Elissa and I were going to go to Hamilton Pools yesterday to do a small amount of hiking, and a bit of swimming. So we headed out about 3pm and drove the half hour to get out there. However, when we got there, the park was full. And the way the park works is that you're allowed to go in only once another car leaves. Well, the park was only open another two hours or so, and there were six cars ahead of us in line... so we said screw it.
We looked at the map of Texas and figured there had to be another park somewhat close by. So we continued driving through hill country to get to Longhorn Caverns. It was about another 45 minutes away from where we were, but we figured it'd be fun.
So just about 5pm when sauntered into the park and asked how long they were open. 6 more minutes. DOH! Well, we saw a sign for another park called Ink's Lake and it was only 6 miles away, so we figured we'd take a peek.
We drove through some of the most beautiful scenes in Hill Country to get there. Wow was it pretty! And when we got there, we were happy to learn they were open until 10pm. So we parked the truck, paid our fees, and went hiking at Ink's Lake.
Man was it pretty! It was really close to Enchanted Rock (you can see it in the distance in some of my pictures), and so there was a ton of granite all around. The wildflowers there must have gotten more rain than the ones in Austin since they were all still in full bloom. It was gorgeous.
Lis and I hiked for about 2.5 hours before deciding to head home. We didn't make it back into Austin until a little after 8pm. So while we decided to only go a wee bit out for a hike, we ended up making it into a day trip to a place about 1.25 hours away. :-P I'm really glad we did though -- it was awesome!
I have pictures from the trip posted here, just scroll to the bottom and check out the ones that say Inks Lake.
You are so much fun! These sort of days have been some of the best days of my life. Hiking won't be the same without you around to help me up rocks and make sure I dont get lost.