Nice guided hike

To all of you AustinExplorers wondering how to get access to this hike: they only allow you to hike the trails on guided hikes. The land was left to the Austin Community Foundation by Georgia Lucas, and she stipulated in her will that all hikes must be guided.

They always give guided hikes on the 2nd Saturday and the 2nd Sunday of each month at 9 am - or you can contact ACF to set-up an alternative time. Anyone want to set-up a AustinExplorer hike sometime? :-)  There is also going to be an Open House on Oct 23rd from 9a-1p for those interested. More info on all of this is found online: http://www.brightleaf.org/

Now, onto our hike: Including the two of us, there were seven hikers that showed up this Saturday. Nancy (from ACF) and Nancy (from Friends of Bright Leaf) were our guides. We hiked the major loop clockwise up to the top of Mt. Lucas (which is supposedly 39' higher than Mt. Bonnell). At the top, we got to see Georgia's "out of town" house, which has a stunning view of the lake and surrounding area.

Although we gained (and later lost) quite a bit of elevation, the trail was never very steep. This combined with the moderate pace of the group accounts for the lower difficulty rating. After the hike, neither of us were tired at all - just felt warmed up to do another, "real" hike. :-) However, we very much enjoyed this hike, the sights, and the knowledge shared by the Nancy's. We will definitely return.