March 12-14, Travel to and camping at Black Mesa State Park, OK
by Brian Gilbar
Thursday morning we headed towards Black Mesa State Park, our first night camping of the trip. The drive was pretty uneventful and kind of boring with mostly large fields on both sides of the road the entire way. However, I found the little windmills dotting the fields peaceful and reminiscent of a time past. We ate at Wendy's in Taos but spent the rest of our time focused on reaching our destination.
When we were pulling into the campsite, Chris was very excited. We drove around a little bit looking for the prefect campsite and once we found it, started setting up. Setup was quick and easy and it felt good to be camping for our first time. Before dinner, we decided to explore a nature trail right near our campsite. It was only about a mile long but beautiful and we saw a herd of deer part way into the trail.
At some point when we first arrived, we went to find the bathroom only to discover that the 'winter' bathroom and showers were half a mile away from the tent. This did make for some interesting walks in the dark carrying the lantern, and more encounters with deer. At the campsite, Chris made dinner and we got to explore the beauty of our surroundings including a river. We had chili for dinner and it was very tasty. After a quick trip to the bathroom we went to bed but it was a difficult nights sleep. I tend not to sleep well the first night camping. As I was laying awake I was at least able to enjoy listening to coyotes barking nearby.
Friday morning we headed to hike the summit trail of Black Mesa Nature preserve, the highest point in Oklahoma. We were both exhausted and a little crabby but it felt good to be outside hiking. The trail was 8.4 miles and not a whole lot of elevation gain, but I found it tough being in direct sunlight the entire time. Chris really enjoyed looking in the summit log book box which had a lot of odd items in it including money. We signed the book and headed back to the car. We then headed to Boise City for lunch and to pick up a few groceries. Lunch was very cheap, $5 for food and desert. The desert of the day looked like a box cake with confetti but the lemon frosting was good. We both felt better after a good meal and headed back to the campsite.
The first couple hours back were a struggle for me to try and sit still and relax, plus it was extremely windy and I was cold. Later, we explored the campground some more which I enjoyed. There were only 4 occupied campsites Friday night. Things got much better once Chris started dinner and we built a fire. It was warm and we had stuff to do. I truly enjoyed the evening and was tired and ready for bed.
We both slept really well and were able to take up camp and shower in 45 minutes. Today's destination is Tulsa.
Thursday morning we headed towards Black Mesa State Park, our first night camping of the trip. The drive was pretty uneventful and kind of boring with mostly large fields on both sides of the road the entire way. However, I found the little windmills dotting the fields peaceful and reminiscent of a time past. We ate at Wendy's in Taos but spent the rest of our time focused on reaching our destination.
When we were pulling into the campsite, Chris was very excited. We drove around a little bit looking for the prefect campsite and once we found it, started setting up. Setup was quick and easy and it felt good to be camping for our first time. Before dinner, we decided to explore a nature trail right near our campsite. It was only about a mile long but beautiful and we saw a herd of deer part way into the trail.
At some point when we first arrived, we went to find the bathroom only to discover that the 'winter' bathroom and showers were half a mile away from the tent. This did make for some interesting walks in the dark carrying the lantern, and more encounters with deer. At the campsite, Chris made dinner and we got to explore the beauty of our surroundings including a river. We had chili for dinner and it was very tasty. After a quick trip to the bathroom we went to bed but it was a difficult nights sleep. I tend not to sleep well the first night camping. As I was laying awake I was at least able to enjoy listening to coyotes barking nearby.
Friday morning we headed to hike the summit trail of Black Mesa Nature preserve, the highest point in Oklahoma. We were both exhausted and a little crabby but it felt good to be outside hiking. The trail was 8.4 miles and not a whole lot of elevation gain, but I found it tough being in direct sunlight the entire time. Chris really enjoyed looking in the summit log book box which had a lot of odd items in it including money. We signed the book and headed back to the car. We then headed to Boise City for lunch and to pick up a few groceries. Lunch was very cheap, $5 for food and desert. The desert of the day looked like a box cake with confetti but the lemon frosting was good. We both felt better after a good meal and headed back to the campsite.
The first couple hours back were a struggle for me to try and sit still and relax, plus it was extremely windy and I was cold. Later, we explored the campground some more which I enjoyed. There were only 4 occupied campsites Friday night. Things got much better once Chris started dinner and we built a fire. It was warm and we had stuff to do. I truly enjoyed the evening and was tired and ready for bed.
We both slept really well and were able to take up camp and shower in 45 minutes. Today's destination is Tulsa.
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