Happy Halloween/Biking thru the Park.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, we went for a little bike ride along the river/lake and through Zilker Park. For those curious if we biked directly from our place, the answer is sadly no. That adventure is still to be completed. However, we packed the Jeep with our bikes and had a nice little Saturday stroll through the park with a pit stop that included a rootbeer float and sno cone. Above is the skyline view from the trails and below is Barton Springs Pool. Ill copy and paste a blurb about this natural pool below the pics. Happy Halloween Y'all. And aim for the treats instead of the tricks.  ;)

[brief info| In Zilker Park, just off Barton Springs Road, Barton Springs Pool is one of Austin's famous landmarks and easily the most popular swimming hole in the city. Spring fed and over 900 feet long, the pool was formed when Barton Creek was dammed up, so it has a natural rock and gravel bottom. There are varying depths, diving boards, and stairs and ladders for entry. The water temperature averages 68 degrees F' throughout the year, so enter the pool gingerly. As you swim across, feel how some spots are colder than others. A more refreshing swim is hard to find, but the pool is often crowded, especially on summer weekends.


[For the curious inclined some expanded info] Within Zilker Park's 358 acres, lies one of the crown jewels of Austin, Barton Springs Pool. Three acres in size, the pool is fed from under ground springs and is on average 68 degrees year round. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited topless sunbathers who turned heads in the seventies. Even Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting his mother's relative in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people.

Millions of years ago Barton Springs, the fourth largest natural springs in the state, was created as a result of a landshift that created the Balcones Fault.  Named in honor of Andrew Jackson Zilker. "Colonel Andy", as friends called him, donated the land now known as Zilker Park. In 1884, at age 18, Zilker, who had left his native Indiana to seek his fortune, came to Austin with only 50 cents in his pocket and got a job at an ice plant, which he eventually bought. He then became the first Coca-Cola Bottler in Austin. Shortly after Zilker bought the land in 1901, he built a small concrete pool and amphitheater for members of his Elks Club organization, at the site of one of the three springs, where people had gathered for centuries.

Native Americans called them the Sacred Springs and came there to heal their wounds. Spanish friars believed to be the first European settlers in the Austin area set up three temporary missions at the springs in 1730-31 before they moved to San Antonio. In 1837, William "Uncle Billy" Barton, built his rustic cabin on a tract of land which included the springs. Since he owned several adjoining tracts, the area came to be known as the "Bartons". He named the three springs after his daughters Parthenia, Eliza and Zenobia. The largest spring became known as the main spring at Barton Springs Pool. Another spring feeds the Elks Amphitheater pool that Zilker built near the present day Barton Springs Pool. A third spring bubbles up from the Sunken Garden on the east side of the park. 

*[Both info's copied and pasted from the www]