Sounds of the Desert

I'm going to be a bit lazy. This trip report is as written by BoomerHiker.

This weekend Camk24 made the journey from Ohio to Oklahoma to visit and take a trip to the Wichita Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. We both arranged to have Friday through Monday off, making for a nice 4-day weekend. It was still too short.

I picked Camk up at the airport Friday morning. I was a little loopy because I’d had three hours of sleep. She was a little loopy because she had to wake up at four a.m. So we took a nap before doing anything else.

Friday afternoon, we took a trip to Wal-Mart for food and other supplies. That was followed by a visit to my niece’s dance recital at a holiday parade, and a dinner at an Irish Pub. Okay, an Oklahoma version of an Irish pub.

Early… well, sorta early Saturday, we took off for the Wichitas. A three-hour trip, which could be surmised as hilly, flat, flat, hilly. We got there kind of late, and it was cold and cloudy, so we took a brief hike, and then got our camp site.

The Wichitas are an entirely different animal in the Fall. I couldn’t think of a time I’d been that it hasn’t been blazing hot. This time, it was chilly, and the tall grass was nice and brown, and the perfect color to catch the fall sun’s rays, and give Oklahoma something you’d never think it could have -- Alpenglow.

On our way to the campsite, we saw a sign that it was going to be a long night… Boy Scouts. There were like 30 identical tents. And a bunch of noisy scouts. On the other side of our walk-in campsite, a couple of noisy dogs. Camk and I made a deal to wait until late at night and murder the scouts and dogs if they kept up with the noise. Fortunately for them, they stopped.

Night time visitors

The campsite was kind of nice. It was really cold, so we made a fire, and roasted marshmallows (YES, I shared!), and grilled steaks, and baked potatoes in the coals. Yum.

Not too many more people wandered past our campsite, but a few deer did, followed by some armadillos. The first few ‘dillos that passed by, Camk couldn’t site them in time. Then she finally saw what I would learn was her first armadillo.

“Holy &^*$! What the *#&% is that?” she shouted as one of the ‘dillos scurried right through our campsite.

Breakfast the next morning was more open-fire cooking. Doughboys this time. Basically Pillsbury biscuit dough over a fire. It was still cold, so the fire was nice.

Camk and I took a brief stroll down to the restrooms, and spotted some more (or possibly the same whitetail) along side the road. Pictures ensued.

Finally, time to hike. Well, not quite yet. We had to pay a visit to our Prairie Dog friends. The sod poodles were out in full force Sunday, busy getting as fat as they could before winter. One started stalking Camk, and we weren’t quite sure what it would do when it caught her, so we left.

Charon’s Gardens

The Charon’s Garden’s wilderness area is a mix of rolling prairie, and quartz mountain, rugged rock, cacti, and cross timbers.

Washington Irving described the Cross Timbers as an “impenetrable forest of wrought-iron.” In short, they’re hard to walk through. The cacti aren’t easy either.

We set out for the boulder field, and after a brief detour, (note I didn’t say “lost”), we made it to the field. A valley, filled with car-sized boulders. Some rock scrambling, pictures, quiet moments, and time to head up Elk Mountain.

Up till this point, I was feeling guilty, because the one thing Camk hadn’t seen was a bison up close and personal. Well, wish granted. We were hiking up, with her in the lead, when she stops suddenly and gasps. I can’t figure out what’s wrong. Too cold for the rattlers to be out… Then I noticed -- hey! That boulder moved.

We almost stumbled right into a bison. The fellow was contentedly munching on some grass, not paying us any attention, but he was in no hurry to get off the trail. After some anxious moments, we backed away, and let him graze.

He stayed on the trail, and so deciding that discretion being the better part of valor, we headed back down the trail, leaving the summit of Elk Mountain for some other day.

After lunch (at Meers Burgers, where Camk had her first-ever Fried Okra (think about that -- never had fried okra before!)), we headed back to Sand Springs.

The night was capped with a late-night viewing of “Walk the Line,” then home to bed…

The next morning came all too soon, and it took us a while to get going.

Way too quickly, it was time for Camk’s flight to leave. Sad goodbyes, and a promise to do another trip soon, and my new favorite hiking partner left for Ohio.

Lessons learned:
It’s funny when people see armadillos for the first time.
I do share my marshmallows, but I hog covers in cold weather.
Fried Okra should be available to everyone, everywhere.
Hideaway pizza is really really good.
Crocs continue to fascinate me.
A healthy fear of bison is a good thing.
The Wichitas are a whole new world in the fall.

Links to pictures are below:
Boomer's Pictures
My Pictures