The Best Walk in Austin

I do believe I live in one of the prettiest parts of Texas. For just a street away from ours is a greenbelt that extends for miles and miles into the center of Austin. This greenbelt was the main attraction that convinced us that we were choosing the correct house to live in. And it has certainly not disappointed.

A short walk from home brings us to a little stream that often completely dries up during hot summer months. So most of the time we can skip over the rocks and cross over into the greenbelt and start our hike. It has been raining heavily in Austin this winter though, and so the little stream is now a swelling river! We could still have waded across, but we took a longer, drier route into the greenbelt some days ago.



A short distance down the trail there is a "waterfall". There is never much water here, and though the pool below the fall has always had at least a little water, it's usually dry enough to sit on the rocks above and watch the pool. So imagine our surprise when we saw this pretty waterfall that completely stopped us from crossing!



This beautiful greenbelt has a network of trails where one can easily get lost. So there is always another route that we can take if there's a problem with one of them. Instead of crossing over the fall as we usually do, we continued on this side of the stream and followed the trail further.

We were in the shade, but the setting sun lit up the trees across the stream from us, and their reflection in the still water was breathtaking.



We soon came to a second, more shallow waterfall where the water going over the smooth rock sheets was transparent as glass, then exploded like crystal as it fell on the rocks below.



We continued on the trail, and followed the sound of the water falling as it tripped over gnarled tree roots exposed by the force of the stream.



Further along, the setting sun lit up the foliage and its reflection marked the water like liquid gold.


We had by then walked for an hour and a half, following the stream, and the sound of the water falling.


It was getting dark, and so we stopped at this point where there was a deep, clear pool of water beneath us, and flat rocks along the stream. A perfect campsite ... and so close to home! Much as we wanted to continue along this endless trail, we decided to stop since it was rapidly getting dark. As we headed back home, we decided we would be back here to camp.

Three hours of walking in the crisp, cool air, listening to the gurgling sounds of water ... could there be anything more serene?



As this year ends and a new one begins, I wish for you (and for me) a world filled with peace, and serene, quiet moments of delightful contemplation. Happy New Year!

Guadalupe Mountains & the Bookmark Draw

Thanks for your comments and positive words on my previous (and 100th) post. I drew three random numbers today and matched them to the comments. The bookmarks will soon be in the mail to:

1. Blu
2. Celeste Maia
3. Raph G. Neckmann

Thanks for participating!

***
Every summer we try to do a little hiking trip to one of the great National Parks in the US. This year we tried and tried to make plans, but they kept falling through. Finally we decided to just take a few days and drive down to West Texas, to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.



Compared to many other national parks in the US, this one is pretty remote. The only accommodation within the park is in the form of a few campsites, which you cannot reserve in advance. The campgrounds have toilets and potable water, but there are no camp stores where you can buy food or batteries or anything you might have forgotten to bring. No showers, and nothing except the wide skies and open desert with sparsely marked hiking trails.

Rough, stark natural beauty everywhere, and as much solitude as you want.

What I found most fascinating was that this park is an ancient, marine fossilized reef! Apparently, this dry desert was under a vast tropical ocean about 250 million years ago. The tall mountains that jut out into the sky today were part of a reef that stretched over 400 miles of the shoreline! The ocean eventually receded, and slowly the reef emerged, and with erosion over many, many years, the peaks were formed.

Guadalupe Peak within the park is the highest point in Texas, and we hiked to its top one day.

We arrived in the park in the middle of a harsh thunder and lightning storm. We found an open campsite, but sat in our car wondering if the showers would stop at all. The clouds were dark and low, and the lightning was incessant.



After an hour or so, the rain stopped and we could see the clouds slowly moving on. We quickly got out and pitched our tent, so that if it did rain through the night, we'd have a place to stretch out!




So this was home for the next couple days, where we sat every night under the trees, watching the incredibly clear night sky, with billions of stars shimmering like shards of crystal. Guadalupe Mountains National Park is so very far away from any city that it has some of the clearest night skies possible.



Later that evening as we were getting settled in, the rain had almost completely stopped, though bulbous dark clouds still hung from the sky. What made us feel completely welcome though, was this pair of cheerful rainbows that were painted across the sky!



Have a great weekend.

A Glacier Trek on the Perito Moreno

The best way to experience the spellbinding beauty of the Perito Moreno glacier is to sign up for a glacier trek.

There is just one company in El Calafate that offers this experience: Helio y Aventura. After visiting the view point for a panoramic view of the glacier, and admiring it from all angles walking along the wooden walkway that I described in my previous post, we settled back with excitement for the drive to the shores of Lake Argentino. For there we would be met by the boat that would take us to the glacier itself!



The sun was high in the bright blue sky, and the colors of the mountains and lake so beautifully blended together in hues of green and blue that I wished I could just sit for a few days in a warm bubble there and paint what I saw before me!

As the boat swiftly approached the glacier, our entire group huddled on the open deck above, taking in the view though the wind was bitterly cold.



Once we landed close to the glacier, we quickly ate the sandwiches and fruits that we had packed for lunch, and were ready for the trek. As we waited for the guides, we sat by the windows of the refuge and took in the scenery. The landscape was so stunningly beautiful!



The silvery blue waters of Lake Argentino were kissed by the sun, and the glacier was glowing as it towered over the lake.



Soon we set off. The guides fitted us with crampons and led us on to the glacier in single file. The wind was quite fierce, and it blew dusty snow on to my face. I wondered what we looked like from above - tiny dots crawling in a corner of this gigantic, living mass of ice!



The angles and planes of the ice formations, and the shades of gray that the dust from the land made on the fringes of the glacier made the landscape look very pretty, like a watercolor painting!



With the sun shining brightly down on them, ice crystals were glistening and shimmering on the surface of the glacier. There were fantastic ice formations all around us, glowing as if lit from within. I tried to take photographs - but mine don't do justice to the beauty I saw around me.




We slowly made our way around small glacial streams and shallow pools reflecting the brilliant blue of the sky.


There were ice caves, and small crevasses - we were on very stable ice on solid rock, so the crevasses were not too deep. Still, we could hear the movement of the glacier, and the tricking water below us as the sun melted it and fed it to Lake Argentino.



The hour and a half passed too quickly, and before we knew it, we were done. The guides led us to a small clearing on the ice, where we got to toast this experience with delicious Argentine chocolate and whiskey on fresh ice from the Perito Moreno!



Before we left, we walked up to the very front of the glacier and took one last look. And then we left it reluctantly behind and walked back to land.



At the start of the trail back to the refuge, someone had carved these faces on a dead tree trunk.



All along the trail we had views of the glacier to our left.



And then it was time to head back. The boat was very quiet on the way back, with everyone watching the quickly receding glacier, lost in their thoughts.

Creative hiking

We had gone hiking last weekend with a group that likes to combine being with nature and creating art. Though it seems like the most obvious thing to do, this was my first time doing this. In all the countless times I've gone hiking, I've never stopped to sketch or paint what I saw or felt! So this was interesting.

We went to the Grelle Recreation Area in Spicewood, Texas. The trail was a short, 2 miles through some hilly land, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were some pretty tall trees there, with plenty of shade - something you cannot take for granted in Texas.



We soon came to our first creative stop. Here we disbanded for about 20 minutes, when each of us went off to observe and create - one person wrote beautiful words, another took photos and yet another person made some sketches. I found this fallen log and first took some pictures.



When I went closer to the log, I found on it lots and lots of prickly seed pods!


They had all burst open already, and were scattered all over the log along with small dried brown leaves. As I looked at them, it seemed as if I was looking at a bunch of discarded fake eyelashes!


The more I thought about them looking like eyelashes, the more they seemed like little tree-eyes to me! The image of a tree with lots of seed-pod eyes popped into my head and so I put away my camera and started a sketch, which I later finished at home. Raghav thinks it looks creepy. :)




The seed pods were so amazing that I wanted to bring some home with me. I almost did, but then it didn't feel right to move them from this place where they belonged, so I took some pictures of them to take with me.



We continued the hike after this first creative stop. The trail was quite wooded and pretty.



One cannot go into the wilderness in Texas and not see cacti!



At our second creative stop, I took a bunch of bark pictures. There were several interesting trees there with totally different types of bark. I will save those pictures for another post. Raghav got this interesting shot of a tiny jumping spider!



Further along the hike, I was amazed to see Fall colors - here in Texas!


Towards the end, the trail flattened out to where there usually is a lake. It was totally dry that day though, but the ground was covered with these little plants that smelled absolutely heavenly! No idea what kind of plant it was.


As we finished the little hike, the landscape was flat and open. Very serene and the perfect image of Fall.


I think I like this "hiking for the creative types" group and am looking forward to the next trip already!