SO much to do… so LITTLE time…

Posted on May 14, 2012 by AMY

Alrighty folks… Erv and I have been on several adventures lately, but we’ve been so busy that we haven’t had a chance to write about it! Right now we’re working on getting a chicken coop built so that our 8 little chickies can have a home in the great outdoors, as they’re outgrowing their box in the garage rather quickly!

Here’s my little Chipmunk just after hatching! The incubation experiment was pretty much a bust, but I got 2 awesome chicks out of there alive. It wasn’t quite the awesome birthday surprise I was hoping it would be for Erv… especially since I was hormonal and stressed that none of the other 8 eggs were hatching… but we ~~rescued~~ bought some more chicks from a local guy, and now we have a full house!

Here’s Dot, Brownie and Goldie at about a week old… now they’re MUCH bigger!

Just a sneak preview for what we’ll post about as soon as we get our act together…

We made it to Pea Ridge Military Park and had a great time exploring the battlefields and the lodge.

WE WENT TO UTAH!! The girls’ spring break was spent at Bluff, UT hiking around Comb Ridge and chillin’ old school Anasazi style. It was an amazing trip!

Cold Spring Cave was the one thing we HAD to see on our trip! It was SO worth the long drive!

Handprints in Monarch Cave … this was also SUPER amazing! And i almost slipped off the cliff… that was not one of the trip’s higher points… in my opinion.

And here’s Erv looking very manly as we are putting in the garden. It’s coming along quite nicely now… we have a “Three Sisters” field, strawberry patch, tomatoes, peppers, and tons more stuff.

Once things get a little settled down, we’ll be expanding on these adventures… stay tuned!

On the Hunt for Mesoamerican art in Oklahoma

Posted on April 6, 2012 by AMY

Alright! I got a call from my buddy Justin, who lives over in Muskogee Ok. He said a relative of his found some Mayan Artifacts near his home in Gore Ok. Mayan?
The hunt was on! I asked if Amy & I could come down and have a look; he said yes. So on the following Saturday, we packed up our daypacks & headed Southeast.
We picked up Justin and hit the Turnpike. He described the artifacts and said there were two small statues. They were found by his brother-in-law while looking for arrowheads in a cliff bank. Apparently there is an excess of arrowheads, along with pre-historical beast bones & teeth in the surrounding cliffs from inhabitants past. We are talking sabertooth tigers & mastodons apparently. Hmmmm… I’ll have to research that a bit more.

We made our destination & got out to meet everyone. The people that live in the secluded areas of Oklahoma are a bit guarded, but they are the best people to meet if you are in need. They will literally give you the shirt off their backs.
Once the introductions were out of the way, we made our way to the cliff edge & had a look at some grinding stones. This is where the roots, berries, & corn were ground.

We worked our way west along to top edge of the cliff. The view opened up and you could see the Arkansas River valley just to the north & east of where we stood. Very near this spot was the very little advertised bridge that collapsed on I-40 which killed 14 people.

We moved farther west, looking for a washout. This was apparently where the little statues were found. We moved down to the hill just below the cliffs and did a little digging in the bank; finding flint shards everywhere.

After returning the small dig to the state we found it in, we moved farther west below the cliff face until we came upon a set of overhangs. There had been a lot of digging in this area. We found a lot of arrowhead shards here. Justin said this is the place his Brother had been digging.

The area was very beautiful. We messed around the cave area for about a half an hour, then moved to the wash. There was a dairy that dumped all it’s dead cows over the cliff. We made our way around this mess and realized there was no farther we could go. We wound our way back to the top of the bluff & headed back. We had yet to look at the items that were found out there.

There was the regular gamut of arrowheads & old teeth. Very cool stuff. The statues were not present, however I did get to see a couple of pictures of them. The day wasn’t wasted! Any day spent in the woods is a good day!

The above picture is very reminiscent of the Venus fertility statues.

The above statue is a very interesting & well articulated piece. Side view. Note the squirrel head dress. Very cool indeed!

The Chinook Cyclone 4 season tent

Posted on January 29, 2012 by AMY

Hi everybody!
Today I’m going to talk about the Chinook brand Cyclone four season tent. It is a three person tent that sits well below $150. That is essentially $200 cheaper than most low end four season tents on the market. It is under 10 lbs and the reviews I read made it out to be a really great deal.

I bought this tent about a year ago. I wanted a good convertible tent that I could use in winter and stormy conditions. I had used the ECWS tents in the Marine Corps, and also the Eureka Combat Tent. I enjoyed their durability in harsh conditions.

I looked at those tents first, but the Black Diamond ECWS tent with fly runs well over $1000 used. The Eureka Combat tents run about $400 & up. No dice. I started looking at reviews of civilian tents.
Out of about six tents on the market, I narrowed it down to the Chinook tent and the Coleman Helios tents. These were in the very low price range, with the Helios around $3-400 for the three man version. The Chinook, $150.
One of the things I really like about the Internet is that regular guys like myself can give Their honest opinions on life. Reviews are an excellent source of information when purchasing equipment. Without it, you are going off a company’s reputation (REI, North Face, Black Diamond). This means you have to PAY for the knowledge that your gear won’t fail. With reviews, you can find lower priced gear that is just as durable as the higher priced brands.
I stumbled onto this review from Eddie Horvath on Trailspace.com.
This review made up my decision to try an unknown brand (to me), and see how well $150 could go towards purchasing a quality tent. I found a shop on eBay that carried the tent and purchased it for $141.00 shipped.

When I received the tent, I opened up the box & laid out all the gear to ensure everything was there. Right off the bat, I noticed several pros & cons. First off, the seams and zippers appeared to NE heavy duty. The zippers and pulls were twice the size of any I had used on previous tents I had owned. The materials (nylon) used for the fabric appeared to be fairly thick & durable. The stakes, however, were flimsy aluminum, albeit thicker than their competitors by 2x; I have had nothing but trouble from these aluminum type stakes. I much prefer the Eureka Push pin style aluminum stakes. They weigh a bit more overall, but are worth it when the ground is particularly dry or hard. The flimsy stakes bend immediately. Once they bend, they always bend. They lose structural integrity and you may as well be using cooked spaghetti as a stake.
The guy lines (there are a ton) are also made of flimsy nylon chord that easily frays. I would immediately replace these with gutted ’550 parachord. Tie the tent end using a good anchor knot (figure 8, bowline, 2 half hitches) and use the “taut line hitch” or “prusik” for the stake end.

I did a quick test run, & put the tent up. Its always good to do this when you get the new gear. You can inspect for damage & missing components, learn how to get it together in a controlled environment, and repack it to where you know how to find everything. It might be dark the next time you go to put it up!
I repacked everything.
We used this tent in windy conditions in 55.0F to a night low of 35.0F. We placed the tent on the flat surface ground, no footprint, next to the lakefront. I placed the opening towards the wind with the right facing door open while we were in camp. Of course we zipped up everything while we were sleeping.
The tent itself is very well ventilated and quite roomy. There is a small personal items mesh pocket on each side (inside) and a drying loft. There is also a lamp ring coming from the apex, which is pretty much useless if you have the loft up. The floor tub comes up about 12″. There is adequate ventilation in the mesh material that makes up the body of the upper tent. As with most tents, there is a zippered & screened door in front & back.
I would suggest using a footprint or tarp as the floor will wear if the tent if used to any extent. It also adds one more thin insulating layer for colder conditions.
The fly is made of heavy duty waterproof nylon and has a decent sized front vestibule with a zippered door on each side. This could be useful in windy conditions, especially if you are cooking in the vestibule. The back vestibule is virtually nonexistent. You basically have two back doors about a foot apart.
The poles are fiberglass & heavy duty. Always ensure you have duct tape on hand in case you have to splint a fractured pole. This tent can also be purchased from the manufacturer with aluminum poles. The price goes up considerably.
There are three equal length poles that connect to the main tent through loops & hook system. There are pin rings on each corner for a one person set up. The poles make an X with the third pole making a U from the center of each side, over the vestibule area. It makes for a sturdy tent, when all guy lines & corners are staked properly. I did not have the chance to test waterproof or snow conditions, but as those situations come up, I will add to this blog.
Overall, I give the tent a seven. Considering the cost, I think this is a very high score. Easily set up, very few parts, and durability are all major features.

Wichita Mountain Gold… Discovering Medicine Park

Posted on January 27, 2012 by AMY

Medicine Park, Oklahoma
First, a little history straight off the Medicine Park Website
“Medicine Park is located at the main entry to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, the second most visited wildlife refuge in the country – hosting more than 1.5 million annual visitors.
The community has a rich and colorful history. Originally founded on July 4th, 1908 by Oklahoma Senator Elmer Thomas, Medicine Park was Oklahoma’s first planned tourism resort.
In the spring of 1906, the then young lawyer and soon to be Senator envisioned the need for not only a recreational area, but also the need for a permanent water source for the budding and newly founded City o f Lawton. He and a partner, Hal Lloyd from Altus quietly purchased approximately 900 acres of what is now the cobblestone community of Medicine Park.
When the resort first opened, it consisted merely of a large surplus Army tent with a wooden floor that served as a place to for hot meals, the swimming hole and a limited number of campsites.
Numerous improvements were added and the area began to take on the look and feel of a bona fide resort. Tourists flocked to the area from around the state and North Texas to enjoy the mountains, wildlife, swimming, good food and lodging. Soon, there were two inns ( the Outside Inn and the Apache Inn ), Baird’s Health Sanitarium (which featured clay tennis courts and a spa), a Dance Hall, Canteen, Petting Zoo, Bath House, a General Store, School, Bait Shop, Hydro Electric Power Plant and the Dam Café.
The entire Bath Lake Park was landscaped with beautiful gardens, large trees, foot bridges and grassy areas for visitors to lounge around, sunbathe and enjoy the natural beauty. The area flourished during the late teens to the 1930’s as the “Jewel of the Southwest.”
The nearby Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and Lake Lawtonka attracted thousands of people each weekend and throughout the seasons. Medicine Park became the “playground” for the State’s rich, famous and notorious. Folks would come to town for the weekend and leave their “work-a-day” world, troubles and reputations behind them. Outlaws and horse thieves mixed with noted politicians and businessmen, families and socialites in this new cobblestone community.”

So we stumbled upon one of Oklahoma’s best kept secrets, apparently!

We turned off the main road onto a two lane paved road which led us towards the downtown area.

The sign above greeted us warmly. We stopped & got a quick picture then drove on into town. At this point I (Amy) was absolutely GIDDY! The anticipation to discover this tiny little wonder was making me feel like a little kid. The buildings looked very fairy-tale-esque with their granite cobblestone walls…very enchanting. I’ve never seen anything like it. We could see the downtown shops to our left, but decided to turn right and drive through the residential areas first. Close to town were many cobblestone houses. Very quaint & cozy. We could see that many were for rent. There were also a couple of bed & breakfasts along the north road.

We went about a half mile north, then turned around and headed back towards town. Several neat little shops greeted us. We followed the road back west, then eventually ran onto the main street next to the river.

Here’s this cool restaurant snugged right on top of the little lake…

Man did it look cool… but a drive-by picture doesn’t even come close to capturing it!

This house just blew our minds! Very unique… and such a cool mix of materials. I still couldn’t wrap my brain around all these round granite stones they used. I can’t imagine how much crawling around the hills had to be done to gather up ALL these stones!

The photo above is The Old Plantation. (Formerly the Outside Inn – LOVE that name!)

Downstairs is a cool little burger joint that we would have tried had we not been pressed for time! Ugh! But here is the 360 degree virtual tour … man we have to go back there!

Later we would find out that many bodies had swam in the little river throughout the years. This place had quite a bit of charm reminiscent of “Twin Peaks” or “Northern Exposure”. Can’t you just imagine it in the summertime in 1920… with everybody lounging around the rocks and swimming in those old-fashioned bathing suits?

This row of gift shops was just adorable.

Each one was unique and decorated with some major flair! We didn’t have time to stop and shop… but it’s definitely on the list for next time.

This bridge spans across the stream and I think you can park over there for better access to the water.

This is looking downstream from the main swimming hole… possibly… east??

What a great trip! We had to get back out on the road, but not before snapping a few quick shots of the event posters displayed on the outdoor stage. The events are listed on the Medicine Park website’s Events page. They look like really cool festivals!
The last photo is the sign for the little Inn there. Booking number is on the sign – or visit their Contact Us page.

We finally made it out to the Turnpike. We grabbed a quick take out lunch at a “eat in” Sonic. I’m glad we went in… There were blown up photos of Medicine Park during the turn of the century. Very cool!
Great trip… We will return. Hopefully to each of the concerts listed above. If so, We’ll see you there!
-Erv & Amy

Wichita Mountain Gold…The Mount Scott Experience

Posted on January 19, 2012 by AMY

(NOTE: the following was written by Amy with Erv’s comments added in like this)

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As we were on our return trip from camping in the Wichita Mountains, traveling East on highway 49, I was doing a little iPhone navigation and saw this crazy little corkscrew road shooting off of the main route. I thought to myself, “what they heck kinda place is THAT? Why would the road wind around like that?” As we passed the “Mount Scott” sign, I looked at the mountain, looked at my iPhone map, looked at the mountain, looked at my iPhone map… and quickly realized that the corkscrew road was going UP Mount Scott… and OH BOY did I want to go up there!! Erv is always down for a spur-of-the-moment off-shoot trip… so within a few minutes, we were turning off the highway and on our way up… and up…. and UP!

With my face plastered to the window and frequent outbursts of gleeful exclamations… I was thoroughly enjoying the ascent… so much so that it took a little while for me to realize that Erv was not relishing this experience as much as I was. In fact, he was absolutely HATING it! I was in shock. How could he NOT love the ever-growing view as we climbed higher and higher on this road cut into the edge of this rocky mountain? To me, it was thrilling and invigorating. He’s jumped out of more than a few airplanes, climbed around in the wilderness, up mountains with a huge pack on his back, navigated convoys off-road through enemy territory… he’s like almost a superhero in my mind… but he was bravely clenching his jaw while tackling a nasty bout of vertigo, and driving in the very middle of the road! Straddling the yellow line, each upcoming curve was a little more tense as we set our eyes intently on the approaching cliffside’s edge… looking for the first sign of a headlight so we could get back into the “danger zone” of our lane.

That reminds me… there were some complete BAD ASSES on this 3-mile road to the top of this mountain… super fit ROCK STAR athletes… riding bikes! yes… BIKES! I could NOT believe it… seriously. They were all parked at the bottom and, clad in their thin little riding outfits, would hump it to the top, coast/ride down to the bottom, then turn around and GO. BACK. UP! They did this over and over… we have no idea how many times… but we recognized the same monster of a late-50′s-looking man 2x during our trip. It’s hard to tell them apart in their little outfits, but he had a distinct salt-and-pepper goatee, so we know it was him. I was in awe of these people! Really. It was super cold, the wind was blowing, the road was STEEP… and while I sat in the truck with my sweatshirt and heater saying “it’s too nasty to hike any more today,” THEY were saying “dang, it sure is a nice day for a brutal bike ride up and down a mountain.” I commend them… seriously! Now where are my workout clothes…because this girl needs to get BUSY!!

back to our drive…

I felt guilty being so excited about this experience when Erv was so obviously NOT excited. Especially when my loudly spoken “Man, I think this is SO COOL!” was returned with his “I do not think is cool” spoken with the voice of quiet determination…to get the Trekmobile to the top of this God-forsaken mountain and get his feet on solid ground. Right about then, I became veeeeery thankful that Erv’s had training in how to compose himself through stressful situations. He remained cool and collected through all of my giddiness and never once told me to hold still and keep quiet while he tackled the task… which is EXACTLY what I would have felt like doing if the roles were reversed!

But we did make it… and the view was spectacular!! 360 degrees. All the way to the horizon. It was breathtaking! And FREEZING cold! The weather had taken a sharp downturn that morning, and the wind was merciless up there on that peak, so we were quick to run back to the truck and make the trip down.

Yep, Once we got to the top it was kickass! There were giant rows of windmills across the horizon, & great views of the lakes below. Yes, it was windy & cold. As we drove back down, we passed a bunch of kids walking up. They did not look happy!
The view was very cool.

The ride down was much better! From the descending driver’s viewpoint, you can see the edge of the road and the somewhat ample slice of somewhat flat mountainside before the deadly drop-off. Vertigo wasn’t a problem this direction, so we were able to laugh and talk as usual. While we were winding down, we saw this blue water tower and what looked like a quaint little town nestled a little ways away from the foot of the mountain. I checked my handy iPhone map and said “I THINK that is Medicine Park?” Neither of us had heard of it, so we kinda moved on…

I told Amy I wanted to stop for a Mountain Dew, so as we got close to Medicine Park, we stopped at Happy Hollow,a tourist trap store. We went in and were greeted by Mrs. Barbera, and stacks of cool curios. My favorite was the rawhide wrapped bows and the antelope skulls covered in turquoise. The wolf spiders inside in clear glass were cool too. We chatted with Barbera for a minute, paid for our drinks, then went out to take a few pics. Here we are in front of an old caboose turned in to a burger joint. It was long since closed but cool nonetheless.

Until we saw the turn-off for Medicine Park… and the amazingly cool-looking granite stone-covered buildings! We looked at each other with smiles on our faces and a gleam in our eyes and Erv said “You wanna check it out??” And with my “Heck Yeah!,” we turned off the highway and were on to our next treasure hunt! And we found LOTS!!

On to Medicine Park!!!

Eureka Springs… a plan is budding!

Posted on January 18, 2012 by AMY

Alright folks. We are planning a day trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for Saturday. Erv has to get back to play a show in Tulsa that night .. join us at The Downtown Lounge if you are in the area! So we are planning an up-and-back event, and are HOPING to find some really cool stuff to see and do. We’re not talking shopping and partaking in all the touristy stuff… we want an off-the-beaten-path adventure!

Any suggestions?? Have you all done anything awesome in and about the Eureka Springs area? Let us know and we’ll check it out!

Look for the the full account of our trip next week!

Amy

What to pack

Posted on January 12, 2012 by AMY

So, when I was teaching Survival down at the Army’s Ranger/RSLC course in Ft Benning Ga, I taught a couple of little acronyms to help build a great survival kit that could be used in many different environments.
This train of thought can be easily expanded to cover your entire packing list by adding a couple more things.
Here’s the first:
The rule of threes…
You can live approximately 3 minutes without air,
You can live approximately 3 days without water,
And you can live approximately 3 weeks without food.

Of course each person is different. If you are overweight and out of shape… Those numbers should be reduced. If you smoke, chances are you will have less O2 in your system so three minutes may be pushing it.

The rule of threes drives where and what you pack. If you are going into a desert area without water, you may want to forgo the water pump & fishing kit. On the same note, you may not need as much firestarting equipment etc if it is going to be hot out.

Next acronym:
“fast friends with silly sidekicks”
FFWSS
F-food, food gathering items or food. Cooking gear, knife etc.
F-fire, fire building items, matches lighter, flint, tinder.
W-water, bags, pumps, tablets, solar still
S-shelter, tent, tarp, poncho, sleeping bag, chordage, saw etc.
S-signal, mirror, whistle, panel marker.

Add these to your larger packing lists:
Safety: ropes, helmet, flares etc.
Security: weapon, ammo

Pocket items: abbreviated list above.
Signal mirror
Magnesium fire starter
Cord
Space blanket
Knife
Compass
Whistle
Ziplock bag

In daypack:
Water purification tabs
Sweetwater pump
Canteen
Poncho
Matches
Tinder
Protein bars
Tin foil
Panel marker
Security gear (firearms may be illegal in state parks & do not conceal unless you have a Concealed Carry License).

Wichita Mountain Gold Part 2 The Trip

Posted on January 10, 2012 by AMY

(NOTE: This post was written by Erv with Amy’s Comments added in like this ) _________________________________________________________________________

So there we were, no bull, thought we were gonna die!
So the cliffhanger begins, eh?

We got in the trekmobile, heading Southwest from Tulsa Ok. I44 is a toll road. It costs $4 one way to OKC on that tattered road. If it is an interstate, how did it become a toll road? Did somebody decide one day, “hey, let’s throw up a toll booth out on the interstate & charge everyone who comes through our town… We’ll make a fortune!”. They did… And, they did. It takes about 75 minutes going down I44 to get to OKC going 80mph.
The toll fees one way are around $10 all the way down to exit 41 Ft Sill Key Gate. We made the trip in 3.5 hrs, with a restroom/gas/food stop in the travel plaza near Chickasha Ok. We grabbed some McDonalds (I know… Bad for you) and got back on the road. We rolled into Ft Sill at around 9:45.
The Private at the gate allowed us passage, and we went a couple of blocks to the Holiday Inn located on Main Post. After checking in, we drove over to our building; a two story barracks type building. Inside we found our room to be very cozy & warm. Did I mention it was warm?
After turning down the thermostat, and trying to find a lightswitch, we finally got settled in. The suite was a one bedroom, living room, and bathroom with a stall shower. No fridge or kitchenette. Basic desk, secretary with TV, and coffee pot. The bed was a queen size, with the really great linen, blankets, and rigid pillows you find in most upscale hotels these days. Amy says – there’s just something about an Army Base… the feeling of safety and security is tangible to me… there is something so comforting about it and I was really glad we stayed there. We sat down and read aloud a few of the Wichita Treasure stories from Wilson’s book. Oh the excitement!!!! Can’t wait to get up in the mountains!

We racked out at 11:00 pm.

“Reville, Reville, all hands heave out!”
Yeah you Navy folks know what I’m talking about. We woke up at 6:00 am totally ready to move. Got up, showered, and packed everything out. Grabbed a quick cup of Joe from the room pot. There was a continental breakfast provided in the main building, but not until 8:00 am. We skipped the waiting and grabbed a banana and some granola. Erv woke up totally ready to move… I woke up totally ready to roll back over, shut my eyes and get a few more precious minutes of sleep! But with a little encouragement, I got my head off that pillow and my feet on the ground. And when Erv brought me that delicious cup of coffee with hot chocolate in it… I smiled and got stoked for our adventure to begin!
I checked out, then headed out to the highway.

We took State Highway 62 West to Indiahoma Road, then North to the Wildlife Refuge gate. Took about 20 minutes to drive. Leaving Lawton, there were some seriously run down apartments along the South side of 62. Trust me, you don’t want to break down there unless you are in a HMMWV gun truck with .50 mounted on top.
The drive was pretty nice once we got out of city limits.

We’re starting to see bumps in the ground… these granite rocks are COOL!

Grassy rolling hills with shrubs and trees. Or maybe the trees were shrubs??? Hard to tell. Seems as if the trees that will grow in that area are short and very prickly. Probably due to the harsh environment. There were some neat little farm houses along the way. We turned off on Indianola Road heading North. Thank goodness we had our GPS on, as the road is not marked.

We traveled up a two lane paved road to the entrance gate.

Every mile brought us closer to the mountains… and the excitement was growing! Once we saw this sign, we knew we were almost there… let the treasure trekking begin!

We stopped and took the above photos as we went through the gate. As soon as we went past the trees onto the low grassy plains South of the mountain, we were met with the gazes of about ten buffalo, and about half a dozen of longhorn cattle. Very cool. They looked much more majestic in person…sooo majestic… (sorry – inside joke)

Moving on another 300 feet or so was a sign stating “Information Booth ahead”. As I looked for the booth coming up, Amy said, “you missed it!” apparently my idea of a booth is one with a person in it. I backed up a hundred feet and there was a little turn out with an information box. Amy said, “how much you want to bet there are no info sheets?” good thing I didn’t bet, because there weren’t any.

Next came a sign warning that the animals were dangerous. And with those HUGE long horns… I’d believe it! Thankfully, the animals looked at us like they’d seen a million big trucks come through there… they were not impressed. Then we passed the Job Corps compound on our left. Looked pretty neat. I’m going to have to read up on what they do there besides eat & play football and basketball (there was a dining room and sports area). There were also housing units there. Must be cool to work there!

Finally we reached Post Oak Road and turned North.

We spotted this rounded granite dome and Erv said “That’s Spanish Canyon! That’s where we’re gonna start out hike” It looked above me with all its bulging smooth boulders… and I said to myself “This Rocks!” Pun intended.

We drove a quarter of a mile, then turned left into the Post Oak Lake parking area. The view was incredible, as we were on some high ground and could see the mountains surrounding us.

The lake was beautiful, reflecting the rocks on it’s surface. There is a 45 foot tall dam on it’s South end beside the little 6 space parking lot.
I looked at Amy and said,”well are you ready?” we opened up our doors and BAM! The wind just about blew everything away! We quickly scrambled in the backseat to find all our warm gear… Donning beanie hats, gloves, and heavy coats. The wind was blowing about 20 mph.

Once we got our crap sorted out, we shouldered our packs and headed down the entrance road to the entrance area of Spanish Canyon. I noticed that the draw leading up to the lakes was open; covered with 10-12 foot trees. I made a mental note… Thinking that this would have made a great ingress route for the burro train. Whether Spanish Canyon was a good choice as well would be seen shortly.

We crossed the creek coming through the little valley. There are two creeks running north to south, one coming out of each lake, Treasure on the east, and Post Oak on the west. This creek that runs under the road comes from the dam of Post Oak.

Right about now, I was VERY glad I had packed that big ol’ down coat… that wind was mean!

The brush & trees were very thick on the west side of the road. I checked my Gaia phone app GPS and saw that we needed to start looking for a gap in the undergrowth that would take us into Spanish Canyon. After walking about 30 yards, we decided to just bust brush… Which may not have been such a great idea because the vegetation there is very unforgiving. Lots of spring loaded branches and sticker vines. We brought gloves, so the only hit I took was along my legs. It was also a bit tricky bending over to get under brush with the daypack on. It kept getting caught up in the vines.
We finally broke through the thick stuff and came out of the woods to a view of large wind-worn, smooth boulders, piled up to heaven. These things were massive… Bigger than a bus, and incredibly beautiful. Just like on the old “Roadrunner” cartoon, there were a ton of boulders precariously balanced on top of others. I remarked to Amy “I would hate to be down here if an earthquake hit… You’d be crushed in an instant!” This comment made me begin to look at some of those rocks out of the corner of my eye… waiting for a little teetering… but none did. Well, ONE did teeter a bit when I stepped on it… but I totally played it off so as not to appear to be scurred in front of Erv.

Here we are still pretty low in the canyon… lots of vegetation to dig through on our way up. Many sticker bushes had the pleasure of smacking me in the legs.

The canyon was nothing more than a draw between two 50 ft fingers. It was filled with boulders and some rough little cedar & scrub brushes.

There was a small stream running through the middle of it. There was also a ton of prickly pear and barrel cactus dotting the sides.
The boulders, when piled up, create fissures, caves, and passageways all through the rock. I was beginning to see how treasure could be easily hidden AND lost in this maze of rock.

Getting a little bit higher… this view was spectacular!
There were also goat droppings everywhere, along with cow and goat tracks all about. There was a cow trail the ran up the draw. After climbing here and there, looking for a clear path in, we hit the trail. The hard soled Asolo boots really performed well here.
We started to notice cracks in the rock and quickly went to explore each… Hoping to find Shamans Cave, or The Iron Door, listed in Wilson’s Treasure Tales.
We came upon a large fissure in the south side and quickly dropped our packs for a quick look inside. The crack went in about 10 feet, then opened up to about 4 feet across. It was a total of 25 feet deep and merely became a narrowing crack as you went back. The last 6 feet was open to the top… About 12 feet up.

Erv in the fissure… propped up because there really wasn’t much “ground” space to stand in – it was very cool!

Amy in the fissure.

The slits in the rocks made a cross with light streaming in… isn’t it beautiful!

By this time it was starting to warm up a bit. The sun bearing down, the lack of wind in the canyon, and our increasing body heat from movement was warming us up. Time to ventilate! We unzipped all the openings on our jackets… Ahhh much better. Gotta drink that water too… Can’t dehydrate.
We left the little cave and headed farther into the canyon. At this point, my “easily identifiable terrain feature” theory of how they identified where the treasure was buried went down the drain. All the boulders were granite with a rough weathered texture. No symbols would be easily found unless they were in a cave or sheltered spot. Another thing… I couldn’t see the point to wanting to take 18 heavily laden burros into these rocks. Donkeys are sure footed, but even they have limitations. Also, there would be no place to corral a group that big in the confines there.
We continued the search.

Look at that blue sky! You could just get lost in it, couldn’t you? We couldn’t have asked for a more gorgeous day for this trip. After the morning chill left, it was perfect! And look at how HUGE these boulders are…

I also came to the realization that the awesome scenery here was worth more than any kind of Spanish gold. Experiences like this are truly priceless.

We found another cave on the north face. As we were exploring that, we came upon a gap in the rock that led to the other side. We followed it and when the rock opened up on the other side, the grand view opened up before us. We were quite elevated and could see north and east to all the different mountain ranges around us. Absolutely spectacular!

We climbed around for better views, then started the downward leg into this new canyon. There were more piled boulders, but there was also about 100 meters of dirt in the bottom dotted by trees and brush. Lots of goat sign (read “poo”) on this side. Once again, a small creek made it’s way east from the high ground. We moved down to the creek and drifted up the creek bed west.

After hitting some blockage on the path, we re thought our route & came back a ways, using a 15 ft tunnel in the rock to avoid the underbrush.

Amy found a Garmin GPS laying on the ground there. I checked the battery compartment and realized it had been there awhile, as the batteries were corroded. More treasure!
We walked up the slope to another cave & sat down for a short break. The view was incredible! You could see all the way southeast to the observation towers on Ft Sill, about 3 miles away.

We continued our journey, crawling around the rocks like little kids. Every time we’d spot something that looked like it could be a cave, we’d squint at it, see if it looked like it went back far enough to stash some gold, then we’d go bounce over and check it out. It was invigorating and exciting. My cheeks were getting a workout from all the smiling we were doing… and my LEGS were getting a workout from all the climbing around. We were truly living in that moment… soaking up all the fun and adventure we could. Here are some photos we took along the way…

This was a fairly steep rock…

but I conquered it!

and Erv captured it.

Here he is from my viewpoint.

The little bonsai trees that grew way up in the rocks brought back the scene from “The Karate Kid” where the boy goes to take a bonsai tree off a cliff & Mr. Miagi throws a fit. Amy brought this up when we saw the little guy pictured above.

So we stopped & shared a protein bar and drank some water. It was good to sit and admire the awesomeness of the scenery. This place should be in a travel blog!
We got up and headed to the cave we saw earlier, which was only a fold in the rock… Or so we thought. Just as we were about to move on up the hill, I leaned just a little farther over and was rewarded to find that the cave went up & up.

I could not see the end of it. I quickly called to Amy and we dropped our gear in anticipation of another subterranean excursion! Erv was ready to get in there, but stopped for a quick photo op.

This cave went in, then up. We had to climb a bit to be able to see that it went back about 18 feet or so and terminated in a 2′ cave at the top ledge. We noticed goat droppings and Amy said, “something smells bad”. It was goat urine & feces! We got the heck out of there. The way my mind processed this moment went something like this, “oh man…look at that… this cave is deep! I’m gonna climb up on this little platform and see if it goes back any further… *sniff*… *sniff sniff*… eeeew… Erv… he must be really sweating! UGH… bleh! That is bad… REALLY bad… is that ME?? no… no way… that’s not my flavor.” Then, when I couldn’t stand it anymore…I finally brought it up to Erv. When he said it was an animal scent… my instinct was to jump and run! I did NOT want this adventure to end in a bear mauling… that’s not fun for ANYBODY. I was relieved when he said it was just a goat.

I quickly named this one: “goat stink cave”. We grabbed our gear then moved west farther up the ridge until we reached the top. Erv made it out first, so I snapped this pic of him relishing the fresh air.

As we topped the ridge, once again, we were rewarded with another grand view of the valley below. Amy snapped a couple more pics then we headed down into a draw which lad back into the depths of the Creek.

There was also a small stream trickling down this draw and into the main stream. We inspected several spots to see if any of the shiny stuff might be visible with the bright sun hitting it. No such luck!
As we moved deeper into the creek bottom, we spied another overhang type cave on the north cliff face. Inside was an old broom handle, made out of steel that was rusty & pitted. Another hiker had shoved it into the limestone/clay making a series of holes into the wall. Jesse James maybe? No, the mop handle was too new. Nice try. I just did a little research and THIS was the famed Spanish Cave!! If we’d known that, we would’ve taken a picture…
Next, we crossed the creek and got back onto the top of the south ridge and looked around. There were deep cracks going down 10 feet or so that you have to step over. Amy related a movie she saw where a guy had fallen into one & couldn’t get back out. What a crappy situation. Luckily, there was no need for a pocket-knife rescue on this trip.
I was definitely glad we had packed a few survival type items in our packs. Check the “gear we used” section to view the contents of my pack.

We climbed about looking for a good trail to take to get back to the east again. Over and over we hit drop offs. Finally we decided to backtrack back past the goat cave & go out that way. Once again I commented on how great our boots were at navigating the rocks.

We checked out another cave on the north cliff face. It was about 10 feet up, but leveled out once you were inside.

But look at how scary that one big rock looks… just wedged and suspended in-between it’s neighbors!

Being inside the cave was a little freaky…made me breath a little softer than I did in the open. All those rocks had to FALL off the mountain at some point in order to get there… I had my eye on them!

Finally, after a busted camelback bladder incident, we made it back to the opening of the small valley. We followed the cow trails down until we could see the truck in the Post Oak Lake parking area. We kept moving due west and crossed Post Oak Lake Creek just below the dam.

Moving over the last hill, we connected with the trail that led back up to the parking lot. We threw all of our stuff into the truck then went over to look at the lake. The wind had died down a bit since we pulled up three hours earlier.
Post Oak Lake Dam is 45 feet tall, and according to one of our books, replaced a 45 ft tall waterfall that used to be there. It is still quite beautiful.

That sun was bright and made the little lake sparkle… it was lovely.
We got in the truck and moved a whopping 25 yards north to the Charon Gardens parking lot. By this time there were a few cars there and people moving about the trails. We parked and walked down to Treasure Lake. By this time, the camera batteries were WAY dead, so sorry there are no pictures.
The lake water was incredibly clear and you could easily see the bottom. Very beautiful.

At this point, our feet and ankles were a bit sore… Not in shape for this apparently… So we loaded up, headed for Doris Campground.

The main road took us due east towards French Lake. The road is a decently paved 2 lane that winds around the flatter land at the edge of the mountains. Just before we reached French Lake, we passed Wind Tunnel Cave and made a mental note to try and get back to see it.
We passed several lake turn-outs and continued east. Just before we hung the right turn onto State Highway 49, we passed another park maintenance area. The old houses were made from the giant smooth stones, and as we passed the barn etc, those little houses were made from the small cannonball sized cobblestones. The creek next to it had a couple of flood control slabs and the northeast bank had a rock wall made of the cobblestones as well.
Once we turned onto Hwy 49, we came across a large praire dog town on the south side of the road. Those little guys were running all over the place & eating bright orange carrots. Their little tails were wagging.

Then we came upon more buffalo & longhorn cattle, a female elk, and various deer hanging out beside the road, apparently enjoying the sunshine.
Just a few more miles & we turned right into Doris Campground.
A sign on the guard house said pay at the self pay station. Where IS the self pay station? Who knows?

We drove into the campgrounds and found a secluded spot right beside the lake. It was the most perfect spot there.

Although not as breathtaking as the mountains, the lake had a beauty all it’s own.

We set up camp, got a fire going, and started lunch. I made some “Wise” brand Cheezy Lasagne. The picture looked very tasty, and we were famished by now. I also put on a pot of coffee.
It took about 20 minutes to prepare the lunch. You have to boil the water, put your food in it, then let it sit for 15 minutes to absorb the water. It smelled great, but I had put a little too much water in. It was a little runny. We had just the lasagna and coffee for lunch.
Most freeze dried camping meals have a bit of an aftertaste. The Wise meal was no different. Although tasty, there is a pretty bitter aftertaste. Kinda like stomach acid. I kept that to myself and ate 2 plate fulls anyways. I double that sentiment.
We got out our fishing poles and went to try our luck in the lake. After about thirty minutes of catching sea grass, we came back to camp. We spent awhile gathering firewood & goofing around the fire. Finally Amy suggested we take an afternoon nap. Great idea!

Oh man… did that coffee taste great!!

Here’s our camp… quite cozy. That firepit was already there, along with a permanent grill… Doris Campground hooked us up!!

I typically am not a fan of campgrounds with pre-marked spots and all, but this place was spacious and there was plenty of room between us and the next campers.

Here we are looking like some real mountaineers
After our nap, we started getting dinner ready again. We still had half a pot of runny lasagna, so I added a pack of ramen noodles to it. I refilled the coffee pot and put it on the fire as well. Of course, the coffee turned over & spilled a bit… No big loss. This time the lasagna was great. I guess it needed the ramen.
A fellow named Randy stopped over to say hello and tell us where to find more firewood. Apparently across the lake was a ton of deadfall due to the ice storm. We had plenty so we stayed put.
Doris campground is posted as a no alcohol area. That’s all fine & dandy, but we each had a cold Wells Banana Bread beer for desert. Discretion would be advised. I learned as a Gunny in the Marines, that if you know the intent of the law, then discretion could be used if the law needed bending a little. The President does it everyday.

We sat around the fire for a while. Saw a cool shooting star that lit up the night for about 15 seconds, some scary looking clouds, then hit the rack. I made a wish on that star…it was gorgeous! I hope it comes true.
This is the end of this part of the story, but check “Interesting Tidbits” to find out what we saw on the way out!
Erv

Trekking Boots

Posted on January 9, 2012 by AMY

Trekking boots
Alright, I need to talk about footwear a minute. After bouldering in the Wichitas all weekend, I have to rave a bit about Asolo hiking boots. Both Amy & I have a pair and they ROCK!!! I have had my pair for a year now and have worn them hiking all over, using mainly hiking trails etc. I was interested in the Asolos, as a few of my SOCOM (Army) buddies were issued them for work in the mountains of Afghanistan. I always heard great things about the boots. I bought mine at www.sierratradingpost.com using a 45% off coupon I got. If you sign up and give your email address, they send out coupons all the time. The 35/45% ones come out once a quarter. Once you buy something, they also send you a 20% off code to use. Pretty good deal. I bought my boots for $85.00. After this weekend, I’ll be looking for the next coupon .
The ankle support on these boots is fantastic. The boulders in Spanish Canyon gave me about 500,000 chances to twist my ankle, but these boots kept everything nice & stable. Tight.
The soles of these boots were like wearing climbing shoes. Like having cartoon suction cups on my feet. I never on e lost my footing due to traction.
Awesome! I highly recommend these for men or women!
Erv

Wichita Mountain Gold Part 1 The Plan

Posted on January 9, 2012 by AMY

(NOTE: This post was written by Erv with Amy’s Comments added in like this ) _________________________________________________________________________

Our trip to Spanish Canyon, Treasure Lake, Doris Campground, and Medicine Park, Oklahoma January 6-8th, 2012.

Planning:
Of course we had a little planning. You can just take off on the spur of the moment, but if you haven’t done at least a hair of planning, you are going to come up short in a lot of areas. I started thinking about this trip in 2009 while recovering from a freefall (skydiving) accident. I was laid up at home in Ft Benning, Ga by myself on convalescent leave surfing the Internet, when I came upon a story about Spanish Silver mines located in the Wichita Mountains near Lawton, Oklahoma. Well, I had been a taxpaying Oklahoma resident for some time, so this thrilled me. I started searching deeper and came across a story about a young boy finding a cave full of Robber’s loot on Longhorn Mountain North of the Wichitas.

As all these stories go, the boy had been hunting and chased a rabbit into a hole covered with a large flat rock covering it. The boy was able to move the rock to the side, exposing a downward shaft 10 ft down into a small cavern. Upon closer inspection, the boy was able to make out shiny gold coins and jewelry, including pocket watches, in the bottom. The boy had no rope to use to climb down, so he returned home to tell his family what he had found. While traversing the hill, he was bitten on the leg by a rattlesnake. By the time he made it home, the poison was well saturated in his system and he was in shock. He tried to tell his family where he had found the gold, but was delirious by this time. He went into a coma for three days, then passed away from infection. His family searched the mountain but never found the supposed cave.

This story led me to another about Indians observing three separate loads of gold being taken into Spanish Canyon by Spanish men. Each load was 18 burro loads of gold. Apparently they never came back for the gold.
Ok, I had to punch a few holes into this story. Especially after having climbed all over the rocks in Spanish Canyon. Although it’s a great hiding place for “anything”, why would you take your burros up into that rough terrain to hide gold there, when it could have been hidden anywhere? My guess is that they followed the steam North to the area of Treasure Lake & buried it there.

Anyways, after discussing all this with one of my adventure buddies, Justin, I decided I needed better maps. Google earth is fine & dandy, but I can’t make out elevation. After using 1 meter CIB as a Recon Marine, the satellite imagery also leaves a lot to be desired as well (Yes, I am spoiled! ). I ordered a program app for my iPhone called “Gaia GPS“. It is a navigation program that uses USGS and military maps, with a built in GPS feature for navigating with your iPhone. As long as you download the maps of your area ahead of time, you do not need cell towers for this program to work.

I quickly poured over the 1/24,000 maps of Spanish Canyon. My idea was to try looking at this from a different standpoint. I tried to use military route and cache planning to solve this problem of where could the gold be? First I tried to determine (looking at the 1/24,000 topography) where a long team of 18 burros might be led into the large boulders to drop the gold off. Logistically, this could be difficult. First, if you took the burros in, you could drop the gold off then take them back out. You could even take 3-4 burros at a time in and out per day. That would be manpower intensive though. The Indians in the area were known to attack the Spaniards, so splitting up the group too much would present a security risk.
If it were me, I would only take the burros to an area where I could corral them easily and have security over the entire site where the gold would be buried or placed in the cave. The burros could go a day or two without water too, but it would be smarter to keep them near the creek there. This would also provide them with some grass to eat as well. I’m sure I’m probably WAY off on all this . To cache the gold and find it at a later date, definite permanent land marks would be needed to find it as well. Yes, they carved symbols into the rock, but the rock would also have to be recognized as well.
With all the above in mind, I figured I could search for: water source, food source, corral area, & large easily found
landmarks.

Fast forward to fall 2011.
Amy & I had discussed many trips we could take looking for treasure and ancient sites, starting here in Oklahoma. We both lived in or near Tulsa, so we would try one day trips first. Our first target would be Heavener, Oklahoma. This small town at the western foot of Poteau Mountain, is home to the mysterious Atlas Mathis recount of finding a concrete wall encased in coal 260 million years old. He found this in 1928 while blasting in mine number 5 in the 2 mile deep portion of the mine. The mine was quickly closed afterward & flooded. Mathis and his co-workers were warned not to speak about what they had seen by the mine owners.
Heavener is also home to Runestone State Park. This little known park is home to a large stone lying in a ravine which has Nordic runes claiming the land for their tribe and dates to 1000 AD.
We took a trip down on a Saturday and hiked the trails there, venturing due East up Poteau Mountain and along the southern ridge of the mountain approximately 1 mile east. We then returned to the truck, and drove back. Amy here… gotta add my two cents to this commentary. Erv makes it sounds so simple, but let me tell you… this was one tough hike! It was our first hike together, and I think BOTH of us were quite aware of trying to appear tough enough to handle the 100+ degree weather from this past summer. We were guzzling water and panting as nonchalantly as possible… but l was dying! But I had to impress this cute ex-marine, so I sucked it up an smiled my way to the top. We were absolutely rewarded with the amazing view from the top of the mountain. I guess you could say that was the first big treasure we put into our memory bank.
After this short trip, we realized it was time to make an extended trip, hopefully with a campout one or two nights. I laid out my idea for the Wichita trip and we started to plan a trip for just after the new year. I studied the travel maps and saw that Ft Sill, Ok was very near the Treasure Lake area. I called and made a reservation at the Ft Sill lodging for Friday night, the 6th. I noticed there was a lakeside campsite located 3 miles from treasure lake at Camp Doris. It had primitive, tent, and RV camping, along with fishing on the lake. This would be our second night of our trip.

I figured since we were short on time, the most direct route down would be best. The trip computer stated the trip as 4.5 hours, so I figured it would actually be just over 3 hours to Ft Sill Key Gate from Tulsa. This would also mean using the turnpike the whole way down, which also equals added expense. As if gas isn’t expensive enough, add $20 in additional road tax. This money is supposed to be used to keep the road pristine. We know that didn’t happen .

Anyways….

I checked the weather channel app for Lawton Ok and we were looking at a high of 56, low of 35 degrees F. This means we gotta pack warm! I started with the tent. I took out my Chinook four season tent for this trip. It’s built a little heavier than the three season tents and can handle high winds. I also packed us a 0 degree bag each, a ground mat, and firewood from my fireplace wood. This was in case firewood was scarce. It usually is in camping areas, even if you find some it’s usually small & burns too fast. I loaded 8 sticks of green red oak. I packed out our kitchen box and added 2 kerosene lanterns. Next I packed my personal gear, making sure to have a good set of base layer, then external layers… Lightweight & heavyweight fleece. I used the acronym COLD. Clean, avoid Overheating, dress in loose Layers, stay Dry. No cotton on this trip (cotton kills), as it saps body heat when wet & does not dry quickly. I threw in my bright yellow expedition jacket just for the heck of it (glad I did too). OK – Amy didn’t even THINK to remember that COLD acronym… even though I was made to memorize it during my recent Army days… I just threw in the silky and waffle thermals and fleece PT cap that they had issued me, my digi-cammo pants (that Erv loves to point out are NOT as camouflaging as the Marine’s digi-cammo… and I agree… but they are rough and tumble and never rip or seem as dirty as other pants), and a few shirts that wouldn’t totally clash with those army pants and would help me not look like a Ft. Sill training escapee. I also packed my huge, puffy, totally awesome, vintage down coat “just in case.” Obviously, Erv is much more preparation-minded than I am… thankfully!!
I packed my Asolo hiking boots for the mountains, but wore down my new Merrell Refuge hikers for the ride down. The Merrells ended up hurting my feet anyways. $140 spent for bad fitting shoes . To me, shoes are the most important piece of gear you can own. If they hurt your feet, you gotta get rid of them. Being a biped with tender feet sucks.

Lastly, I brought along my newly acquired “Indiana Jones” fedora hat. I thought it only fitting to at least have it along for the ride. Andy B. Says he hears banjos playing when I wear it . I have been around cowboy hats all my life, but this one is “crushable”. All this means to me is that it is too light to keep on your head in high winds, as it is super light. Note to self: add a drawstring for windy conditions! I brought my old Archaeology-adventuring hat – it’s an awesome straw number with a drawstring to hold it onto your heat in windy conditions

Also brought some camp chairs, 5 gallon water jug, and Tupperware box with 2 static lines, a dynamic rope, two harnesses, figure 8s, & climbing rack with stoppers/beaners/extractor plus rappel gloves. Just in case we discovered one of the old silver mines listed in Wilsons book. All packed up and ready!

Friday, Jan 6th at 6:00 pm I picked up Amy in the trekmobile (my 2008 Tundra Crewcab). We jumped onto I44 heading Southwest.

Here we are just a little way into our hike through Spanish Canyon… Read on for part 2… The Trip

TreasureTrekking

Finding Life's Hidden Treasures… with Erv and Amy