We’ve all walked around Lady Bird Lake. We’ve all driven over Lady Bird Lake. Have you ever actually been on Lady Bird Lake? This weekend rent a canoe or kayak and enjoy Lady Bird Lake from the water.
Two special events are taking place at the Texas Rowing Center (TRC) located across from the Austin High School track. On Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 to Noon the 2010 World Marathon Canoe/Kayak Team Trials will take place. This is your chance to watch a world class paddling race. Racers will complete multiple loops of a course that includes a portage at the TRC dock. Following the race on Saturday evening TRC is hosting their second Moonlight Festival of the year. Matt Knifton, owner of TRC, has planned a pot-luck dinner followed by a paddle down Lady Bird Lake to watch the Mexican Free-tail bats emerge from the Congress Avenue Bridge. Call 512-467-7799 for more information. I highly recommend programs and camps from Texas Rowing Center!
Another place that offers bat-watching tours is Austin Kayaking Tours, 512-804-2122. I’ve never tried them but they sound great. Their tours are available Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 6:30. They meet at Joe’s Crabshack then paddle up the water to see the bats going overhead!
You can also contact Keep Austin Beautiful and volunteer to help clean up Lady Bird Lake on Father’s Day 2010. I made a reservation for 2 on a Kayak to help with the clean up. The Kayak is free and my daughter gets to spend Father’s Day with her dad on a kayak cleaning up the Lake we all love. Win-Win!
What is Lady Bird Lake?
Created in 1959 as a part of the Highland Lake Chain on the Colorado River, Lady Bird Lake is really a 5.4 mile reservoir! It’s Eastern boundary is the Longhorn Dam and the Western boundary is the Tom Miller Dam. On July 26, 2007, the Austin City Council renamed Town Lake to Lady Bird Lake.
In my part of town, the storm drains carry run-off straight to a creek. The creek then runs directly into Lady Bird Lake/Colorado River. Our drinking water is collected from the dammed-up Colorado, treated and then carried through pipes into homes and offices. The City of Austin Watershed Protection Department is a great resource for teaching kids and grown-ups how to help keep our rivers clean. I called them today and they are sending me a sign to install on the storm drain in front of my house that says, “No Dumping, Drains to Creek”. I think learning about run-off and water pollution will be my summer project–my kids and I love town lake and Barton Springs–we need to learn how to take care of them. Who knows, maybe when they apply to college in 10 years they’ll have something to write about in those essays!
