We arrived early on a Friday to find it packed. Every site taken. How odd. Come to find out there was, of course, a reason--the park that is nearby is closed because of the budget fight, and many schools are on their fall break.
We saw an empty field, so stopped at the park office to ask if we could dry camp there. The friendly woman called the park ranger who said that was fine as long as we didn't use a generator. It meant a half mile walk to the bathroom, but that was O.K.
There are RV campgrounds here, but to our way of thinking they are dreadful--small, crowded, and noisy. But that is what many people want and enjoy, and that's cool with us. We are happily stationed in an empty field, with no one else close, enjoying the Oklahoma trees. There is something for everybody here, but only because the park ranger is flexible. We love our spot.
From him we obtained a hiking map. A very good one.
The next morning we set out on our hike. We started at the trail head behind the small general store. We first took the Switchback Trail, about two miles. It was really a nice trail, through woods, open prairies, along bluffs, and through small creeks. Then we went to Inspiration Point, an overlook where one could see the entire lake and many miles beyond.
There were more sunflowers than we had ever seen.
Later we ran into the Ranger who said that the park was trying to emphasize hiking, and was working with others in the area to expand the hiking opportunities. He said to come back sometime, and we will.
Our hike today was 8.0 miles with 800 feet of elevation gain.
p.s. why the unusual name: the land was donated by Henry Roman Nose, a Cheyenne who was allotted this land.
p.p.s. Tonight we are going to finish Oklahoma. What a wonderful musical. Gordon McRae was such a fine actor and singer. After he did Oklahoma he acted/sang in my favorite musical, Carousel. Then, he more or less disappeared, probably due to alcoholism. Died at age 62. But he, along with Gene Kelly, were the main actors in the golden age of musicals--the 1950s. And while musicals are no longer all that popular, or good (e.g., Les Miz, which was like the sound of finger nails on a chalkboard), it is remarkable how many of the songs from that era are still well known today. Why aren't musicals more popular? Is there something better than My Fair Lady, the Sound of Music, Brigadoon, or Oklahoma?
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