Summer trip day Thirteen, Bull Creek stay-cation
We arrived home early Sunday morning (also known as late Saturday night). Not wanting to waste the last day of vacation, we decided to find a swimming hole close to home. Bull Falls is just up the road from us and we'd never been. We UN-packed our swim suits and water shoes from the Vermont luggage and headed out.
Our first impression was positive, such natural beauty just up the road from our home. Then an empty bag of beef jerky floated near and I fished it out, stuffed it into my pocket. A woman with kids seated near me threw an empty juice pouch into the water near my feet. I picked that up and put it in my pocket. I collected an empty box of cigarettes from where we put our towel down... it soon became apparent that there was much more trash than I had pocket space.
People all over the creek were just tossing their trash on the ground and into the water, making no effort at all to clean up after themselves. PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT PEOPLE!
I saw one guy slip and fall, loosing one flip-flop in the process. He laughed as he took his remaining flip-flop and tossed it into the current. A girl nearby found a dirty sock had washed up on her arm, she laughed as she peeled it off and flung it back into the water. The banks of the creek were filled with empty beer and soda cans, a dirty diaper laid in a pool of water... and the piles were increasing quickly. One group of men in the water below the falls had lined up all their empty glass bottles on a ledge.
The falls above had about a ten foot drop. I made sure I kept the boys back. I saw people sliding down again and again, but the current was fast and it just takes one good bump on the noggin to turn a fun day in the water into something more serious. HOWEVER, I watched in horror as one mother dangled her toddler (wearing arm floaties) over the falls, and she just let go. WOOSH! The kids was maybe three or four years old... sink or swim buddy! Notice the shore above is lined with discarded flip-flops.
I also saw one guy slip and land on his elbow, it looked as though he dislocated his shoulder. He laid in the water for a while holding his arm. His wife came over and tugged and yanked on his arm for a while trying to correct the issue. Maybe he should be wearing real water shoes instead of flip-flops or bare feet after loosing the flip flops? FLIP FLOPS ARE NOT WATER SHOES PEOPLE!
it was a discouraging day back in Austin. It's not too much to expect people to clean up after themselves. Nobody likes it when the police jump out of the brush and start writing tickets, but the situation on Bull Creek needs supervision.