It was definitely cooler this morning, so before hiking we decided to go check out the nature center and the renovated Tucker Tower. The nature center is very well designed, with attractive and informative exhibits. We watched a couple of short videos on the creation of Lake Murray State Park, the first state park in Oklahoma. It was the New Deal, the CCC, and the WPA that made the purchase of the land and the construction of the possible, in partnership with the local community.
Tucker Tower itself is an impressive example of what can be accomplished using mainly hand tools and hard working young men. The CCCers earned just $30 a month and sent $25 home to help support their families. The tower was originally intended as a summer retreat for Oklahoma governors, but its construction was interrupted by WWII, and it never ended up being used for that purpose.
After climbing the Tucker Tower and getting a bird's eye view of the lake, we descended and headed out on the main trail in the park, the Buckhorn Trail.
The first part of the trail runs near the lake, but then it turns inland to go around a couple of fingers of lake. Somewhere in the middle, we must have strayed onto one of the many other trails that criss-cross the area (just after I mentioned that the trail was easy to follow, unlike the one at Defeated Creek where leaves covered the forest floor and obscured the trail....).
After a bit we turned around and hiked back out. Along the way we were passed by a couple of mountain bikers, but met no one else and spotted no wildlife, except quite a few butterflies.
Tomorrow we'll leave for Lake Lewisville. To prepare for the trip, Ken added air to the truck tires to bring them back up to spec.
This evening we turned on the fireplace and wrapped up in our fleece throws to watch a recording of Last Tango in Halifax. We more or less watched it, in between nodding off and rewinding.
0 comments:
Post a Comment