Last Sunday we went hiking at Bull Creek. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but thought there might be some chance of swimming. Sunday was about 88 degrees. Its October. Not like back home. The park is rather large. The part we went to is just a few miles down the road from our house. Maybe a 20 minute drive. This is the park we had missed during our trip to Wild Basin. From the parking lot the many piles of burned out coals tells you that this is a bit of a party spot on weekends, but it was pretty calm while we were there. To get across the creek to the trail you walk across a waterfall. Easy enough with the low water flow of recent times.
We hiked down the trail a little ways. Maybe a half mile or a little more, but not much. We initially hiked the trail up the hill and ended up at a road end. We turned around, hiked back down and came out at the creek near the swimming hole. From where we stood we had three distinct regions. To the right was the dog area. About 20 dogs were cavorting with their owners and barking endlessly. To our left was the big swimming hole. There were rope swings and a sort of waterfall/waterslide and places to jump in. Looked like fun, but a bit above Wesley’s head, literally. Right in front of us was an area perfect for Wesley. And he took full advantage.
The bed itself is almost entirely solid rock. The sides, the bottom, both rock. It is totally different than anything I remember from the northwest. The water has made the rock smooth, slippery in areas and has carved out channels and holes. The two holes we played in were the perfect size for Wesley to hang out in.
The channels were also a lot of fun. Just upstream from the swimming hole was a 6 foot waterfall that older kids were using as a waterslide. Wesley loved to be in the channel that fed the falls. The current was too strong though and a couple of times I had to grab him before he was pushed down stream. I have to admit a pretty good part of me wanted to see him shoot off the falls, but I wasn’t really wearing swimming clothes and I would have had to go after him, so I just kept holding on to him.
The trail itself was pretty shady and Jillian was able to go uncovered at least on the way back. We spent about two hours at the creek and I’m sure we’ll be back. I understand that there are a number of areas along the creek for swimming that are a bit more secluded and with fewer than two dozen dogs.
Tags: Amber, Austin, Bull Creek, hiking, Jillian, texas, Wesley
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