Barton Creek Greenbelt

IMG_5418
Originally uploaded by Phisch

Yay! We went hiking again yesterday. J wasn't feeling too hot, but he was a trouper (they both were) and enjoyed it anyway.

At first, we followed my interpretation on the map and our NM was disappointed. I let them all astray; we took the route he said was the right way and, goodness, he was right of course.

The weather has been amazing. The temps in the 70s in the shade, a little breeze and humidity. It hasn't rained all that much so the creek has no water in it yet. We crossed it so we could get to the other side where the shade was.

The trail was interesting because it was split in two: one trail for only those on foot and the slightly higher trail that allowed for mountain biking. The way they separated it is by putting a fence at the beginning of the trail that made it impossible for a biker to get through. I'd never seen that before.

Of course, the boys had fun and we got to see new creatures as well. Well, only I saw the snake and I'm not sure what kind it was. I'm always listening for rustling around on the ground and the sound it made was really different from a bird or lizard spooked by our presence. It definitely was a "slither" and it caught my attention. It looked a lot like this one.

Central Texas is showing so many signs of Spring. The Creek was no exception. There were a lot of plants on the sides of the trails that looked like crab grass but with darker and wider blades. A little bit further, I found some of them that were topped with purple blooms. I wasn't manning the camera or I'd have photos of those and the other pretty flowers that were peeking out here and there, not to mention the trees' leaf buds beginning to unfold. Maybe we don't get snow here, but we sure get a sense of seasonal changes.