The O.N.R.T. (not the A.T.) cont.

Tom was up very early the next morning and I was awake by 5:30 a.m. so we tried to be as quiet as we could be, so as not to awaken Norma, Holly, or Devin, as we headed out the door of the motel room.  After going next door to the convenience store, Tom and I decided to drive out to the Talimena State Park and then on up to the Potato Hill Vista on the Talimena Scenic Drive. 

As we drove thru the State Park we were surprised to see that some folks with a travel trailer had pulled in to camp since we left here yesterday evening.

We drove on up onto the Scenic Drive before the sun was even breaking over the horizon.  The view down into the valley made it seem as though the tiny town of Talihina was larger that it really is because we could see lights spreading out of town into the countryside.

As we drove back through town toward the motel, we stopped at the local donut shop and grabbed a dozen "warm" donuts to take back to the motel room.  Yummee!!!!  Wake-up kiddos!

As planned, we left our car at the State Park and all rode together up to the Potato Hill Vista in Norma's vehicle.  We parked right where we had yesterday and thought the path we could see going out to that big boulder that Devin had stood on yesterday was the side trail off the O.T. to the vista. We headed downhill through briars and brambles and thigh-high grass/weeds.

We crawled over the fence and I immediately said "this cannot be the side trail".  The section of the O.T. that we walked on yesterday was too well-kept for this to be the spur trail off the O.T.  I found an easier way back up the hill to where we had parked Norma's vehicle, and waited for everyone else to quit bushwhacking and come on back up the hill.
                    Here they come.....

 We load back up in Norma's vehicle and she immediately makes a U-turn, just as she had done yesterday, backtracking when we came up here, never following the u-shaped pull-out drive back to the Scenic Drive.

Very frustrated, we headed back to the State Park, thinking we would just have to walk the whole 2.4 miles in and back out again.  However, we were in luck.  The Camp Host was out cutting wood and we stopped to introduce ourselves and tell him what we were doing.  He told us exactly where that spur trail came up onto the Scenic Drive, which was just ahead of where Norma was parking and u-turning going back out the way she had came in. 

Not to be thwarted, we then drove back up to Potato Hill Vista, and sure enough there was the trailhead, just past where we had parked and turned around.

 So we headed down the access trail toward the O.T., lopping and clipping as we went along.

 We again admired the beautiful flowers that were surviving this Summer weather we are having.

 It was only .1 mile down to the O.T. and we were on our way westbound back toward the State Park.

 We found this section of the O.T. to be in pretty good shape.  No major clearing needed, just small overgrowth here and there, and very good trail markings.  The O.T. is marked with 2" X 6" blue blazes painted onto trees.  Also the informational signs were well-placed at trail intersections, since several other trails do cross the O.T.

 We discovered that the O.T. is very similar to the A.T.!  Rocks, roots, hills, trees, etc.  Can you tell how steep it is by looking at the right side of this photo I took of one of the many "rock glaciers" located along the O.T.

 What in the world is an egg doing lying in the middle of the Trail??  We looked up and down and all about and saw no large bird nests.  Where did this egg come from anyway?  We kept on walking.

We passed a small stealth camp site, and Devin pretended he was sleeping next to his campfire ring.

                                      Oh boy, that is one large mushroom!

                           Yay! Only two more miles to go!

I stopped at this Ouachita Trail Registration Box located between the one and two mile marker and signed in.  There is composition book and a pen inside this box, and this is a great way to gauge how much the Trail is being used.  Also in case of an emergency maybe a rescue squad could pinpoint your location if you sign in to each Registration Box you pass by.  Hopefully that never happens to me!

Soon after we passed the Registration Box, we stopped for a much needed snack/drink/sit on the ground break, and even BooBoo was happy for that!  BooBoo is so excited to be back on a trail again!

Since many other trails (some for horses, some for four-wheelers, etc.) cross the O.T., there are clear trail signs denoting the O.T. footpath. 

This is the most brilliant red mushroom I have ever seen!

 There are many lichen-covered rocks along the O.T.

We took this photo at the .8 mile mark, just past where the dead tree is across the trail, glad we are thru maintaining, and now we only have to walk back out of the woods, along the trail we cleared yesterday, back to the State Park.

We are so happy that we packed a cold watermelon to have when we came off the Trail.  Delicious!!

We then utilized the State Park's bathhouse showers, and changed into clean dry clothes for the drive home.  (At least Tom and I did!)

I walked over to sit at a picnic table and saw the biggest praying mantis hanging off the bottom of the table that I have ever seen!

The Camp Host had set fire to a large stump in the Park and of course Devin, being all boy, could not resist playing with fire!!

Tom and I had such a great time walking on the O.T., maintaining our small section of adopted trail on the O.T., and really look forward to being involved with the FoOT Organization.  We are hoping to volunteer with the building off a new trail shelter on the O.T. near the state line of Arkansas during the first week of October.  That will be fun to help, and see a shelter from start to finish! 

On a sidenote:
Norma is so allergic to poison ivy, and even though she did not touch any, and we did not see hardly any, she still got some poison ivy rash here and there on her body.  So I will not be inviting her out to the Trail again with me.  It is not worth the aggravation she goes thru with the poison ivy rashes.  That is too bad because she really enjoys getting out into the woods!

The O.N.R.T., (not the A.T.)

Tom and I recently became involved with another trail, the Ouachita National Recreation Trail.

The Ouachita Trail is a 223-mile long footpath, beginning here at Mile 0 in the Talimena State Park, which is located just north of Talihina, Oklahoma.  The O.T. travels eastward through the wooded mountains and valleys of the Ouachita National Forest, ending up at Pinnacle Mountain State Park, which is located just north of Little Rock, Arkansas. For more info http://friendsot.org

On Wednesday morning (August 13) my sister, Norma, and her two grandkids, Holly (12) and Devin (9), and I drove to Oklahoma for our first excursion as official O.T. Trail maintainers.  We were so excited to be involved in the upkeep of this National Trail!

 We passed right through the small town of Talihina, Ok. and headed on out to the State Park to check out the trail.  When we arrived at the State Park it was deserted, no campers, the Camp Hosts' day off so the office was even closed, however the grounds were immaculate. 

Devin immediately found the playground!

 We decide to drive on out to Potato Hill Vista, a scenic pull-out on the Talimena Scenic Drive, since this will be the end-point of our 2.4 mile section of adopted trail.

                                           Norma, Holly, Devin
What a great view overlooking the valley and the small town of Talihina, Ok.

 And Devin found another big rock to stand on!

We then drove back to the State Park, parked Norma's vehicle, and headed up the trail, with loppers and hand pruners at the ready to snip anything overhanging the path.

 Devin led the way as we headed eastward into the woods, thinking we could probably check out the first mile of trail this afternoon and then tomorrow when Tom is with us, we can leave one vehicle here at the Park, then go park the other vehicle at the Potato Hill Vista and work our way westward on the next 1.4 miles.

 Here is the first little wooden bridge we came across (no water this time of year).

We could tell that there are not any hikers out on this trail when Devin found this cluster of mushrooms growing right in the middle of the trail.

 We then discovered a second bridge, but again no water running under it this time of year.

We came to a spot in the Trail where the Trail seemingly disappeared.  After looking around for a bit, we discovered that there was a dead tree fallen right across the Trail, right at a sharp right turn, steeply uphill.

Norma and Holly opted to turn around here and head back to the Park, but Devin and I kept going, thinking we could not be far from the one mile marker.  Sure enough within a short distance we found the one mile marker on a tree!

 Here we turned around to hike back to the Park.  On our way back by the fallen tree, we lopped off all the limbs we could and dragged them off the trail so maybe the next hiker that comes thru can see where the Trail goes sharply off to the right and uphill.

 Devin and I admired the mushrooms and pretty wildflowers along the Trail.

 As we drove back into Talihina, we stopped at the Kiamichi Valley War Memorial.

 Of course Devin wanted to drive the tank!

 And he pretended to be riding a wild bronco!

 Holly and Devin played for a short time in the adjoining park there before we headed to our motel for the evening.

Remember Talihina is a very small town with limited options when it comes to hotels.  I had looked online the week before we came up here and checked on a nice cabin but they had a two-night minimum but politely gave a phone number for a friend in town that has the Rockin H Motel and Rockin H Convenience Store.  I had called the number given to me and a guy assured me over the phone that yes he would have a room for us in his motel.  He told me to just go to the convenience store next door and they would take care of us.

So that is what we did.  The Rockin H Store is also a Valero gas station, and also serves assorted hot food, so we purchased our dinner right there.  We were tired from the almost four hour drive to get up here, and our two mile trek on the Trail.  I walked up to the counter and told the young gal that we had a room reservation.  She reached over for a tattered composition book and my name was not there.  So she called the owner and he assured her, Yes, we did have a reservation (I guess he failed to write it down in that composition book, and I discover that the number his friend gave me to call is the owner's cell phone!).  Anyway she asked for my drivers license and began to write all my info in their composition book, right under the previous guest's info, while saying we would be in Room #4.  (There are only ten rooms in this tiny motel.)  The phone rings and she answers it, "Yes, she is standing right here in front of me";  it is the owner again, and after several "Yes, Sirs" she marks thru the #4 and says "You guys will be in Room #7".  We pay and head toward the door.  Suddenly I realize "We don't have a room key".  So I go back to the counter and ask for a key.  The gal says "Oh, the keys are in the rooms".  Okey-doke!
 
We drive next door to the little motel, go into Room #7, which by the way seems to be quite clean and totally adequate for our one-night trail-maintaining stay, and Yes, there is the key laying beside the T.V.  Are we in small-town America, in the 1960's, or what?   There is even a Guest Book, which I check out to see who has previously stayed in this room.  Fascinating reading.  (I write in it also.)

I really regret that I did not get a photo of the outside nor inside of the Rockin H Motel.  Tom is driving up tonight after he gets off work.  I fall asleep before he arrives around 9:00 p.m.

Tomorrow we will check out the next 1.4 miles of our adopted trail.

Glacier National Park - Day 7

Saturday, July 12

We are still waking up way too early.  It gets daylight here around 4:15-4:30 a.m. and we are awake soon after that.  This morning upon awakening I was thinking how wonderful it would be tomorrow when we fly back to Texas and how good it will be to be back home.  I love going away on vacation but I like going home even more!

We were up by 6:00 a.m. and going for our final walk this week around Spokane's South Hill neighborhoods.  I saw these purple flowers growing out of a crack where the cement wall joined the sidewalk.

We ended up going by a McDonalds along the way and grabbed ourselves a breakfast sandwich and a coffee for me.  Outside of the McDonalds were these awesome flowers!

As we were walking back, we saw a shrub that had an off-shoot growing right through the fence!

 

And we kept on seeing pretty flowers along the way!

 

 When we got back to Megan and Austen's house, little Nelson was awake and Austen asked us if we could take him for a walk so they  could get some more sleep, since they had been up most of the night because Megan had been sick.

So off we went for another walk about the neighborhood, with Nelson in his stroller.

 We saw lots more pretty flowers along the way...

When we came back with Nelson, we quietly went into the back yard and enjoyed watching Nelson having fun with their chickens.

 The chickens don't seem to mind him at all.

In the afternoon we enjoyed Subway sandwiches and then headed out in the country to Tum Tum, where Megan and Austen have some property, their little get-away place from the city.  We had fun with Nelson in the back seat of their car, between Tom and me. 

 Nelson really buddied up with his Uncle Tom.

Right near their property is Red Lake, a county park.

 Nelson is supervising Tom as he blows up the float.

 Red Lake is in such a pretty setting and the water is clear and cool.

 Nelson loves his own little boat, as long as Mom doesn't let go of it.

Nelson meets BooBoo!

BooBoo was enjoying the great views around Red Lake.

Megan drove their car back to their property while Austen (carrying Nelson), Tom and I walked back, cutting through their neighbor's field's/woods.

 And again there are those purple flowers growing wild.  So pretty!

 We really enjoyed getting out into the country to see their country get-away place.  They have already planted fruit trees up on a little knoll, and they have great views along the drive to get here.

Tomorrow we get on a plane and head back to Texas!!  Can't wait!