Krause Springs Swimming Hole Paradise

On our last day in Austin, the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun was warm on our faces. We were gonna find ourselves a swimming hole.

Our good friends (and talented designers) Karen and Tabie of Two Arms Inc. happened to be in town from New York to sell their hand-printed posters at Flatstock. They came by that last day for a tour of the Airstream and we all decided to check out Krause Springs, a swimming hole just 15 minutes up the road from our campsite in Spicewood, Texas.

We picked up necessary provisions at a gas station on the way. And by necessary provisions, I mean a styrofoam cooler with ice, Tecate michelada tallboys (which were surprisingly tasty and refreshing), and lots of chips.

Once we arrived, we walked through the garden that had wind chimes hanging from nearly every tree limb through the man-made pool area, which is fed by several of the thirty-two springs onsite. From there, you can walk down steep slippery stairs carved out of the rock to get to the natural pool. Unless you're an exceptionally clean person and don't like to have any fun, the natural pool is the place to be.

The idyllic pool, a cool (but easy to acclimate to) 70 degrees year round, is surrounded on one side by trees and large rocks to sun yourself on. The other side is a tall rocky cliff, complete with waterfall, mossy grotto, and a rope swing.

This place was fucking awesome, especially for four New Yorkers who can't possibly fathom the idea of swimming outside in March, let alone in a natural spring. We had died and found heaven in the Hill Country of Texas. We found ourselves a spot, laid down our towels, stripped down to our bathing suits and cracked open a cold one.

We spent the afternoon swimming in the cool waters of the pool, showering ourselves underneath the waterfall, jumping off cliffs, getting a little tipsy and best of all - flinging ourselves into the water from the rope swing. We felt like little kids again. Little kids who are allowed to drink beer.

The only bad part? Rope swinging made us feel old. Real old. It's easy when you're a fifty pound child to wildly propel yourself into the water via rope-tied-to-a-tree-limb. But when you're a large adult whose lost a lot of that upper body strength and that boundless energy that children have…it hurts the next day. All over, everywhere for days. That, and we came home exhausted and burnt like lobsters (so easy to forget that darn sunscreen).

But we were the happiest of campers, it was the best day of our trip. We got to spend our last day in Austin in an incredible natural place with the loveliest weather, acting like kids with some really great friends. Thanks again Karen and Tabie for an excellent day!