a few photos
Here are a few pictures I took on my birthday picnic trip to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
It was good to see the buffalo weren't scared off by the recent wildfires.
This is the, uh, reservoir/dam thingy where one of the trails to the mountains starts. Note the lovely algae clouds.
Thought this was a somewhat interesting rock formation. Sort of geometric.
Ran into another buffalo halfway up the mountain! It's a bit disconcerting how they can climb up these things, like mountain goats or something, but I suppose this was a fairly flat area. Their giant hoof prints were all over. Not to mention giant other things...
Noticed a few kayakers on the lake. Seems a tad small for it. I think it's named after Quanah Parker, but I'm not sure. He's a great-great-who knows how many greats-grandfather of mine on my dad's side.
So, I usually just sort of ignore all these warnings my mom and my gran give me about there being snakes out in the grass, especially the high, yellow stuff, and to use a walking stick to check out areas before I walk through them.
But then I saw/heard this thing. Eff, do rattlesnakes know how to camouflage.
Here is closer look. I will infer from the amount of rattling and hissing it was doing, it was pretty pissed off.
The mountain turned out to be disappointingly smaller than I remembered and didn't take long to reach the top. It was more of a tall hill. Next time, I'll be sure to go to the other side of the park.
It seems it's getting dark at around five now. Still beats Washington, where sunset is around 3.30 in the winter. Another shot of the "lake" and the sunset, framed beautifully by some dead grass.
Bonus pic of my dad at Thanksgiving at Mountain View (what we call my Gran Susie and Papa Robert's house), throwing a football to my brother. That's either my cousin or my aunt in the background. I can't... really tell. Neither are very tall.
It was good to see the buffalo weren't scared off by the recent wildfires.
This is the, uh, reservoir/dam thingy where one of the trails to the mountains starts. Note the lovely algae clouds.
Thought this was a somewhat interesting rock formation. Sort of geometric.
Ran into another buffalo halfway up the mountain! It's a bit disconcerting how they can climb up these things, like mountain goats or something, but I suppose this was a fairly flat area. Their giant hoof prints were all over. Not to mention giant other things...
Noticed a few kayakers on the lake. Seems a tad small for it. I think it's named after Quanah Parker, but I'm not sure. He's a great-great-who knows how many greats-grandfather of mine on my dad's side.
So, I usually just sort of ignore all these warnings my mom and my gran give me about there being snakes out in the grass, especially the high, yellow stuff, and to use a walking stick to check out areas before I walk through them.
But then I saw/heard this thing. Eff, do rattlesnakes know how to camouflage.
Here is closer look. I will infer from the amount of rattling and hissing it was doing, it was pretty pissed off.
The mountain turned out to be disappointingly smaller than I remembered and didn't take long to reach the top. It was more of a tall hill. Next time, I'll be sure to go to the other side of the park.
It seems it's getting dark at around five now. Still beats Washington, where sunset is around 3.30 in the winter. Another shot of the "lake" and the sunset, framed beautifully by some dead grass.
Bonus pic of my dad at Thanksgiving at Mountain View (what we call my Gran Susie and Papa Robert's house), throwing a football to my brother. That's either my cousin or my aunt in the background. I can't... really tell. Neither are very tall.