Tag Archives: Oklahoma

Skywatch Friday – Geocaching in Tulsa

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Last week one day I started with a hike with a friend of mine on the Mooser Creek Greenway. A three mile double loop where we heard a ton of birds and saw no other people.

I went home, got cleaned up, and headed out to Tulsa County’s Chandler Park in far northwest Tulsa for a meeting with an environmental non-profit that I volunteer for. After the meeting I checked my phone for nearby geocaches and sure enough there was one about 60 feet away. It actually was not where the cache was but there is some information on the sculpture one needs to determine the coordinates. Which I did.

There was another cache nearby where there are a lot of cliffs. I’ve looked for it off and on over the years because I don’t want to be climbing rocks or trees. But I decided to take a different tack on finding it and so I went down to the Lost City Trail.

The lost city trail winds in and out of the cliffs and is just plain beautiful. A scene or two in the movie “Flowers of the Killer Moon” were shot in areas of the trail.

There are steep cliffs and overhangs and all sorts of interesting stuff.

I find doing the shots over my shoulder seem to show the height of the cliffs better than straight on shots. Maybe its the sense of scale works better.

The clue for the cache is that it is in a hole. You know how many holes are in that cliff face? A bunch!! None of which I want to stick my hand into without knowing that is there. I took photos of various holes, none of which yielded anything. So I continue in not finding this cache.

I also tried my hand a few caches along Route 66 as it goes through Tulsa. One of which was associated with this sculpture.

And another one associated with this sculpture right across the street from the Eagle sculpture. Route 66 for some reason has all sorts of various

Tulsa's First Oil Well Historic Marker

And further east along US 66 there is another geocache associated with this plaque commemorating the first oil well drilled in Tulsa County. Tulsa used to be center of the oil industry in the United States and called themselves, “The Oil Capital of the World.”

So I had a pretty good time on a great day in some bright sunshine under clear skies.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Check the Geocaching.Com website to get information about it.

Skywatch Friday – Pearl Jackson Crosstimbers Preserve

Earlier in February on a nice day a group of volunteers from the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition joined staff members from the Nature Conservancy to do some trail work the Conservancy’s newest preserve in Oklahoma, the Pearl Jackson Crosstimbers Preserve in Creek County, Oklahoma, just 20 or so miles from Tulsa. The Preserve, which is not yet open to the public, is 12,000 acres of hickory and oak intermixed with tallgrass prairie. The previous landowners had used fire to control invasive species and the land is in really good shape. The man who donated, what had been a ranch, to the Conservancy gave up fortune in development. Such generosity blows my mind.

So we all met in the Conservancy’s office on the property and got a briefing on the work to be done. The staff had started a rough trail from a proposed trailhead to a sporadic waterfall. So we were going to take loppers, saws, axes, pick axes, and other tools to remove limbs blocking the way and rocks that were on the trail. The trailhead was about a mile from the office so we shuttled people down there in four wheel drives.

My Subaru, with 77,000 miles, finally got a little mud on it as I took people down to the trailhead.

So we took off down the proposed trail doing our thing. I am guessing the trail was about a mile.

The land is gorgeous. Very rocky and extremely old hickory and oak trees.

Down at the waterfall. No water over it today as it hadn’t rained recently.

And here is the intermittent waterway that bring water to the waterfall.

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Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition Photo

And a good time was had by all. The staff said that they plan to open portions of the preserve to the public but they have a lot of issues to work out beforehand. I’m guessing that it is going to be a least a year or two.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Saturday’s Critters – The Bison Herd at Lafortune Park

There is a bronze bison herd at Tulsa’s Lafortune Park. They added on to it a few months ago and I finally went over to see it.

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Bison make for great sculptures because they look so powerful and they have this sense of movement even when they are standing still.

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Sorry for the bad focus!

So these new additions look great and complement the others already there.

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And everyone loves the “Red Dogs” the bison calves who play and cavort just like their real life counterparts do.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out.

Skywatch Friday – Warming up to Icy Reflections

The weather is warming up fast these days. Just ten days ago we had snow everywhere, now it is almost all gone and we have balmy temps. These pics are from a hike about a week ago around Tulsa’s Lafortune Park on their 3 mile path.

My favorite tree at Lafortune Park. It makes for a great photo all four season. I love the reflections as well. We have a little ice in this photo.

And a little bit more ice near the playgrounds.

And at the duck pond.

backyard sunrise

And a decent sunrise from our backyard. Our little terrier Sadie gets me up every morning for the sunrise.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Hiking the Keystone Ancient Forest’s Falls Trail

Me and a friend of mine have been going hiking together Friday mornings for a few months. Mainly on Turkey Mountain but we have branched out to the Mooser Creek Greenway and Oxley Nature Center. Early this month we decided to tackle the Falls Creek Trail at the Keystone Ancient Forest about 20 miles or so northwest of Tulsa. I have hiked some of the trails there and late last year participated in a trail cleanup day there but have never hiked the Falls Trail which is supposed to be very difficult.

So we got to the visitor center and was perusing the map when one the volunteers came out and we talked about the trail. He said parts of it were really difficult and rough but doable. On the map above the Visitor Center is at the upper right hand corner where the yellow and red trail come together. The Falls Trail is the orange trail that loops off of the red trail. The Falls Trail map is kind of scraggly. My experience is that trails that look scraggly on a map are pretty rough on foot.

So we walked down to the trailhead for the Falls Trail and ran into this warning sign. The guy at the visitor center said that they have quite a few rescue calls from the Falls Trail but that is mainly in the summer. He said people head in without water and not properly prepared and run into trouble.

The first mile or so was just winding through the woods but soon enough we encountered rocks and erosion and unstable footing. Onward we went, slowly. My hiking buddy moved way ahead of me as I was tip toeing through the rocks.

Here is a little overhang we encountered. I took a photo of this, and then I guess that I forgot about because I hit my head on it as I was going slowly watching my feet. It knocked me back and I lost my balance and fell on my back. No harm though, I wasn’t going fast so I didn’t even have a headache. I had a big bruise on my back. So I picked myself up and kept on going.

We went along a couple of ravines with some cool rock formations across the way.

My phone camera doesn’t give a good sense of the depth. There was probably about a 30 foot or so sheer drop off from the trail.

There was some water pooled up at the bottom of the ravine. I think the Falls are sporadic depending on recent rainfall.

This is the main falls. As you can see it is pretty dry. There is a pretty good dropoff on the other direction.

Past the Falls the trail was a lot easier. We took the clockwise direction on the trail. Turns out a friend of mine used to lead hikes at Keystone. He told me that most people take the clounterclockwise route to access the falls and then return the same way rather than complete the loop encountering the rough and rocky trails on the clockwise direction.

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So we had a lot of fun and enjoyed a scenic and challenging trail. So we’ll have to figure out where to go next.

The Keystone Ancient Forest is owned by the Nature Conservancy and administered by the Sand Springs, Oklahoma Parks and Recreation Department. Check their web site before you go because access, although free, is only open for certain hours per day. It’s a popular place on nice weekend days and their parking lot can fill up so plan accordingly. They have other easier trails to hike if you want to do something not quite as challenging as the Falls Trail. They even have an ADA compliant trail designed for wheelchair access and they have a couple of all-terrain track chairs to ensure access for everyone regardless of mobility issues.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday.

Dirty Window Cross Country Road Tripping Skywatching

We drove from Tulsa to Colorado Springs last week. The drive takes all day. My wife and I take turns with the driving. When I’m driving, I just drive. When she is driving, I google all the small towns we pass and give her interesting (to me its interesting) tidbits about the town’s history, attractions, or culture. When I’m not doing that, I take photos.

The entire trip is across the Great Plains of the Midwest. To many they are very boring. I love them. I look for things. Is the land grassland or crops? I’m on the lookout for pipeline infrastructure and try and guess if it is for liquids or natural gas. I also look for wind farms. About 11% of our electrical needs come from wind. Think about all the carbon dioxide not being put into the air because of windfarms. That number is from 2022. I bet it is more than that now.

I love grain elevators. They are so photogenic. When you are up close and have good light. Not so much when you are shooting through a dirty window.

I love hay bales as well. There are hay bale enthusiasts that regard them out the field as an art form. I guess I can see that. Back when I was building pipelines I talked to a lot of farmers about all sorts of things and cutting and baling hay was fascinating. If you don’t let the hay dry out enough before baling it, it will have spontaneous combustion and start on fire where it is. Hopefully in a field, if you are unlucky it will be on your trailer or truck. Just one of the many useless little farming tips I picked up while buying pipeline right of way.

Most of the drive was in Kansas. I love Kansas, especially the work I did there. The thing about Kansas and business is that Kansas likes to protect Kansas based businesses and everybody can look out after themselves. That’s why I called Kansas, the People’s Republic of Kansas. Sometimes I think they took their protectionism a little too far. It’s a nice state though and the people are great.

And cows, there are lots of cows in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. I’ll give you a fun fact about cows that I bet you didn’t know. They only cows that fall into open pipeline ditches and die are prize breeding stock. At least that was what ranchers would tell me when I was trying to settle damages. Yep, they drove all the way to Maine to buy the animal, paid $50,000 dollars for it. For some reason though the cow on the bill of sale is a different color than the cow in the ditch. Ranchers tell me that can happen though. (Actually, 99,9% of ranchers are honest and just want to be treated fairly, but every once in a while you get “that guy.”

And trucks, freeways have lots of truck traffic. I have lots of stories about truckers from back when I was working. Most of them are pretty boring so I’ll spare you.

And then the sun started going down. Sunset lasted a long time.

I like road trips. The wife not so much. I get it.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – A Fall Outing at Oxley Nature Center

Last Sunday morning, I attended Church of the Trees at Oxley Nature Center.

I saw the light right after I started. I loved the sun in the forest and I love the poem that a former “Artist in Residence” at Oxley wrote.

I love short poems. I really like the title of this one, “Sunfall.” There is a reason we need to have poets. They know what to call things, and how to describe them.

Found me a new favorite tree.

And instead of stained glass we had the light filtering through these leaves.

I loved the light on the trees bordering a water pipeline right of way in the park.

And another long boardwalk.

And a maple leaf near the end of my walk.

And bonus video content, only 71 seconds long.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Backyard Bonanza 5K Race

Last week I decided to participate in a Trail Race, the Backyard Bonanza 5K at Lubell Park in Tulsa. You notice I didn’t say “run” because I was going to walk it. I figured I could walk the 5K. I hike that much once or twice a week these days.

I get there bright and early in the morning. It was 36 degrees so it was a little nippy. No wind and clear skies, so sign me up.

I brought my electric heated vest that Heather bought me for Christmas a couple years ago. Nothing but the best for me.

Plus they had a fire going. It was very warm.

Getting instructions about the race just before the start.

There were two other concurrent races going on at the same time. A 25K and a 12K or something like that. They started earlier. That is the thing about trail races. Most of them are like that so you can run as long as you want or go shorter.

Since I was walking I went through the starting gate last. I managed to hold that position for the rest of the race.

The woods were beautiful and I just went into meditation mode being aware of the sun on my face and the various sounds I was hearing and making sure of my footing.

This little tipi structure has been at Lubell for years.

The course was pretty good. Not many rocks and good swithbacks going up and down the hills. Well marked. I’ve gone off trail a couple times during trail races. Easy to do if you are not paying attention. That can be disconcerting back where you are supposed to be.

And before I knew it, the Finish Line!!

Alan Race 2

The race photographer caught me at the end in my electric vest and my number 61 tag. I love prime numbers so I was proud of my 61. I was also representing the Dallas Cowboys!

Chatted with a few people and had some pancakes that they were making. That is the other thing about trail races. They generally feed you pretty good. They also had chili but I wasn’t in the mood.

And here is the route. Started and ended in Lubell Park with an incursion into the Mooser Creek Greenway. The only thing better than trails is interconnected trails like Lubell and Mooser Creek. Notice that the distance is 3.9 miles which is more than a kilometer longer than a 5K. That’s the other thing about trail races, the distances are approximate because they use existing trails. Part of the charm in my book.

Alan Race 1

And here I am. I won my age group in the 5K. In fact I was the only one in my age group in the 5K. It was a fun time.

After chatting with more people I headed home.

I’ll be back next year! I have to defend my title if nothing else.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday.

Kodi and Lizzy Portraits andMore!

Our Pomeranian, Kodi. A tiny little dog with big feelings!

Lizzy the cat, the matriarch of our pets. We have another dog, Sadie who never sits still. Lizzy is Sadie’s favorite squeaky toy.

A pig chef on Route 66 in Tulsa. I love the silliness of route 66 attractions.

And a retired carousel horse getting new life on Route 66. It’s ready to ride. I also love the metal cactus to the left. The 100th anniversary of Route 66 is next year I think. It’s going to be epic in Tulsa.

I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out. All sorts of talented photobloggers participate.

Skywatch Friday – Williams Crossing Bridge

I was at Tulsa’s Gathering Place Monday evening for a presentation having to do with Monarch Butterflies. After the presentation I wandered over to the nearby Arkansas River to see what I could see.

The Williams Crossing pedestrian bridge was open and all lit up. Just using my old iphone I took a few photos. They are not too bad. This is a view from downstream of the bridge.

And the view from upstream. The lights reflect nicely on Zink Lake.

Across the way, on the downstream side, is Public Service Company of Oklahoma’s Tulsa Power Station. An ancient old plant that is still active. Long time ago I worked for the pipeline company that delivered natural gas to the plant. It was always the last plant to come on during high demand periods and the first to be turned off when electric requirements tailed off.

I went kayaking on the Arkansas River’s Zink Lake last fall and got this photo of the bridge and power plant together.

The Williams Crossing bridge replaced and old railroad bridge that got converted to pedestrian service back in the 1980’s I think. It was a pretty cool structure itself. Here is a photo from before it was demolished to make way for the new bridge.

Pedestrian Bridge-Edit
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I checked on construction on the new bridge pretty frequently. About once a week or every other week depending on the season. Like all construction it seemed to go slow.

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I’d love to learn how to operate the machines.

I just love bridges. What can I say?

Linking with Skywatch Friday