April Roadtrip, Day 2...Highpointing in Oklahoma

 Day 2

Sunday April 3

    There was only one thing on tap for the day, the eight and a half mile round trip hike up Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma.   That's it.  It was less than a half hour drive west of town on Hwy 325 to Black Mesa State Park and Wildlife Preserve.  For the hike, you drive past the state park and into the preserve a few miles later.  Seen on the drive out...

     The guidebook said to turn right at the blue "Colorado" sign.  While Hwy 325 cuts west into New Mexico, this road does in fact cut through the preserve and into Colorado.  In hindsight, I should have checked out the road a bit further than I did.  There are apparently dinosaur tracks and a marker at the intersection of Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico.  Yes, I somehow missed an opportunity at another state tri-point.  

     However, it was nice to see the road had been paved since the guidebook was printed.  

     The parking area was clearly marked with a decent sized lot.  

     After signing in at the kiosk, it was an easy walk down the wide, mostly level path to Mile Marker 1.

     And on to Mile Marker 2...

    That's when things start getting interesting.  That diagonal slash in the hillside is the trail upward.

    This continues to Mile Marker 3 and one last push to the top of the mesa...

     Around that last curve, everything suddenly flattens out atop Black Mesa.  One more easy mile across the top to the high point marker, my thirty-second!

     There wasn't much to see from the actual marker.  These shots are from the hike down.  

    In all honesty, I didn't notice the green hue on the landscape below until the trip back down.

         Like I said, I should have looked further up the road.  I think I blew it off in the planning stage simply because the guidebook said the road was dirt and rough in spots.  Instead, I drove back to a very quiet Boise City.

      

The county courthouse...

     The sidewalk on the opposite side of the town square is currently ripped up for repairs.  Otherwise, there would be a curious memorial.  Imagine a triangular area, perhaps eight feet on a side.  Imbedded in the sidewalk, a replica WWII bomb.  It's to commemorate the night of July 5, 1943.  Shortly after midnight, B-17's were making practice bombing runs.  One of their bombs got loose and embedded itself in the sidewalk by the courthouse.  

     The county heritage museum was closed, but I stopped by for the sculptures...

    I did a google search for restaurants, and the only non-chain place open seemed to be the Farmhouse Cafe.  Unfortunately, it wasn't.  This left two choices, Dairy Queen or Subway.  As for the city, almost no traffic and nothing going on.  

    So, an early night.