After yesterday's big hike, we took it much easier today. The nearest town to Black Mesa State Park is Kenton, OK, with a population of 31. There are no stores of any kind, but they do have a small museum which should have been open today, but nope. Instead, we ran across a big motorcycle event passing through town with hundreds of bikers. We spent a few minutes inspecting the cool old rusty stuff outside the museum as the bikers streamed by.
Kenton Museum
Tom tries a tractor
Brian and Tom with Black Mesa in the background
Mowing the dead grass
Stegosaurus-powered plow
Next, we headed over to the Preston Monument, which marks the spot where Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico meet. There were a few bikers at the tri-point, but with the last half mile of the approach down a dirt road, most of them didn't want to risk the paint jobs on their shiny, expensive motorcycles and turned around just shy of the monument.
Fun fact: Cimarron County, OK, is the only county in the US to border four other states: Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.
Tom and bikers at the tri-point
Jana and Tom, New Mexico and Oklahoma
Jana and Tom, Oklahoma and Colorado
Brian, Jamie and Pip at the Preston Monument
Returning to the campground at Black Mesa State Park, we stopped to check out an area of petrified wood. The park calls this area a “Petrified Forest,” but the few petrified logs located here were discovered elsewhere by park personnel and moved here for easier viewing. To call it a “forest” is a stretch.
An overstatement
Petrified wood
The rest of the day, we just hung out at camp and relaxed. At one point, Tom and Brian and I walked a very short distance to a couple of picturesque swimming and fishing holes along South Carrizo Creek, mere steps from our campsite.
Sign for the swim beach
South Carrizo Creek swimming hole
South Carrizo Creek fishing hole
Horned lizard aka horny toad
For dinner, Jamie and Brian served pulled pork, creamy coleslaw, and yummy potato salad. Another great meal! A third night of stargazing was cut short by clouds and a little rain, but I don't think anyone really minded calling it an early night, especially the still-exhausted dogs.