On my weekend geocaching/camping trip last Sunday to Oklahoma’s beautiful Osage Hills State Park, I got up early Sunday morning, struck camp and went down to Sand Creek and took a few pics. Fall is not very advanced here but that didn’t matter. The light Sunday morning was magical so I walked and hopped the rocks along the rapids of the creek taking pictures. With this one I was going to crop the the shadow selfie out but what the heck. I’ll leave it in.
Lookout Lake at Osage Hills State Park. The weather was windy and very warm but we still had big fluffy clouds and blue sky.
We still don’t have too much Fall Color here in Oklahoma except for certain pockets like I found this past weekend. True confessions I applied a texture to cheat a little bit. I hope that you don’t mind.
Those of you who know me, know that I’m a Geocacher. The Tulsa Area Geocachers have an annual event in the Fall that they have at various State Parks in Oklahoma and this year they went to one of my favorite spots in Oklahoma, Osage Hills State Park up in Osage County. It is a beautiful wooded, hilly location with lots of camping spots and a friendly accommodating staff.
Heather and Logan stayed home. They hate geocaching. Hate might be too mild a word for their feelings about it. So I went by myself.
So it was fun finding the various temporary caches placed by the participants. Some of the people are diabolically clever.
Osage Hills is known for having the remnants of a Civilian Conservation Commission camp built back in the 1930’s to house young men who helped build the facilities still used at the park.
Here is a link to an interesting short blog post about the history of the CCC at Osage Hills. I learned that the camp was active from 1935 to 1941. Its amazing that so much remains 75 years after the camp ceased operation.
Mainly I wandered the trails. I didn’t encounter many other geocachers as I started with the furthest removed caches and worked back and was more interested in taking pictures anyway.
I found the camp dynamite hut. It looks solid enough still, except for the roof.
I loved Lookout Lake. No geocachers here, just fishermen.
Found me a little critter. He told me he wasn’t a geocache.
The next day I got up early and went out to Sand Creek to take some photos. One of the prettist places in the state as far as I am concerned.
And then I drove out to the nearby Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. I always love the wide open spaces with rolling hills and the bison.
I’ve never been able to photograph the feeling of exapanse of this place. It is almost 40,000 acres.
It is huge and goes on forever.
And then I drove down to Woolaroc, Frank Phillips’ (of Phillips Petroleum) country place. Woolaroc is an acronym for “Woods, Lakes,and Rocks”. He has a first class western art museum, a buffalo herd, and all sorts of other stuff that an oil gazillionaire needs.
And a barn for the the critters. I love the barn.
And the landscaping (rockscaping).
And the Native American design motif. I know its cultural misappropriation but I still like it.
And then I went home. But I had a great time.