Day 24 - ending near Waurika, OK - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

June 7, 2023

Day 24 - ending near Waurika, OK

Day 24 - Healdton, OK to Waurika, OK

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Everything was charged up this morning when I got up at 4:30am. Worked on yesterday's report until it got light, then packed up. While doing that I noticed I still had half a bag of Fritos left over from a couple of days ago, so I munched on them. They made a surprisingly good breakfast snack.

With power here and a fair cell phone signal, I decided to stay and get the report posted. That had me leaving the pavilion at 10:54am, heading toward Healdton for breakfast. Now I see how all those RVs got to the lake. They used the west road - the one I was using to get into town.

By 11:15am I was in Healdton. There's an oil museum here but it was closed. A little farther on I came to Sonic and decided to just get lunch items, including their bacon double cheeseburger. The only place they really had to sit was at a picnic table in the sun. I was surprised how big my large vanilla shake was when it arrived.

An older gentleman (Don) walked up as I was eating. He joined me sitting at the picnic table in the hot sun. Don is retired from work in the oil field business. He keeps busy now looking after some cattle. Don had participated several years in Oklahoma FreeWheel, an annual event that guides cyclists from south to north through the state in a week. The route's starting and ending locations are different each year. Some years are more difficult than others due to hills. That was an enjoyable lunch for me, having someone to talk and listen to.

Noon came and went as Don and I were talking. Total today for morning riding was 2.9 miles.

When I left Sonic I went into town another block to Mom's Mini-Mart for Powerade and a Dr Pepper (for the ice). Then on to City Hall to pay for last night's camping. I told them I'd stayed under the pavilion and used their electricity. Not a problem and only $6. There's an old brick building (apparently an armory) next door to City Hall that I noticed was built by the WPA, but looks like it's falling into disrepair.

Today I was headed to Monica North Park by Waurika Lake near Waurika, Oklahoma. That was a straight west ride from Healdton. I headed west out of town following my pre-planned routing. At an intersection where I expected to go north, my plan was saying south. I referenced Google Maps, and then remembered what I was thinking back home - that the road straight west might be flooded. In fact, a satellite view I'd seen showed the road underwater for a long stretch. Considering the recent weather, I decided the road was probably dry and it would be a more interesting ride than US-70. So I turned north onto OK-76 to get to Mobil Road, the start of my straight run west.

I started my ride west on Mobil road at 1:08pm. It was paved to begin with and had some truck traffic. Several miles later I started on gravel, which was in very good shape. At 2:20pm, I was taking a break when a woman in a pickup truck came to a stop and gave me a bottle of cold water right out of her refrigerator! As she drove off she said she'd be praying for me.

At 2:37pm I was at the intersection with OK-89. This would be my last chance to get to US-70 if I wanted pavement and traffic all afternoon. The more rural adventure was calling me, so straight west I headed for a twenty+ mile gravel road ride.

What a pleasant fun afternoon I was having. There were no vehicles at all on this road. Trees and fields, ups and downs, clouds and blue sky. I was enjoying it all. For some reason, from time to time, butterflies would swoop right in front of my face.

I came to the spot where the road tends to flood. There was some mud drying along the sides of the road, but I got through fine. There were some hills and valleys for most of the way on this road. No problem getting up or down except when I got to some sections where they'd added gravel, and it was the unridable type. So I did some walking, always hoping over the next hill that the gravel was in better shape. Sometimes it was. My mileage progress was really slowing down with the walking. There was one flat section with good gravel, and that helped make some progress.

Later in the afternoon up over one hill I noticed it was getting kind of dark straight west. Checking the weather radar, I saw that there was rain farther west than I was going for today.

At 5:00 p.m. I stopped to eat half a bag of peanuts. Finally, an ATV, and a little later, a pickup truck passed. I must be getting back near civilization, I thought.

When checking my progress on Google Maps, I noticed there was marked ahead along this road a Point of Interest - the Chisholm Trail Lookout Point. I could finally see a monument ahead high on a hill. At 6:48pm I was real close to the lookout when the wind started blowing strong all of a sudden, just like it had last evening. Except this wind was from the west. Five minutes later I was at the pull-off for the lookout point. I parked the bike at the bottom of the road to the point and walked up. There's information to read on all four sides of the monument, but the views from this high point is what I liked best. I was encouraged with the view to the west. It looked like the road was flatter ahead.

A mile before I made it to US-81 - at 7:31pm - I was on pavement. I turned left on to the highway and rode through Addington. I let my Garmin GPS guide me the few miles to Moneka North, an Army Corps of Engineers campground. Stop briefly at the overlook they have there for the lake, then proceeded on the road below the dam. The campground is self check-in, and with the 'America The Beautiful' pass I have, my fee for a site with electricity was only $7. I selected Site #28, then rode back to the entrance to deposit my pay envelope.

I was back at my site, ready to set up, at 9:12pm. The bike was pretty dusty from the gravel road travel. I didn't bother with that, but did oil the chain. Set up the tent on a very cushy grass area, which should make for comfortable sleeping.

Jeff

Spent: $15.39 plus $3 (breakfast) + $10.80 (Powerade, Dr Pepper) + $7 (campsite) = $36.19