These little gems of red and black helvetica text almost scared us away, but the cooler temps of late and relatively mild daytime weather convinced my "afraid-in-my-own-backyard-at-times" brain to heed the warnings, but to proceed with caution.
The park was deserted, but it gave us the uneviable task of deciding which of the 100 or so parking spots to utilize -- the one nearest the trails, or nearest the covered-family sized-porta-potty. Decisions, decisions.
Bouncing out of the confines of her booster seat, C was disappointed that she couldn't run around and play prospector at this outdoor playground, the way she did at our outing to the Great Salt Plains last year.
The gypsum and selenite that covered the ground and sparkled in the bright Oklahoma sunrays (thus the name, Glass/Gloss Mountain) was overpowerfully inviting to our little rock hound, but the signs espousing the need to let the shimmering mineral deposits remain untouched and unpocketed were quite clear and worded without a touch of ambivalence.
A quick round of "do we have everything, and has everyone gone potty before we attempt this unholy climb" found us underway, our leashed poochy leading the way and inadvertently sniffing out snakes along the way...at least, I convinced myself that she was sniffing out snakes.
Our little long-legged, 20-lb pooch hesitated at the first sign of the rickety metal stairs of questionable safety standards. Mimicking her concern at first, she then reminded me to put on my "Dog Whisperer-calm/assertive face" (not all that easy, since I'm not a big fan of heights either), which I struggled to maintain as I quietly encouraged her to proceed along with her pack-leader. Before long she was pulling me up the stairs. Dogs rule.
Next time we are taking a dozen or so kites up to the top and get them all flying at different altitudes. What a site that'll make.
Who says Oklahoma is flat? Well, whoever said it was right as Ronald.
Some say the various terrains of the landscape of our state are an aquired taste, while others say you have to be born here to appreciate it. From 1400 feet up, I thought it was rather pretty, in a pioneering spirit/Neil Armstrong kinda way.
Final thought on our descent back through several million years of erosion down to the parking lot....going down a set of steep stairs, with a 40 mph wind in your face, a full bladder in need of evacuation, a springy dog, and two thirsty and tired rugrats is much harder than going up that same set of steep stairs -- word.
Up next...Trippin' to Gloss/Glass/Shimmery/Whatever Mountain - The Road Home
2 comments:
Great shots! It's amazing how varied our landscape is throughout the country. I like the kite idea, and with 40mph winds, even I might be able to get a kite to fly.
It looks very rugid. Did it feel like you were the only people left on the earth?
Nice pics!
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