Krause Springs Swimming Holes - Sat., Aug. 24

Bright and early, we met up with Paul and Jacqueline (members of Hill Country Hikers) in San Antonio to carpool to Krause Springs about 1-1/2 hours north. San Antonio Hill Country Hikers meetup group not only hikes but visits places like Mustang Island State Park on the Gulf Coast, and Krause Springs west of Austin, Texas. They are a group of people with whom we like to hang out and experience Texas outdoor adventure spots. About 22 people attended today.

Krause Springs is a 115-acre privately owned park that has 32 natural springs. Owned by the Krause family for 50 years, the park is listed on the National Registry of Historic Sites.

There are 24 RV sites with water and electricity, plus some primitive tent camping sites. for camping are $12 per adult, $6 per child and $12 for the RV site. We did not take our 5er on this trip as it's an easy day trip from San Antonio.

After paying our $6 per person admission fee, we found a spot by the man-made pool to hang out for the day. When more of the group arrived it was decided that the spot we were in, even though it was in the shade, would soon be in full sun. With temperatures soaring to 97 degrees today, full sun was not an option. Being that we were some of the first to arrive, we were able to find an area that would be shaded all day.

Our picnic and hang-out spot when we weren't swimming.

You can see from all the bags in our site that quite a few people were on this activity. In the background are Gary, our activity organizer and chef for the day, and Hilary.

The first thing I wanted to do was get in the man-made, spring-fed pool. The crowds had not arrived and the water looked so inviting. Only four other people were in the pool. At first toe-touch, the water felt rather chilly. Once in, though, it was refreshing. Because it's a spring-fed pool, when I got out, my skin felt soft to the touch. After my hair dried, it was soft and silky. Very nice!

Man-made, spring-fed pool.

Man-made pool.

Getting more crowded as the day goes on.

Next, a few of us walked down to the natural spring-fed pool. I jumped in the water and swam out to the falls. Again, the water was refreshingly cool, but not frigid...perfect for a hot Texas day.

Before the crowds descended on the natural pool.

A pretty waterfall.

The natural, spring-fed pool. Yep, that's me.

The rope swing was extremely popular.

Bob on the rocks at the natural pool.

Such a beautiful spot!

After we sat and chatted, then read for a while, I wanted to take some photos at the Butterfly Garden. Bob was happily ensconced in a chair with his nose in a book. First a couple of photos of the group...

Hilary showing off her swimming accessories.

Here is the Butterfly Garden which also attracted moths, bees and wasps.

Clearwing hummingbird moth...An incredible moth!

Hollyhocks.

Chickens? In the Butterfly Garden?

Passion fruit flower.

Pampas grass.

So inviting!

Paul showing how big the Cypress wood slab is.

After walking around the Butterfly Garden, it was time to relax. Out came the book and the water bottle. Most of the group was back at our picnic site and we had fun conversations.

My current reading material.

Lisette

Carol

Hilary

Jacqueline and Laurie

Lupita

Jessie, Lupita, Nyla

Paul and Lupita

Around 1 p.m., Gary, our chef and organizer, let everyone know the brats and buns were ready to eat. After spending time swimming, walking and enjoying the fresh air, lunch sounded very good. When Gary finished cooking the brats, we put our salmon fillet on the coals. In addition to the main dishes, there was fruit salad, veggie tray, pasta salad, chips and hummus of varying flavors, salsa, chocolate caramel bars, and cookies. This group seldom goes hungry on a day trip.

Here's the man-made pool with the afternoon crowd.

After lunch Bob went swimming at the natural pool with some of the group and I stayed at the site to read. At 3 p.m., our carpool group called it a day. We loaded up Paul's truck with our chairs, cooler and bag, and headed back to San Antonio. Now, I don't normally sleep in the car, but I slept soundly most of the way back to San Antonio.

We had a fun and relaxing day out in nature with a great group of people. Thanks for coming along to see what we did.


Travel Bug out.                 

The end.

Hamilton Pool Preserve, Dripping Springs, Texas - Tues., July 23

The drive to Hamilton Pool Preserve from Austin takes 40-45 minutes and is really outside of Bee Cave, not Dripping Springs. We hoped we would be one of the 75 cars allowed into the preserve. After the 75 cars are in, for each car that leaves, one car can enter. That is how they manage the property so it isn't overrun with people.

When we arrived at the entry gate, there were five cars ahead of us and they were moving. Good sign. The entrance fee is $10 per car.

We made it in and found parking under a tree. (In case you haven't heard me say it before, shade is a plus - as is a swimmin' hole - when the temperature is forecast to be 99° F.)

We parked, slathered on sunscreen, and headed down the quarter-mile trail to Hamilton Pool. When we got there it was quite crowded on shore, but the swimming hole is big enough to hold lots of people.

Being that we were mighty hot, especially after hiking in, we immediately got in the water. Brr! This pool is a lot cooler than the swimmin' hole at McKinney Falls. After we got in, though, it was quite pleasant and refreshing to hang out in. We liked that we could swim either in the shade or, if we got too cool, we could move over a few feet and be in the sun.

Hamilton Pool Preserve swimming hole.

After we cooled down and soaked our weary bones, we hiked the trail through the natural grotto behind the swimming hole. There is a trickle of a waterfall coming over the top, but not much. People thought it was fun to sit where the water comes off the rock above.

Loving this place...reminds me of Oregon.

Natural grotto.

Where the "falls" come over.

Must be under the falls!

Another view of the beach and pool.

Ladder on trail around back of grotto.

Hamilton Pool trail.

The family we had met at McKinney Falls yesterday was here today. Their boys were dying to show us the big catfish close to shore. The boys threw little dried leaves in the water and the catfish, thinking the leaves were food, would come to the surface. A couple of those fish were over a foot long. No fishing allowed in the Preserve.

A park ranger was on duty at the swimming hole to make sure no one breaks the rules. There are a couple of life rings on ropes that can be used to rescue people from the deep parts of the pool. We stayed about an hour, and then headed back to our lovely campsite at McKinney Falls.

Both of us were exhausted from getting up early three days in a row, so we napped away the afternoon. To prepare dinner, we made another campfire, ate roasted hot dogs, coleslaw, left-over chicken breasts and cooked another veggie skewer in a foil packet on the hot coals. For dessert, we wanted S'mores but had run out of chocolate. Oh well, we're mellow, we made S'mores without the chocolate and they were good anyway.

We had a wonderful time on our five-day getaway to McKinney Falls State Park in Austin. It's hard to believe all the things we crammed in, but that's why we chose this state park - it is very close to downtown Austin so we could easily drive into town. The park is well maintained and well patrolled by the park police and rangers.

Our only wildlife sighting was this morning; a skunk waddled through the dump station at the park.

Tomorrow, we head back to San Antonio.

Travel Bug out.