A “Moon Gate” to a trail system here in Tulsa. I think they are kind of cool. Like symbolically passing into another dimension. My hiking friend hates them and walks around them. This time I noticed afterward it made an oval shadow. If I was more on the ball I could have captured more of the oval than what I did.
And on the other side of the moongate, we got these shadows on the trail. This was the Thursday before the polar vortex and the temp was in the high 50’s.
Now it is about 7F and we have a few inches of snow. What a difference a day or two makes!
During a recent hike on the YMCA owned portion of Turkey Mountain I noticed that they had new trail signs. (I also noticed that I had grown taller and skinnier, I should hike more often in the late afternoon!) So I said to myself, hmm and looked on the other side of the sign.
It looks like Boy Scout Troop 20 had something to do with sign. Way to go guys (and gals as the BSA takes girls now.)
A very Merry Turkey Mountain Trail Christmas to all who celebrate the holiday.
A shadowy muddy trail on a hike I took the other day at Oxley Nature Center. It was early and I must have been the first one on the trail based on all the spider webs I walked through.
Went on another hike on Turkey Mountain. Right at the trailhead I saw this handsome bad boy. A Toyota Tacoma pickup heavy duty everything including a snorkel for the engine, beefed up bumper up front with extra lighting, tires that cost a mint. A very nice rig. And look the tires have a little dirt on them. Most overlanders I see are spotless.
The skies were gray on Sunday afternoon. That’s okay, I’ll take whatever kind of sky there is as long as the trails are not muddy.
Turkey Mountain has lots and lots of rocks!!
And lots of ponds. I learned something last year during a wildlife tour. The ponds are stocked every year with fish, which is great. Also, there is an active beaver population on the mountain but they are not spread out to all the ponds. They pretty much stay at one pond until they eat all the fish and then they travel overland to another pond to eat its fish. For some reason I think that is hilarious.
I used a combination of the new fancy trails and the some of the smaller, less known legacy trails. I was kind of hoping that I would see some deer but I did not.
Here is a smaller trail with some heavy duty rock armoring to prevent erosion. I think the people that run Turkey Mountain are shifting over to some smaller trails to accommodate those of us who like to travel on foot.
The trees are wild without their leaves. I love the trees in any of the season.
Here is a new windy trail that I encountered while heading back to the parking lot. I got a ways then oops, I found out it was not open yet. My bad. I try and follow all the rules.
Back at the parking lot at the trail head. Everybody had gone home and it started misting. I love weather like this.
Here is my route. The inner loop is where I hoped to find deer. I’ve learned that when there are not too many people, the deer will move north along the center of the circle. Not that day though!!
All told, despite the gray skies, I had a lovely time.
The forecast for Tuesday was snow starting late in the morning. I decided to skip my yoga class and go for a hike while the hiking was good. Turkey Mountain had closed their trails though and so I went over to nearby Bales Park to see if I could find the future connector pathway between Bales and Turkey Mountain. The two parks are separated by a freeway US 75 but I heard the highway department was going to put in a “shelf” or something on an overpass that could be used for a trail.
https://flic.kr/p/2odf1vU
Bales Park was empty, one other vehicle when I got there so I took off on their recently constructed trail. Bales has some of the most picturesque trees in Tulsa. I just love their shapes. The sky is kind of bleh but that’s okay. It is what it is.
I love the Bales Park wicket. I can see future trail runs here with maybe this the start and finish gate.
I meandered up the Ridge Trail that runs parallel to US 75.
I got to the vista at the top where three trails converge. You can also get a view of downtown Tulsa way off in the distance. I actually felt sorry for my former coworkers who are slaving away down there making sure that we have enough energy to power the economy, and provide a return to the shareholders but mostly to keep those pension payments coming!!
So I headed north along this old road, not on the designated trail. True Confessions. I was looking for a way to cut under US75 where it meets I44. But I ended up having to go off trail.
I got to me destination. The Feds are financing the construction of a new interchange at US 75 and I 44. All of Oklahoma’s congressmen are hurrahing the project. What they don’t say is that they all voted against it. But enough of that.
So I found where the new trail cuts under US 75. It’s almost like a road. Really nice.
So I got over to the other side of US 75 where the YMCA is and followed a trail there. They have put a disc golf course up. YMCA’s are multitaskers!! It looks like they leased a site for a billboard at the same location.
I couldn’t tarry so I didn’t spend too much time on the east side of US 75 so I doubled back across the trail under the freeway.
And back to Bales Park. I love the trees there. I hardly ever see anybody at Bales Park. On Martin Luther King’s birthday, Turkey Mountain’s parking lots were jam packed. My wife and I went to Bales Park and didn’t hardly see anybody the whole time we were there. I saw literally nobody today.
Lots of gray sky and beautiful trees though. That’s Turkey Mountain in the background.
So I see how they are going to connect Bales Park and Turkey Mountain via the YMCA. The freeway interchange construction is at a pause right now and I don’t know when they are starting back up but I don’t see the trail connections being made until the interchange is complete. Obviously I went across and anybody else can but there is really no trails to connect to on either side. Not everybody is going to be willing to overland it like I did.
Here is a map of my adventure. Only about two miles but a million miles of fun.
And a little video.
And a slick map from Garmin showing my travels. If you don’t map your adventures did they really even happen?
It’s Skywatch Friday time. My skies are gray but hey can’t all be blue skies or dramatic storm clouds. Gray clouds are part of the as well.
I see this sculpture ever year end. I always pay my real estate taxes at the last of the year and this sits right outside the Tulsa County Courthouse.
A week or two later I went hiking on Turkey Mountain. My outside time had been limited by a medical procedure on my face (I’m fine, really) where I had to stay out of the sun for a week, bad weather, my wife caught the flu, we got a new puppy, and my brother got covid. So things are looking up and I went outside in some sunny but nippy weather.
The trail builders on Turkey Mountain are putting in a long staircase from the top of the mountain down to the lower parking lot (don’t be too impressed, that’s about 335 feet, but still a big deal in Tulsa. I had to wibble wobble my route. The powers that be ask us not to walk on muddy trails, especially new trails, to keep them getting eroded so I kind of had to improvise a route.
On my route was this trail from the lower parking lot to the top of the mountain. It is bidirectional for people on foot and uphill only for mountain bikers. It looks like a hard go for them but hey they are tough.
And then here is a recently opened downhill only trail for intermediate level mountain bikers. No hikers allowed either way. The bikers fly down the hill and it is wise to keep people on foot out is what I think.
Here is the signage warning people of what they are getting into going down the trail. My modest biking skills and my bike with no suspension will not be on this trail or any other trail on Turkey Mountain. Gravity is not my friend!
And I found a cedar tree somebody decorated for Christmas. They are kind of fun especially if they take the decorations down soon after the holidays. Most people do, some don’t and these ornaments do not age well over time. They are not really “Leave No Trace” compatible.
Just a tad shy of 3 miles. A nice little outing after having been inside for weeks.
And guess, what I saw some flagging from the contractor building the trails. They are going to build more trails. More, more, more is my motto. When it comes to trails.
I am taking more skywatch photos from my front porch. Here is a recent one.
And here is another one.
And here is one of our house from the street. Yes I used a filter. I was trying to emphasize the lights.
Last Saturday I got up bright and early and headed out to Turkey Mountain to run the Tess 5K Trail Run sponsored by the Tristesse Grief Center here in Tulsa.
I decided to go ahead and do a video of the start. After I was done videoing I had to loop around the timer’s truck and across the starting line myself.
A treat for me on this race is that most of it was done on the brand new sustainable trails constructed in the last year. Especially nice was the new trail from the lower parking lot up to the upper level of Turkey Mountain. Those old trails have gotten worse and worse over the years. It got so bad that I hadn’t used them in a long time.
The new trails are like a super highway through the woods. Another benefit is the chances of getting ticks and chiggers from the grass is way less. Also it is easier to pass other people and there is lots of room for both bicyclists and hikers/runners on the trail.
Pretty soon I had passed a small bunch of people and was way behind the pack. That’s alright, I was looking for a great hike through the woods. My running days are over. I do admit though on the smooth slightly downhill stretches I did trot a bit. Probably not over three or four hundred yards total.
And here we split off from the superhighway headed to the left and headed right to one of the legacy trails.
And up the rock garden after we turned south. I got an impromptu invite to a private geological tour of Turkey Mountain last week. I learned that the trail above is caused by alternating layers of shale and sandstone. As the shale layers dissolve and wash away the brittle sandstone breaks and falls down forming a kind of steps. Yep, the steps are ankle breakers!!
I also learned the top of Turkey Mountain is 300 million years old and has been submerged and re-emerged under a huge inland sea five times by a combination of tectonic and weathering forces. The guy showed us rocks that used to be sand on a beach and lots of little fossilized shellfish embedded in the rocks. It was amazing.
Enough geology for now. We made the loop and headed down the superhighway to the finish. All I can say is that I finished vertically. I didn’t place in my age group. Last year I finished first in my age group. Oh well I finished.
It was a great race, it was easy to register and they had lots of volunteers helping out. Timing was by Tatur, the best in the business in my opinion. They had lots of snacks and water for the participants and I think everybody left happy I know I did.
They didn’t have beer this year so I had one at home later on. In fact I might have had more than one, I’m not sure. They had tshirts but they are mailing me mine as I registered a little too late to actually get a tshirt at the event.
I’ll be back next year, here is my post from the 2021 Tess Trail Run.
A big thank to the Tristesse Grief Center, their staff and volunteers who helped, Tatur Racing, and my fellow racers.
