Visiting the Wichita Mountains |
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| Most people think Oklahoma as a flat state. For the most part this is true, but Oklahoma is actually home to some mountains along its western regions. The rest of these photos were all taken from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. A truly impressive place to visit within Oklahoma! The amount of wildlife I saw and activities available make this area one of the best places for outdoors in the state. Above are some of the colorful mountains decorated with large boulders. The mountains here are one of the best places in the state for bouldering and rock climbing. |
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| I got a big rain storm when I visited the Wichita mountains. The forecast claimed that after the rain the sky would clear back up again. The rain came in fast and trapped me within my car for about 30 minutes. It was one of the hardest storms I had seen. It began with rain coming in at 45 degrees and white sheets of water slapping my car. After about 15 minutes it was just giant heavy drops of water and then began to lighten up. I began my hike when it was still drizzling. It was hard to imagine any chance of clear skies after that storm, but like the weather report said, about 30 minutes later traces of blue began to appear in the sky. |
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| My hike began in some scrubby terrain and then followed a small river that had a few dams along it. Right when I first started my hike I was looking at my cell phone to see the time so I could judge how long my hike was. As soon as I put my phone down I saw an armadillo only 10 feet in front of me on the trail! It was too late to capture of photo of it and the armadillo fled into a creek bed. Along the river I saw lots of birds, amphibians and reptiles. The terrain changed from scabland to grassland. There were also steep rock walls like the on the lower right. |
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| The amount of wildlife I came across in the Wichita mountains was really amazing. I saw all these animals with just a drive through the refuge and while hiking. I can only image what else I’d see if I had spent the night camping. The refuge by the way is split into two parts. Since this place isn’t a park, the primary goal is to protect wildlife. Half of the park is completely off limits while the other half is open to boating, fishing, hiking rock climbing etc. Above are two birds I came across, a vulture and a group of turkeys. Below are some photos of prairie dogs. These guys were actually everywhere. The majority of them were seen poking their heads out of their holes like the guy below. A few where closer to the trails and easier to see. The guy on the left seemed too busy eating to care about how close I had gotten to him! |
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| I’m not sure how common rattle snakes are in this area. Some of the trail was thick enough that I couldn’t see the bottom and worried about stepping on one. Something that is common are all the cacti here. Fortunately I didn’t step on any of them but saw several species. Below are some photos of other parts of the Wichita mountains. Most sections are very rocky, but there are occasional grassy areas like on the lower left, or other areas with rock carpeted with colorful moss and plants. |
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| Like the Tallgrass Prairie Reserve, the Wichita mountains have plenty of wild bison. There are also wild longhorns here! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wild bull before. The longhorns like the bison shouldn’t be approached as they can become defensive. Other large animals that live here are deer and a reintroduced species of elk. |
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| Some smaller wildlife I saw was this beautiful male collared lizard. He was quite large but fortunately not too shy. Some of the terrain was was completely full of colorful rocks like where I spotted the lizard. Other parts were grassland with dead trees and the occasional large boulder. Some of the dead trees and dry colors looked like winter, but I visited the Wichita mountains in late August. |
  My final photos of the Wichita mountains are sone of the smaller creatures here. I mistook this unique double winged dragon fly for two of them mating at first. The plant on the right is something I don’t believe I’ve seen before. I wish I had taken the photo with the macro lens! I thought the purple flowers in the center looked like mini pineapples. While hiking in the wet grasslands I got soaked. Every few feet I saw a giant frog leaping away to safety. The one below was the only one I caught a photo of, he was much smaller than the ones hoping away. Finally in the dryer areas I came across what I believe are to be poisonous fire ants! |
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