Eastern Texas - Day 7

 April 13, 2025 - Austin Sites

Today we rode the entire Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail. It’s a 10-mile loop that travels around Lady Bird Lake and both sides of the Colorado River through Austin. It is mixed hard gravel and pavement with a dedicated pedestrian bridge at the western end where it crossed the river. Lots and lots of people, walking, jogging, and biking. The people of Austin are fit and thin, at least those that get on the trail. The path was wide and mostly shaded with trees. The weather was hot and windy. Great ride.

After our ride we check in at the McKinny Falls State Park where we have reservations for the night. Great park with large, wooded sites only 20 minutes from downtown Austin. We rested at the campsite, reading and enjoying the warmth.

After our rest we explored the park with a short hike to the upper and lower falls and “Old Baldy”, a 100’ tall 500-year-old cypress tree. The rock formations are interesting, and had there been water falling over the falls they would have been beautiful. We’re not sure if this is the dry season or if the falls never much water.

In the evening, we headed back to Austin for dinner and a walk. We ate at Gus’s Hot and Spicy Fried Chicken. It was good, not too spicy for us. Busy with lots of locals. Then we walked to the capital and sat in the shade of the large tree in the courtyard. There were statues and monuments around and we read about the Tejuno Spanish settlers.

It was about 7:40 and we knew from the night before that the Congress Street bridge bats would be appearing about 8:10. So we walked down to the bridge and the bats appeared shortly after 8:10. It was neat to see them from a different location.