Hamilton Pool

I FINALLY made it to Hamilton Pool this last Wednesday. They have a 100 car limit and I had heard if you don't get there when they open there's always a wait. I finally threw in the towel and said decided to go later any way even if there was a wait because there was no way getting there at 9am was going to happen. Li and my sis joined Shawners and I and off we went. Thank goodness we did because we didn't get there until 12:30pm and there was still no wait!

On the way we stopped by HEB for tubes, beer, water, and chips. When we got there we paid our $8 parking fee, slathered on sunscreen, and made the hike down to the pool. I wasn't sure what to expect of the hike. I had heard parts of it were steep. Turns out the steepest parts had stairs built in so it wasn't bad at all.

On top of that, the walk was gorgeous with tall, beautiful cypress trees on one side

and huge textured rocks on the other.

They say it's a quarter mile, but knowing the pool is at the end combined with the feeling of being in another state entirely, it went by quickly.

We had blown up our tubes on the way and got in to float as soon as we got there. We were instantly awed by the beauty of the cave hanging overhead,

and the water falling down. Trickling is the best way to describe it, but there were about 200 trickles, so it definitely was a waterfall.

I can't wait to see it when it's really flowing! From the few pictures I had found before we went the cave really didn't look all that deep. In reality it was a lot deeper than I had thought. About half the pool is covered with the overhang of the cave and half is not.

Plus you can walk around the back of the cave with a mostly man made walkway. It's an absolutely gorgeous walk. The wetness inside the cave provides the perfect atmosphere for the lushest greenery. It looks like something one would find in Hawaii, not Texas.

There's even a little actual cave feeling part to walk through.

The view from the cave itself is the opposite view of the pool as you do when you first hike down, and is absolutely gorgeous.

One of my favorite parts is the rocky beach. There aren't many beach like areas in Austin. It's also the first thing you see when you arrive.

I had been warned of the sharp rocks, so I brought more than one towel to lay on top of each other for padding. It worked perfectly.

While we were there Univision's Leslie Montoya was filming a special on Hamilton Pool.

She asked for volunteers to be in the background and excitedly say Hamilton Pool! I was super nervous, but really who can pass up a fun experience like that? I convinced Li to join me and we laughed at ourselves while we did about six takes.

Later, , we enjoyed the picnic of strawberries, watermelon, turkey sandwiches, chips, and iced tea that I had brought.

We were having such a good girly conversation that the girl sitting on her beach towel in front of us had to turn around and comment on what a fun group we were.

A few minutes later Leslie walked over and asked if she could join our picnic and if they could film it for part of their segment to be able to show how fun it is to picnic there. Of course we said yes. We handed her a strawberry, talked and laughed some more, and they wrapped it up. I was a total dork and insisted on taking a picture with her. Unfortunately it didn't turn out that great! Also unfortunately, both Li and I missed the spot when it was on TV so I really have no idea what all even ended up on TV. I emailed Leslie and she's hoping to be able to get us a copy. Either way it was a totally fun experience!

Hamilton Pool is amazing. I'm so glad I finally went, and I can't wait to go back!