Sunday I decided to explore a new area with Logan. It is the land west west of Chandler Park is far northwest Tulsa. I was inspired by the facebook posts of TrailZombie Ken who is my guide pretty much for anything having to do with trails and trailrunning in Oklahoma.
We start out at the very southwest end of Chandler Park and cross the gate and head down the road. The first thing you run into is this sign. This is the Compass Industries Landfill EPA Superfund Site. A gazillion dollars was spent cleaning up “…620,000 cubic yards of solid, liquid and sludge wastes, including acids, caustics, solvents and potentially carcinogenic materials” in a former limestone quarry. The cleanup was paid for by the polluters themselves but all that stopped in 1995 and now we taxpayers get to pay for cleanups. I guess because it is unfair to ask the polluters to pay the expenses. It might cut into their campaign contributions budget or something.
We go a little further and we find the that the fence has been breached in a major way. I wonder what kind of morons trespass out there on a regular basis?
Shortly thereafter the trail gets away from the site and continues on west. We only saw one other person during our outing. Turkey Mountain is great but on nice weekends some of the main trails get crowded and Logan doesn’t like the constant bikers coming up behind us. No traffic problems at Chandler Park, yet.
And then it got a little rocky and I spent 40 fruitless minutes looking for a geocache and we continued our trek until the trail looped around to Avery drive.
We took a little break and then decided to head back on a different route.
If it looks steep, it is.
Just ask Logan, he’ll tell you.
We got into some of rock formations that make Chandler popular with the local bouldering and climbing enthusiasts. We are not into any of that.
Logan took a picture of the old man in full nerd regalia standing on a rock.
So it was a nice easy out and back introduction. I can see when daylight savings time returns that I’ll be coming out here some to do my Wednesday night runs. The area is lots bigger than Turkey Mountain but literally about 1% as many people. I’ll be learning the trails and looking forward to it.
Timely column today in the Tulsa World: Do we even need Chandler Park? I say yes!!
Have you been anywhere new lately?
My goodness….Logan is growing and becoming a very handsome gentleman!!
That looks like a good workout for sure with all the climbing.
Loved your remarks about the ‘clean up’ responsibilities and politics. That’s SO me…I could’ve said the very words.
Sounds good that you’ve found a new place to run once Daylight Saving Time begins. Hmmmm. Methinks you might be cynical about the collusion between big companies and politicians.
Looks like a nice place for a hike.
A great hike for the day!! I always enjoy seeing your pics of Logan and he is growing up!!! A handsome young man he is indeed!! I hope you both have a great new week!!
It looks dry! That sorta surprises me. Also looks like a place with enough challenge to it to make it fun for a young man and his dad!
Looks like you and Logan had an adventure and found a new place to jog ~ Great post and photos ~ thanks ~ ^_^
Happy Week to you ~ ^_^
I see you have that fine swollen felt hat on your head. I love how you and Logan have such a nice time going out hiking together. Both of my boys brew up on trails, and now Gene has Eloise on the trail all the time. It si just a way of life for us. We started taking her before she could walk. I like the idea that someone online is your “guide.” I told Buddy that he ought to start doing that. He knows every trail there is in this area and others. Such an interesting post with fine shots.
It must be fun having a trail buddy!
Nice day out with nature.
If you and I polluted we’d have to pay for it no doubt. Could the breached fence let in ATVs? Nice trail, just don’t trip on the rocks. 😉
Time well-spent, even if no ‘cache’ was found.
Glad you got to spend time with your family, Yogi.
Have a Beautiful Day!!
Peace 🙂
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Not an easy hike? Quite a workout or so it seems.
great hike.
Great father-son memories. A great hike.
I love being able to generate a little map of where I’ve walked. It makes me feel like I accomplished something.
Some things never seem to change. The west side of Tulsa has always seemed to be a bit on the neglected side and Chandler park is a prime example. Does Tulsa need Chandler Park? Absolutely! Once it’s gone…it’s gone and would never be replaced. I do think it needs to be made a little more user friendly, but there is no way that it needs to be abandoned.