Great Plains State Park
Friday, 11 June 2021 - Monday 14 June 2021
The park was supposed to have simply been a stop-off on the way to Palo Duro Canyon. That trip got canceled. Water leaks in the campground caused the Park Service to close the whole campground, and there were no reservations available anytime in June or July for other campgrounds in the canyon. So, bleah! This trip was an attempt to salvage what was left of my shattered plans.
The drive wasn't bad, but after a couple of hours it turned off extremely hot. A check of the weather forecast revealed that we are in for it--a week straight of highs in the mid-to-upper 90s, lows around 70.
As we drove the world got flatter and flatter
But then I was surprised to see mountain
on the horizon. not just the Wichita Mountains, but a bit of elevation all over in the front of us and on both sides. Not big mountains, but still, some serious bumps on the earth.
The lake looks out on them, but they don't photograph well. Tomorrow we'll drive around into the mountains and see what we can find.
Meanwhile we're just sitting around and waiting for the temperature to drop enough that the air conditioner can make it livable in the Mammoth. The indoor thermometer says 90 right now, but I doubt if it's really that hot. If it were really 90, I'd be dead.
Or in the lake. This lake is stupendous for swimming--very clean, gravelly sandy shores, and full of Canada Geese. I may go in floating tomorrow afternoon.
The park is very pretty too, and very clean. The spaces are too close together, though. Our neighbor on one side is closer than a softball pitching mound is to home plate, and on the other side, if there were a neighbor, even closer. The campground is not completely filled up yet even though it's a Friday afternoon in June.
But the layout and the surrounding greenery make it feel that even if it were filled up, it wouldn't seem crowded. We have nothing but grass and trees behind us and beyond that a floodwall that's closing off a big puddle of somewhat stagmant water. I'm going to sneak over there with the binoculars later and see if I can find any wildlife.
I guess it's some sort of overflow area for the lake. The dam is across the way from us, so it couldn't be the spillway. Maybe it's a holding tank for the septic systems.
Lots of huge, white 'shrooms all over.
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