John and I were up early as we did not want to be late our first day on the job as hotshot parts delivery men for O’Reilly Auto Parts in Lawton, OK. We made the first of many trips driving the parts from O’Reilly’s in Lawton to Dale at L&L Farm Supply Tire in Chattanooga, OK, a distance of about 25 miles one-way. We dropped off the last parts under the K2R2 after L&L had closed at noon and headed back to the refuge for a couple of days of hiking, bird watching, and general camping fun. We made a quick auto tour of the refuge that afternoon.
We drove to the Quanah Parker Dam where we were greeted by the State reptile of Oklahoma, the Eastern Collared Lizard who kept an eye on us while we hiked around the dam bird watching.
Then we made a stop at the Refuge headquarters and drove to the top of Mount Scott overlooking Lawton, OK and the two beautiful lakes below, Lake Elmer Thomas Lake and Lake Lawtonka.
Then we drove into the quaint resort town of Medicine Falls below the dams of Elmer Thomas Lake and Lake Lawtonka located on the eastern edge of the refuge. After that we made it back to our campground for the night.
We set out after John cooked a wonderful breakfast that fueled our day. We made a quick stop at “Heart Rock” for some lovebird photos and then drove on to Post Oak Waterfall. This beautiful grotto is located about a mile up along Charon’s Garden Trail. We proceeded with some trepidation not wanting to meet the “ferry man of the dead” anywhere along Post Oak Creek. The falls were running pretty well after all the recent rain.
The trailhead for the second hike that day up to the top of Little Baldy mountain is located on the campground loop. Little Baldy Mountain trail is about one mile roundtrip and offers great full 360 degree views of Quanah Parker Lake and the main valley of the refuge. It is the one hike in the refuge that is mandatory. It had been a beautiful day!
The next morning the sunrise looked to be wet and stormy. We picked up the van a little after noon and it was raining on Dale while he was trying to buckle up the final repairs.
We got back to the campground and picked up the Girls and the Casita and departed. It felt good to be back in the K2R2 and rolling again. Heading west towards Palo Duro Canyon State Park as we drove across the cattleguard in the refuge’s western entrance John told me to pullover on the walkie-talkie. When we got out of the vehicles they told us that something had come up at home and they were going to have to head back to Tennessee. It would be 128 days later before we would be once again continue our great western trip. And this time it was going to be even better!
3 Responses
I had no idea that Oklahoma had that much to offer in just one little area. And no where better than rural middle America to find the kind of help you all came across. They still to this day probably talk about the K2R2 Incident
Tom, Patty, Cynthia, John can meet us and you little tent there sometime! I didn’t post the pictures John took of the elk!
We can hit that right before Caprock and Palo Duro Canyon