The day out

I only got a little lost (curse Google maps, though also, the guy who was supposed to put up the signs pointing us to the entrance was a little late) but I wasn't late this time. This was the outing at Pontotoc Ridge, a Nature Conservancy property.

It's well hidden, but that's partly by design: a lot of TNC properties are mostly research facilities and preserves, and they don't want a lot of people tromping all over it. And they don't want the sort of people who feel entitled to pull up plants, or harass wildlife, or run around on areas with sensitive soils or vegetation. Most of the hikes are by invitation only, with someone guiding you.

It's a really different habitat from what is right around here. Very shallow soils over limestone, with lots of blocks of limestone just cropping out. There's also some karst topography - we got to see a couple sinkholes (one, Jona, the leader, said people would climb down into to "rescue" box turtles that would slide down there, and they'd found deer carcasses in it. Of course she said this as we were standing on the other side of it and had to cross a narrow natural bridge to get back on the trail...) We also saw a collapsed cave, and a much smaller cave ("Cave Springs Cave," which, as you might guess, has a spring associated with it). The cave was cool. I didn't go into it - claustrophobia - but a couple people did. And anyway, I could see the spring just fine from the outside.

We saw a lot of plants. Some, like the little verbena, were familiar things that I just hadn't seen in too long. There were some unusual things, because of the shallow calcareous soil. There were a lot of shooting stars (Dodecatheon meadia), which I know from some forest areas in Illinois, but I guess the calcareous soil is what it goes for.

My favorite plant of the day was a little barrel cactus - I'm pretty sure it was Echinocereus reichenbachii. I don't know a common name, though that site lists several, and my favorite is Merry Widow Cactus, so let's go with that. It grows right up out of the limestone rock, and the little ones are super cute. (It wasn't flowering though when we were there). (And I have to admit: if I ever see any for sale I might want to get a couple as house plants. I don't know if it's one that's sold as a houseplant though).

After a lunch and a little talk about the history of the site, we went to Site Two - a "canyon" site with a creek (I forget the name) running through it, and lots of travertine deposits. (Travertine is a common feature in the water around here - I get buildups of something similar in my humidifier in the winter. It's a calcium carbonate mineral, and though it's typically associated with hot springs, it also comes out from the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer, which is not a hot spring (in fact, some of the water is fairly cool when it first emerges).

It was really pretty down there. It was quite a haul to get there, and a lot of clambering over broken limestone and in a few cases I was REALLY worried I was going to put my foot down wrong and either pop out my hip or break an ankle. (In the long run, breaking an ankle would be worse, but a hip dislocation would be bad enough, given the difficulty of getting out of that area. I am guessing an injured person would have to wait until a crew with a stretcher or basket could get in and carry them out - I don't think there's anywhere a rescue helicopter could really put down). But I made it okay, and I kept up pretty well with the group (I was one of the younger ones but the kind of people who do those trips tend to be VERY fit). I do suspect I'll be sore tomorrow and am considering prophylactically taking a Tylenol before bed.

(Heh. Down in the "canyon," I commented "this is like the Oklahoma version of Havasupi Falls and now I see that wasn't so far off: Havasupi Falls is one place known for travertine. And yes, Havasupi Falls is one of those places I would LOVE to get to go, despite the 10 mile hike in and out. I don't know that I ever would; I would have to either find a few people to go with me (hiking alone is not a good idea) or see if there are small groups you can sign up with. And I'd have to get into training good enough to walk 10 miles in a day...and get reservations, and apparently it's recommended you camp there overnight....)

It was probably about four miles of hiking in a day. But over pretty rough ground. (I do close to four miles on the cross-country skiier most work-outs, but that's a LOT lower impact and you're not dodging little cacti and rocks) And it was pretty much an ideal day: sunny, low humidity, not so hot it was miserable...and I seem to have avoided the infamous Pontotoc Ridge ticks; I took a shower immediately upon getting home with lots of "stinky" shampoo (a honey and anise scented one) and used mint soap on the rest of me; I've found sometimes if you have a tick walking on you (it takes them a few hours to latch on), strong smelling soap will discourage it - I've seen ticks wash down the bathtub drain that apparently washed off me before they latched on.

(Incidentally: Jona is a former student of mine, from my v. early days of teaching. It's always good to get to see her and I feel like at least ONE of my students wound up out there in the world, successful and doing something meaningful....)