DR. OMED'S ILLUSTRATED WALKING NEWS
I follow the meander of the trail below the bluffs,
I am turning and returning in the labyrinth.
I am one whose name is a skillful gift
and I set my foot on this land.
I walk the narrow valleys between the long low hills
where redbuds bloom in spring.
I thread my way through cross timbers and brambles like living barbed wire.
I stand atop a block of limestone with my left foot half on air...
IMAGE COURTESY OF GOOGLE EARTH
This is the view from above, the satellite view as a matter of fact, of the area where Annie Beagle and I took our latest Sunday afternoon stroll. "1" marks the parking spot on the two lane highway that makes its slightly sinuous way from Chandler Park to a junction of Hwy. 51 and the bridge that crosses the Arkansas River into Sand Springs. The two little specks by the side of the road are probably pickups or SUVs. At the top of the picture is the sandy bed of the river. Between the river and the highway is the railroad. The line that proceeds south by southeast from the "1" roughly traces the trail below the bluffs. The line that turns back north and then curves east is the approximate route along the top of the bluffs. The "2" at the top of the denuded area that looks like it's been carpet bombed is the location of an abandoned quarry. The "3" is rather vague on the exact location, but is somewhere near the "headwaters" of a stony creek bed that rarely has much water in it. This is one of my little "kingdoms of beholding." It doesn't look like much from the perspective of an eye in the sky, but it is spacious enough for man and beagle afoot in search of a bit of semi-wild solitude.
WEATHERED LIMESTONE CREVASE
ROCK CLIMBERS
These were the only people I saw on the trail.
ANNIE INVESTIGATES
This fireplace is in the middle of an area enclosed by three gigantic detached chunks of limestone, and the wall of the bluff itself. It's is an intimate room open to the sky. If not for the fire ban, it would make a great place to watch a fire on a clear night.
12:37:40 AM 
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