35th/38th/38th 1/2 Walk Across Austin

In a cityful of lyricists it’s a shame that so many east-west streets on Austin’s north side unimaginatively bear only numbers as names. At least, the mildly meandering path from Tarrytown to Cherrywood gets to have THREE different number-names. And one of them is a fraction.

Thankfully, what makes for one freeway connoisseur’s shattered asphalt dreams left this road intact as a pleasant course for peramblers like us.

Beginning in the natural respite of Mayfield Park, our route (official walk map here) carries us alongside Tarrytown, over an urgent conveyer of shiny metal boxes (the Mopac), and over a sometimes-wet-sometimes-dry bed of limestone and claystone (Shoal Creek). Cleaving through Hyde Park and UT Campus, then over Waller Creek, 38 1/2th Street is one of the least harrowing ways to cross the I-35 before landing amidst the culinary pleasantries of Cherrywood.

Speaking of culinary pleasantries, it’s never too soon to start planning your next meal, even if it’s 120 meals (40 days) in advance at the time of writing this. Las Dos Fronteras, KG BBQ, Batch ATX could be good options for lunch at the end of the walk- we'll decide when we get there.

[cover photo by atmtx on Flickr, noncommercial license]

LOGISTICS:

• The #335 CapMetro bus travels east-west along our route every half hour
• I’m not an expert on parking lots, but I’ll assimilate any gathered wisdom from group members and post here. From a little internet research it looks there’s a little free residential parking east of the MoPac if you want to park near the walk start, but the eastern end in Cherrywood looks better.
• Mayfield Park seems like a nice place to explore if you arrive early- though the garden itself is often closed for special events