27 October 2015, Tuesday

The sun rises late on the western edge of the central time zone. We do not
wake until after 7:30 am. It’s another leisurely morning. We head
north to Quartz Mountain State Park. These mountains are the left-over
nubbins of what used to be high peaks – before erosion happened. Still,
the mountains are striking because they are so unexpected in the
surrounding flat Oklahoma landscape.

Once here at the park it takes us awhile to figure out where the tent
camping area is. It looks like a giant picnic area. We are the only
ones camped here for the night.

We spend the afternoon doing several short hikes as there really are no
long hikes here. We bushwhack and scramble to the top of the rocky
ridge, we take a short walk to a cave and another walk along the
lakeshore where we spy several large turtles. We return to our
campsite for dinner and watch as a herd of deer wanders by.

After dinner we drive to a nearby box canyon to look for birds. We hear
lots of robins and jays. We see one mouse and lots of deer and coyote
tracks. Then, back to our tent for a chocolate mousse dessert as the
sun sets. Tomorrow – on to Arkansas.