Bull Creek Run

I’m literally running in the Bull Creek! I started exploring this stream, in Austin Texas, early this morning since it will get up to the high 90s later today. Bull Creek District Park is a popular area for wading during the hot months so I was sure to start early before the crowds arrive. So far I have seen no one. I started running the trail on the northern end of the park on Old Spicewood Springs Rd on the south bank of the stream.

One of many waterfalls on Bull Creek

The trail was hard to follow in places because people have worn a lot of side trails down to the creek looking for swimming holes. I didn’t have a map and have never been here before so I just followed the most well trodden and widest path through the woods. In about a mile the trail lead me into a tangle of overgrowth and brambles. What gives! I wandered around looking for a better route and came to the creek. I went along the stream climbing up and down dirt hills and came to a steep bluff. This can’t be the way.

Stream crossing

I backtracked and tried a few more little pathways that seemed more like deer trails. Finally, I came to an old wooden bench, weathered and mossy from years of humidity and moisture. How many people have sat upon its boards enjoying the wind rustling through the leaves, birds singing their songs of praise? This must be the way; why else would there be a bench here? I continued on for a few more yards and jumped over some downed trees and came to another thicket of brambles and vines. Dead End! Maybe I should have consulted a map before setting out this morning.

Wildflowers line the trail in places

I had my phone, so I opened up maps and turned on satellite view. Between the trees I could see more paths on the northern bank of the creek. Suddenly it struck me; perhaps I need to cross the creek to get to the other trail. Duh! Coming from the Desert Southwest, I rarely encounter water. Anyway, I turned around, circling aimlessly and eventually came to a beautiful waterfall with a metal bench so I stopped to take in the scene and listen to the sound of the rushing water. I spooked a turtle and watched him swim away totally in his element. 

I continued running downstream and came to a shallow part of the creek that looked fordable so I plowed right through the ankle deep crystal clear water. Now I’m on the other side, listening to my shoes squelch along the trail that continues downstream on the north bank. Before long, I reach a tall highway bridge overhead (Hwy 360) and have to cross the stream again, this time along a flat smooth slab of limestone. Once under the bridge I cross one more time to the north bank. I feel like a kid again splashing in mud puddles.

Here’s a montage of all the falls. Sound up, for the full tranquility experience.

I reach a parking area and am greeted by another stunning waterfall. This one is very wide, with water flowing over a high limestone bench. This area is a fault zone with many natural steps and benches that define the Texas Hill Country landscape. The Balcones Fault is also characterized by karst, porous stone that holds water in an underground aquifer. There are many caves, sinkholes, springs and seeps too in this region.

Natural steps, benches and "balconies" 

I run through the park along the bank and spook a giant blue heron who takes flight like a prehistoric pterodactyl and flies directly over my head. There isn’t really a trail here, but a bench of smooth rock sometimes covered in slick green slime where water meets stone. After a short while, the stone ends abruptly with a drop down, so I clamber down the escarpment and slosh through some muddy wet areas on the bank. Soon I come to a trail that parallels a concave overhanging cliff carved by eons of floods. Moss adorns the moist wall creating a sort of “living” rock. Eventually I make it to a beautiful hanging garden where a spring pours down a smooth rock face pooling at the bottom. Ferns and other plants line the pool some growing right out of the rock itself. 

"Living" Rock

The sound of the water singing over the algae laden rock soothes my soul and the sight of so much greenery inspires me to keep exploring this gem in the heart of Texas. What a contrast from the harsh brown landscape that I’m used to running. This change of scenery, for a desert rat like me, is very up lifting and reminds me that change is everywhere. 

Hanging garden

Brown/green, dry/wet, summer/winter, good/bad. Everything in our world is in a constant flux of change which means that anything is possible, therefore embrace the transient nature of your world. Even the suck, because eventually it will transform into bliss. Remember that the next time you are suffering through a hot long run where your legs feel like lead or you are running into a miserably cold headwind with numb fingers. Whatever is happening in your world, whether good or bad, isn’t going to last.

In his book, In Love With the World, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche writes about his four and half year retreat wandering the Himalayas and has this to say about change:

Once we move from the belief that things are unchanging to the experience that everything is transitory, the tension between our expectations and reality as-it-is begins to dissolve; then we can know that the disturbance of this moment will pass, and that if we stay with recognition of awareness, the problem will transform on its own. It doesn’t need any help from us in order to move on. The inherent nature of everything is change. It’s our preoccupation with a problem that nails it in place.

After taking in the sound and beauty of the hanging garden I keep running along slabs of smooth dry rock and, at times, through the creek itself. I reach another overpass with a marshy area beneath. I slop right through the mud, because my shoes and feet are soaked to the bone anyway. On the other side of the highway lies another park where water pours over flat slabs of limestone into a clear deep pool. Looks perfect for taking a dip on a hot day. 

I take a quick look around and snap a few pictures and video the falls. I believe the trail continues downstream for a bit longer, but I decide to turn around. I backtrack the same way, sloshing through the mud and crossing the stream in places. After some time I become disoriented and can’t remember if I’m supposed to cross the stream or climb the rocky escarpment. I cross the creek and come to a dead end. Oh well, back through the water I go.

Water crossing

After several hours and six miles of exploring I return to my car. I load my gps track to my Suunto app and am able see that there are trails on either side of the Bull Creek. However, All Trails shows the route starting on the north bank and then crossing to the south bank which is almost the exact opposite of what I did! Google Maps also shows trails on both sides of the bank except for one short section where you need to cross the creek before reaching highway 360. Maybe there is a way to run the Bull without getting your feet wet, but that wouldn’t be as exciting, would it? Wet or dry? It doesn’t matter. “…the problem will transform on its own. It doesn’t need any help from us…”

 See you on the trail.