On this Earth Day 2015 I took a hike along Barton Creek. Spring rain has the creek running, so I embarked on the trailhead near Twin Falls. To do so these days, one parks near the southbound frontage road on MoPac near Loop 360. The first time I hiked to Twin Falls, in the summer of 1990, we parked on 360 across from the empty space which is now Barton Creek Mall.
Austin is always in a state of change but fortunately the greenbelts remain peaceful and nurturing Edenic nature refuges in our always growing city. Moving here from the arid flatland of Lubbock twenty-five years ago, many of the most uplifting memories of my life in Austin have arisen in the lush canyons and creek beds of our greenbelts, for me predominantly on Shoal Creek, Bull Creek & Barton. I even asked my wife to marry me on the Barton Creek Greenbelt.
After all these years of exploring the greenbelts, its various trailheads and side-paths, I still manage to discover new areas to explore. Last June 2014, I found an obscure trailhead in a Westlake neighborhood which led down to an area of the greenbelt unfrequented by most hikers and swimmers. In my solitude, I snapped some photos. The trees were dry but water was flowing. Later that September, I painted the painting featured on this page, entitled “Barton Creek West” 14×16 acrylic on panel board: This Item has SOLD. 4/26/15
