Stairmaster indeed!
User:
jtkatie - 8/8/2010
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 5.00 Miles
Duration: 2 hours, 4 minutes
We agree with AustinExplorer, this is indeed a stairmaster and definitely the toughest hike that we have done so far in Austin! We scoffed at the idea that the "elevation gain" is 1800 feet... but considering all the up-and-down that you do throughout the hike, it certainly adds up (but probably not that much)!
We parked in the tennis court area and started at the Boardwalk entrance to the trail (waypoint "Trailhead"). Before starting our hike, we enjoyed watching the red slider turtles flock over to see if we had any food. At one point, we counted 11 turtles in the one little area right in front of us. People obviously feed them... which is sad, but it was pretty cool to see how many turtles were around.
Judging by the trail markers, from here it is about 3/4-mile to the Panther Hollow Junction. This is a nice stroll through the woods next to a creek. You can tell almost immediately that they put some effort into building this trail - from the sturdy and well-spaced steps to the wooden 'curbs' all along the trail. Along this stretch, we saw four humans and four dogs. After the junction, though, we saw no one else on the trail.
We hiked at a pretty quick pace, and made it almost all the way to the other side of the trail but had to turn back for time sake (at 7:46 pm, after about 1:10 of hiking). We did make it to the very beautiful overlook, which had to be at the highest point of the trail (as the trail headed downhill afterwards). Kicking ourselves for not bringing a camera, we headed back the way we came and finished at 8:37 – with just enough light to not warrant a flashlight.
We will definitely be heading back to this trail when we want some kick-butt exercise… or to train for Guadalupe peak. We figure if we can do the 10 miles that it would take to make two round-trips between the junction and the top trailhead, then that should set us up well for Guadalupe :-)
Stairmaster Stroll
User:
Austin Explorer - 7/24/2010
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 5.00 Miles
Duration: 3 hours, 23 minutes
Came back after about a week to complete this trail and it was worth it even with the high temperature and humidity today.
Why is this log rating the hike higher than my last visit? Because I finally got to the Upper Panther Trail segment where the roughest terrain is! I was surprised by the amount of elevation gain on the trail here. Lots and lots of stairs certainly made this trail a challenge to construct.
I spotted about six deer crossing the path at one point. Don't expect too much real solitude though, the trail is well used.
Interestingly, the trailheads have a set of wooden dowels that can serve as hiking poles. Feel free to grab one and return it to the holder at whatever trailhead where you end your hike.
Overall, this might very well be one of the better and toughest trails in the Austin area.
Found a couple of caches along the trail
User:
Austin Explorer - 7/17/2010
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Rating:
Difficulty:
Solitude:
Distance: 2.60 Miles
Duration: 2 hours, 22 minutes
My son and I hiked part of this trail and picked up a couple of caches along the way. Timing prevented us from completing it. We'll be back.