Indian Blanket Flower

After I found the bridge I went to Cimarron Grasslands which was filled with flowers, especially blanket flowers. The hiking there is always funny because you lose the trail as often as you find it. I stepped on a cactus and I got a thorn in my toe. The trail I took is about 10 miles long. The only real places to stop are when a service road intersects the trail which happened once (and did not happen as soon as I would have liked after the thorn in my toe). I hardly made a dent in the ten miles-- I took about 2 miles of the trail before turning around and hiking the same two miles back. The weekend I went it was between 75 and 80 degrees. As usual I didn't see a soul. My one regret about these photos is imagining what they would look like with the dawn's light. I'm going to have to wake up earlier someday.

WPA bridge

This is the WPA bridge in Morton County. I decided to find it a couple of weekends ago. It spans a fork of the Cimarron. Next time the Cimarron floods we should drive down to see it.
There is a sign marking the bridge so that you know you've found the right place.


This is not the right sign.


This is not the right road. I loosely copied the directions off of this website (my ineptitude should in no way reflect poorly on the website. What I wrote for directions read like this "N. Rich 4 W. 6 then N. Turn at a bridge.") It would be easier if I had GPS, but where would be the fun? This pictured path actually gets worse. Much worse. I wasn't taking pictures during the drive time when I was nearly high-centered. This may prove the point that I ought to have an exploring companion to read signs like NO VEHICLES BEYOND THIS POINT. When I'm alone I completely miss them.

North

It's been a strange spring. It never seems to be warm on the weekends, but I decided that the spring time hike was necessary. So despite temperatures that were not as warm as I would have liked (though very pleasant) and clouds, I found my way to Scott Park. I posted pictures a couple of years ago with a more detailed account. This time the pictures are for fun, and it's less of a tour.

The yellow flowers are from the top of the little path I climbed. Below is the path I climbed to the
top of the ridge below the top. (Hopefully that makes sense.) You can't really tell from the picture, but the climb was a little bit steep. I don't usually have a desire for the steep climbs, but last weekend I wanted to feel my feet slipping out from underneath me. I wanted to flex my calves and force my feet to stop when all of gravity was against me. I wanted to scrape my hands on the rocks as I searched for my next foothold. It felt good.

Spring

I'm not sure if I go to Scott Park at the wrong times, but it's never as green as I think it should be. Nevertheless, there were some sweet bloomy moments on the path. I know my hand looks gigantic in the picture, but it's just a regular sized hand next to tiny daisy-like flowers. Aren't they adorable?

Black and White in a Grey World

There's a bird in the last one. I spent a little bit of time writing. I spent some time getting wet. I took a picture of the dead yucca (which I thought was beautiful) because there weren't any live blooms.

a segue from poetry to hiking photos.

I went to the grocery store tonight. I brought a list. I brought two tote bags and filled them with lots of produce. I even bought a rotisserie chicken. They apparently go on sale after 8:00 pm or something. I haven't a clue the price of a fresh one, but a manger's special whole chicken is $3.99 if you are willing to wait until it's nearly not edible.

I got home with my items and made some potato-tomato galettes from a Martha Stewart recipe. They were yummy with the cheap chicken. And especially yummy with Shiner's Bohemian Black Lager, which is a favorite at the moment.

So amazing that I've eaten supper including a side from the oven and am now drinking a yummy beer. I think this might be the first successful night of adulthood I've had in several years.

Hopefully I'll be posting some hiking pictures soon. I went to Scott Park last weekend and may go down to Cimarron for the next. I'd like to go a bit farther for Memorial Day weekend... I want to drive a little farther and hike a lot longer. Any suggestions?