Hernandez, May 2015

“Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.”
― Aldo Leopold

I was unable to go to my park this month due to being busy so instead I went to the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail on April 25th and spent a few hours on the trail. The Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail is located in the heart of the city. It is a 10 mile tail with a boardwalk that was completed in 2014. The construction of the trail began in the 1970s between a private-public effort lead by by the Citizen’s Committee for a More Beautiful Town Lake who was lead by chairperson Lady Bird Johnson. Before the trail the area was was mostly barren because the floods washed away the trees and brush. Because of the damning of the river was it possible to have stability. Ann and Roy Butler were important to the creation of the trail. In 1971, Roy Butler was elected mayor of Austin he and  with Lady Bird Johnson, Ann Butler, and others created the Citizen’s Committee for a More Beautiful Town Lake along the banks of the formerly known “Town Lake.” It is known today as Lady Bird Lake and it use to be barren and overrun with weeds. The beautification of the hike and bike trail was a vision of Lady Bird. On a trip to London Ann meet Lady Bird at their hotel they looked the Thames Path (a greenbelt) And wondered if something like this could be built along Austin’s Town Lake. They asked Mayor Butler if it were possible and he said yes. Decades afterwards the trail remains as a testament to those that had a vision and worked hard to create it.

It was a hot and sunny day with temperature at 93 degrees. So I did a loop around the trail Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge to I-35 which was 4.13 miles on the trail. So I noticed that there was a lot of aquatic plants and cypresses along the banks of the lake.  I also noticed that a lot of the landscape was mostly native plants. I passed by Auditorium Shores which is a big lawn for dogs and humans. I passed under Ann Richards  (Congress) Bridge and could hear the bats sleeping. The bat colony under that bridge is the world’s largest urban bat colony. Along the the Boardwalk there was restoration delta from Blunn Creek I saw ducks and turtles and a variety of aquatic plants. Further down there were these cliffs there wasn’t much plants but there was some Loquats which are bright yellow fruit that provides food for the wildlife. As I crossed I-35 I could get a good view of Lady Bird Lake. I detoured from the trail I I went to Mexican American Culture Center and watched an environmentally themed documentary. On the downtown side of the trail there was defiantly more urban noises (cars).  There was not much wildlife except for the birds and squirrels. At the base of the Pfluger Bridge it was really cool, and on the bridge there were flower bed that had  a variety of native plants.

The next day I was able to go Bauerle Ranch Park in the early morning. My plan was to see the sunrise sadly it was cloudy. There was a field of lavender and Mexican hats. There were also something that looked like soap bubbles and its spittlebug larva. I recoded the sounds of the morning which included songbirds and crickets chirping sadly the file was too big to upload. I went to the creek and there was no water. I also saw some deer. Overall I have seen the transformation the park has undergone from winter to spring. How it became vibrant and green within one semester. .

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Boardwalk

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So what was my time in the parks it was beautiful to spend time in nature. Walking around the park was a great way to de-stress and a pIMG_0900erfect place to think. To see the changes from month to month. When spring came around there was the wildflowers blooming.  The changes that took place from winter to spring.

Mexican hat
Mexican hat

 

Water was a big issue too since it is part of Slaughter Creek system too though the creek was mostly dry during the time period except that one time it rained a lot. To notice the wildlife around you. I enjoyed going to the park every week it was a great experience. It was a positive experience that enjoy doing

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