’s daughter would marry Edward Seiders.

    Moving south a short distance from there I found a rest area with benches and working water fountains. Can never have enough of either of those.

    At Lamar & 31st Street was the only confusing part of the trail. While most of the trail is its own thing, just before this intersection it merges with the bike lane on Shoal Creek Blvd. The turn at Lamar to go south doesn’t have any signage; you just sort of need to know that is where you go to pick up the trail again.

    South of 31st Street I walked past some really interesting outcroppings of rocks. I am no geologist, so I can’t tell if it is Del Rio Claystone or Buda Limestone or something else. I felt like Indiana Jones while I walked past it, so that’s good for something and I wanted to share it.

    At 29th Street there is some wooden exercise equipment. A set of pull-up bars, a waist high bar, and some benches for sit-ups. I had to bang out a dozen or so pull-ups because I’m so manly. Therefore I can proudly say that everything is nice and sturdy even though it might look old and dangerous.

    The next landmark on the trip southward was Pease Park. It is named so because the land was gifted to the city in 1875 by Elisah Pease, the fifth and thirteenth Governor of Texas. The interesting thing about his time in the Governor’s office is that his interregnum was only from 1857 to 1867. In that time there were seven different Governors. This was during the Civil War, so Texas was going through some shit. And going through Governors like shit through a goose.

    In Pease Park there is a memorial to victims of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) with symbolic red flags that line the trail. Those flags are left by the trail and then moved out to line the Mile of Silence for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, which happens to be this weekend.

    Anyway, Pease Park is everything you’d expect from a public park. Green, lots of stuff to do. Expansive, clean, working public toilets. And even more exercise equipment, metallic instead of wooden. Play areas for kids and water fountains shooting out of the ground. There is a cottage too and all sorts of stuff. Here is another gallery.

    At this point I was only 1.25 miles from the lake.

    Close enough to get a good shot of the tall buildings downtown.

    Your definition of “good shot” may not be the same as mine.

    The next interesting things were a skate park and a football field at House Park Plaza. I saw a few people hanging out and working on moves at the skate park. However I decided not to capture them in my picture, so now I’m not sure if anyone will believe me.

    House Park is a shared football field that lots of teams in AISD (Austin Independent School District) use. The Austin Sol ultimate frisbee team also play there. I used to be pretty good at ultimate frisbee. By which I mean I could throw a forehand and a backhand and the occasional hammer.

    Also, more tall buildings.

    From there to the water’s edge was a fairly straightforward walk. Because the trail goes right through the center of downtown most of the final mile is just walking alongside buildings. I did pass by a neighborhood garden and a wildflower meadow.

    Right as you reach the end there is the Central Library. The building is still fairly new and shiny. I miss the old library which was about a mile from the edge of the water. I loved it because it was a boxy building that looked the way a library should. This new Central Library is a happening place where people go to vibe and hang out. I prefer a library where you go to check out books and avoid eye contact with one another.

    The central library. This does not spark joy.

    And from there only a few hundred feet to Lady Bird Lake. I don’t know if the person in my picture was able to catch any fish.

    There is a plaque at the end, in case you can’t figure it out from the fact that there is a giant ass lake there.

    The trip back to 38th Street was fairly uneventful. I admit that I was physically and mentally spent, and once I got back home I did nothing but watch baseball in the dark. I do want to call out that there is a sign at 31st Street going north that tells you exactly where to go, so the issue I mentioned earlier is exclusively a southbound problem.

    I also wanted to call out the fact that there are quite a few underpasses along the Shoal Creek Trail. Only one of them actually has lights, and that was the one at West Sixth Street.

    It is pretty easy to find yourself in a bad situation at night in a big city so I would think more underpasses should be lit. It shouldn’t cost that much, right? Unless all the data centers need that power so the AI in my toaster can cook my bagel to the exact right color.

    Here at the end I’m going to include various pictures I took during the trail that show the water level of the creek. I don’t know why, but most people I talk with are obsessed with what the water level of any body of water is at any particular time. If you are one of those people, then this last collage is for you. You’re welcome.