San Gabriel River Trail

I was amazed at my good fortune.  An early morning rain, followed by overcast skies and temps in the 70s here during August in Texas.  And I had actually planned a morning ride following a long day out of town.  Wow.  Sometimes we get lucky.  I followed the switchbacks shown in the upper left of the photo down to another world.

I had noticed that something worth investigating was down there under this IH-35 bridge, along the San Gabriel River in Georgetown, Texas.  I have driven across it countless times in my business travels across the state.  I discovered that there is more than I had imagined, and it is a perfect get-away for my business trips to the Austin area.

Some of the trail is paved, and some of the trail is a dirt or crushed stone surface.  The changes in grade, coupled with lots of twists and turns, make for lots visual and bike handling interest even at slow speeds.

The deer were prolific and fearless.  I thought I was at a petting zoo.

The ever-changing landscape included forest, open grass land, low swampy areas, and rock walls

The trail primarily follows along the San Gabriel River downstream of Lake Georgetown.  It steps down with a series of pools and riffles along with a few small dams.

Here is the downstream side of the Lake Georgetown dam.  There's a big wall of water behind that rock covered embankment.

I thought that any boys growing up within bicycle distance of this trail probably have a great opportunity to stimulate their outdoor imagination for all kinds of adventures...assuming boys still do that.

The simple Quickbeam is light and easy to stuff in the truck for business travel.  It seems just right for short little side trips away from the office when I can't be in Denton County.

If I had more time for sitting, I could have paused here and pondered the beauty of God's creation for a while.

This spot was lovely, has the convenience of the bench, and that delightful "babbling brook" sound as evident in this short video.

One of the parks along the trail had a healthy population of ducks and geese.

Another park had this awesome sculpture, who seemed happy to guard my bike as I took a look around.  I didn't get to see the entire trail this time, but I plan to come back and explore the rest.

As I've said before, it doesn't always work out this well.  But this is why I toss the bike in the truck.  Sometimes it does.