Race recap, bear hunting and a Himalayan tragedy
Some recent news and notes from the world of the outdoors…
Saturday concluded a pretty good month for triathlons here in Oklahoma. Earlier in the month was the Red Man, a pretty difficult race by anyone’s standards. On Saturday, Norman hosted the Tie Dye Tri, an event where several of my friends competed and enjoyed the race very much.
Tie-Dye Tri in Norman
There’s still time, by the way, to get involved in the upcoming Spirit of Survival event in Lawton. There’s several races there (many of them are qualifiers, including one Boston Marathon qualifier) and a walk/run for fun. Proceeds and fundraisers connected to this event go toward fighting cancer and helping cancer patients in southwestern Oklahoma. And participants get to run in a beautiful area.
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Sad news from the Himalayas over the weekend.
Clifton Maloney, husband of New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, died a day after reaching the summit of Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest peak at 26,906 feet.
Clifton Maloney, 71, became the oldest person to ever reach the summit of this Himalayan giant, according to The Associated Press.
Cho Oyu, in the Himalayas.
It was said that he was in excellent health during the climb. “I am told that his last words were, ‘I am the happiest man in the world. I just climbed a beautiful mountain,’” AP quoted Barry Nolan, a congressional aide who works with Carolyn Maloney.
No word yet on what caused his death, but it doesn’t appear to be from a fall, avalanche or anything like that.
Speaking from experience, weird things happen at high altitudes. Condolences to his family.
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A few months ago, I posed a question about what readers thought about the legalization of a bear hunting season in Oklahoma. As reported in The Oklahoman on Sunday, black bear season starts this week.
Black bear in Oklahoma are on the rise, and are now legal to hunt.
A recap: Up to 20 bear can be harvested per season. Hunting seasons will be limited to archery and muzzle-loaders, and will be permitted in just four counties. The bear population in southeastern Oklahoma (transplanted from Minnesota and Canada years ago) has grown to at least 500 bears in Oklahoma. Some locals have said the bears are becoming a nuisance and their population needs to be controlled.
I’ve received a lot of comments on this one from a past post. Obviously, the debate will continue. Would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
Oklahoma triathlons: A Web site to see them all
Ran into this site looking up triathlons. Decent clearing house, with links. You can also look back at past triathlons to get a read on times.
Here’s the site:
http://www.trifind.com/ok.html
Bob Doucette
Nat Geo’s cool ice climbing video
A promo for a show on “Killer Ice.” Don’t know about the program, but this video is pretty cool.
Cycling in Green Country: More info on the Cycle Fandango
I posted some information about this awhile back. Here is some more details, courtesy of the state Tourism Department:
Broken Arrow ride set for October 17 and 18; Cycle Fandango registration under way
For those who say the journey is the purpose, Cycle Fandango is a must bicycle adventure. This first-ever Broken Arrow event is accepting registrations now for the ride scheduled for Oct. 17 and 18.
But unlike some rides where getting there is the goal, this ride embraces the trip…complete with beautiful scenery and a chance to cool off in a bubbling brook… search out mom and pop diners… and take time to enjoy local favorites…. and the stories of old timers.
“The two-day bicycle event is packed with adventure, culture, food and drink and plenty of old-fashioned fun”, said Tammy Fate of the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce.
Cycle Fandango will start the evening of Oct. 16 at the Stonewood Hills area in Broken Arrow with bands at Los Cabos and the Cigar Box. Plus, there’ll be kayaking at Bass Pro and shopping at the Villages at Stonewood Hills.
Starting Saturday morning, Oct. 17, the ride will head out from the Holiday Inn Express Hotel near Bass Pro in Broken Arrow through the northeastern Oklahoma Arkansas River Valley Region and into the beautiful foothills of the Ozark Mountains to Greenleaf State Park.
On Saturday evening riders will enjoy chuck wagon food on a starry hilltop camp, overlooking Greenleaf Lake. A rock band will perform. Riders can also enjoy other Greenleaf activities such miniature golf, sand volleyball, canoeing and hiking on an 18-mile nature trail.
On Sunday after breakfast, the group takes off on a different route filled with other amazing adventures. Ride distances are approximately 65-70 miles each day, according to the Web site.
Pre-registration is ongoing until Sept. 25 at $60 per person. After Sept. 25, the cost per person is $65.
Go to www.cyclefandango.com for registration forms and more information, or call the Broken Arrow Area Chmaber of Commerce at 918.251.1518, or e-mail tammyfate@brokenarrowchamber.com.
‘Water contamination’ closes swimming areas at Chickasaw National Recreation Area
News from the Chickasaw National Recreation Area (National Park Service):
SULPHUR — The National Park Service has closed swimming areas within the Chickasaw National Recreation Area due to unusually high bacterial levels. Testing of the water of Travertine Creek below the Colds Springs Campground confirmed the contamination, which may be due to a leak on a park sewage line discovered by park staff on Aug. 12. Park staff repaired the problem and cleared the sewage line early that afternoon, but will await further testing before reopening the affected swimming areas. Park rangers are investigating the potential causes of the leak.
The following swimming areas are temporarily closed until further notice:
Travertine Creek, west (downstream) of the Cold Springs Campground
Panther Falls, 0.3 miles east of U.S. 177 on the northeast Perimeter Road.
Black Sulphur Springs, 0.15 miles west of U.S. 177 on the northwest Perimeter Road.
Rock Creek, from U.S. 177 to the Lake of the Arbuckles
Testing shows that swimming areas east (upstream) of the Cold Springs Campground are not affected by the contamination and remain open. These locations include Garfield and Bear Falls, and Little Niagara. If testing reveals no contamination Friday afternoon, the effected swimming areas along Travertine Creek will reopen. Please call the Travertine Nature Center at 580 622-7234 for the current status of the swimming areas.
Oklahoma outdoors: Quartz Mountain State Park and Lake Altus-Lugert
Some of the rugged scenery around Quartz Mountain State park
Perusing some of the cool places to go around Oklahoma, I remembered a place I visited a couple of years ago that left a favorable impression on me: Quartz Mountain State park and lake Altus-Lugert.
Here’s a write-up from OutdoorsOK.com:
Lake Altus-Lugert in southwest Oklahoma is located just east of Lugert. Lake Altus-Lugert has 49 miles of shoreline and 6,260 surface acres. Lake Altus-Lugert lies next to the unique and beautiful Quartz Mountain. The lake is surrounded by rock boulders and rolling granite mountains. Rainbow Trout are stocked for winter fishing during the annual trout season, which runs November through March. There is also a 3600 acre public hunting area north of the lake.
Talk about fun! Trout fishing, hiking, climbing, you name it.
During my visit there, my wife and I, plus her family stayed at a cabin near the state lodge. Nice, roomy, scenic, cheap. We had some great meals at the lodge (a place you need to see) and did some hiking around the hills that surround the lake.
Quartz Mountain State Park reminds me a lot of the Wichita Mountains. Same basic landscape, but the added benefit of a pretty cool lake in the middle.
For those of you who are into rock climbing, there are some well documented, superb routes in the area. Solid granite, lots of places to test your skills.
As with much of southwestern Oklahoma, I enjoy this part of the state particularly in the fall or winter. Fewer people, milder temps, and the snakes tend to be holed up during the colder months.
If you’ve read this blog much, you know I don’t mind traveling — sometimes a really long ways — to enjoy the outdoors. But there are a lot of places closer to home that are pretty incredible and won’t take multiple tanks of gas just to get there. Lake Altus-Lugert and Quartz Mountain State Park are a couple of such places.
Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
Oklahoma outdoor recreation forum: Check this link
Looking to start some discussions or ask questions about outdoor recreation in Oklahoma and beyond? Check out this newsok.com link and start the dicussion!
http://knowit.forum.newsok.com/outdoor-recreation-f41.html-sid=c7bf0d9a324cd329f1db87f6c9c2c740
Edmond to host Olympic, Sprint triathlons at Hillapalooza
Triathletes will be converging on Edmond Aug. 16.
Arcadia Lake will be the centerpiece of a big triathlon coming to central Oklahoma. Hillapalooza is set to take place Aug. 16. This is a cool event because it features two competitions: One is an Olympic triathlon (1,500 meter swim, 40k bike ride and 10 k run) while the other is a Sprint triathlon (400 meter swim, 11-mile bike ride and a 2-mile run). So it offers a little of everything for experienced and novice triathletes.
You can still register, but time is running short. For more on this, check these links:
http://www.triokc.org/?page_id=112
http://hillapaloozatriathlon.com/index.html
Bob Doucette
Take the Out There high point challenge!
I’m pretty much making this up, but I think it’s an interesting idea for all you hikers out there. I’m daring you to take the regional highpoint challenge.
So what is it? It goes something like this:
Our “region” includes Oklahoma and all the adjoining states. Those include Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and New Mexico. The goal: Go to all the state high points and take a picture of yourself there. If you bag all the high points, you’ve successfully completed the challenge.
The good news is that bagging them won’t require any special tools, gear or climbing skills. Each high point is a walk-up. But some will be more challenging than others.
Here’s the high points:
Arkansas: Magazine Mountain, 2,753 feet. Basically a heavily wooded hill in northwest Arkansas. Looks beautiful.
Mount Elbert
Colorado: Mount Elbert, 14,433 feet. The second-highest peak in the lower 48 states. Good trail to the top, but a long and very tiring day fraught with altitude issues. Hike it the summer, but start early to avoid lightning. During late fall through spring, stay away unless you have winter mountaineering skills and gear.
Mount Sunflower
Kansas: Mount Sunflower, 4,039 feet. The funniest high point of the bunch. It’s just a high point on a flat plain in west Kansas, with a pretty humorous marker showing the spot. Looks like you could drive to it.
Missouri: Taum Sauk Mountain, 1,772 feet. Similar to Magazine Mountain. From photos/reports I’ve seen, it looks like a high, tree-covered hill with nice views. Easy day hike in southeastern Missouri.
Wheeler Peak
New Mexico: Wheeler Peak, 13,161 feet. Three routes to the top, all lengthy. The shortest, from Taos, is the steepest. The other two, from Red River, are more gradual but long — 16 and 20 miles, respectively. Follow the same rules I mentioned about Mount Elbert, but add higher avalanche danger during the months between late fall and late spring. Watch out for altitude sickness.
Black Mesa
Oklahoma: Black Mesa, 4,973 feet. A decent day hike, not too lengthy, scenic in a rugged, semi-arid way. Isolated, as it sits in the far northwest corner of the Oklahoma Panhandle.
Guadalupe Peak
Texas: Guadalupe Peak, 8,749 feet. A healthy hike with some exposure and mild altitude issues in west Texas. Looks gorgeous, but very remote so take backcountry precautions.
Are you up to the task? I’ll confess to only having bagged two of these. I’d be interested to know if anyone else out there has bagged all of them and hear their thoughts.
Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
If you want to see mountain snow this summer, better hurry
If you want to see views like this, time is running short.
I’d heard about this earlier in the spring: Dust covering some of the snowcapped peaks in the mountain west. At first glance, it means dirtier-looking snow. But it also means faster snowmelt. Here’s a story from The Associated Press about it:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dust in the wind is rewriting the cycle of life in the mountains.
Throughout memory the warmth of spring has begun the mountain snowmelt, bringing life-giving water to greening plants so they can blossom and renew their species.
But now, scientists say, the timing is being thrown off by desert dust stirred as global warming dries larger areas and human activity increases in those regions.
This dust darkens the surface of winter snows, warming it by absorbing sunlight that the white surface would have reflected. That causes the snow to melt earlier than in the past, running off before the air has warmed enough to spur plant growth, researchers report in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“It is striking how different the landscape looks as result of this desert-mountain interaction,” Chris Landry, director of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies in Silverton, Colo. and a co-author of the report, said in a statement.
The researchers established test plots in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. Some plots were left alone to collect snow and dust naturally, others had extra dust added and a third group had naturally arriving dust removed.
On average, according to the study, cleaning away the naturally arriving dust delayed snowmelt by 11 days compared to the plots that were left alone. Adding dust speeded up the melt by 7 to 13 days.
Overall, dust levels in the mountains are about five times greater than they were prior to the mid-19th century, due in large part to increased human activity in the deserts, the researchers said.
And, the researchers added, climate change is likely to result in greater dust accumulation in the mountains as the Southwest warms and dries further.
With the change in timing of snowmelt and plant growth the composition of alpine meadows could change as some species increase in abundance, while others are lost, possibly forever, according to lead author Heidi Steltzer, a research scientist at Colorado State University.
The research was supported by the British Ecological Society and the U.S. National Science Foundation.
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So that, my friends, means you’ll want to head into the high country sooner if you want to view snow-capped peaks. I’m not sure how this will affect mountain streams in terms of fishing, but if I hear something, I’ll keep you posted.
Bob Doucette
