Black Mesa State Park

Black Mesa State Park, Oklahoma

You would think with all the time at home during the pandemic, I would have blogged a lot. But, I didn't. Granted, travel has been strictly curtailed. But, I did have several safe, socially distanced trips. So, now it is time to catch up. 

As I may have mentioned before, Scott is constantly in pursuit of good Dark Sky locations to photograph stars, the Milky Way and, when we can get far enough north, the aurora borealis. He discovered that an obscure state park on Oklahoma had good darks skies. So, last May, we took our first in-quarantine trip. 

Lots of open spaces work in a pandemic

We live in Colorado and this park was in Oklahoma. That seems distant until you learn that Oklahoma and Colorado actually share a border. 

Not really far from home

The very far southeast corner of Colorado kisses the Oklahoma panhandle and that's where we were going.

Not typical Colorado or Oklahoma landscape

You almost expect to see a vulture!

I must say, the drive there down an obscure gravel road after traversing some very empty prairie and buttes, wasn't encouraging. 

In some ways, it felt as if we were sneaking into Oklahoma via a secret, somewhat clandestine, route.

I mean, does the sign at the right REALLY say, "Welcome to Oklahoma?" More like "Enter at Your Own Risk." And, I doubt if that sign is an official Department of Transportation sign. 

But, we pressed onward because, after feeling a bit lost, we at least knew we had made it to Oklahoma.

An Oklahoma Pronghorn

Black Mesa sits along the tri-state border with Colorado and New Mexico, actually claims "four corners." It is just that two of the corners are Colorado!

"Four Corners" Monument

Black Mesa gets its name from the layer of black lava rock that coated the mesa about 30 million years ago. You can hike to the top of the plateau, which, at 4,973 feet, is Oklahoma's highest point (that is about 1,500 feet BELOW my house). We drove by several times, but didn't hike. It was just too hot and dry. I even forgot to photograph the mesa until we went back a few months later (I will blog on that next). 

Black Mesa

We read that there are dinosaur tracks in the area, but we failed to find the good ones.

The tracks are hard to see

The terrain is hilly, rocky and very dry. The flora consists of desert plants ...

Typical Black Mesa plants

... cottonwoods ... 

Red-headed Woodpecker in a cottonwood

... and grasses ...

Lark Sparrow

The Black Mesa area marks the point where the Rocky Mountains meet the shortgrass prairie and is allegedly a "birder's paradise." Not so much when we were there, although I did see lots of Western Kingbirds ...

Western Kingbirds were everywhere

Red-headed Woodpeckers ...

Red-headed Woodpeckers were among the most common birds

Lark Sparrows ...

Striking pose

Barn and Cliff Swallows ...

Swallows bathing in the stream

Bullock's Orioles ...

Bullock's Oriole (doesn't he look like he's wearing very cool shades?)

And, a very photogenic Curve-billed Thrasher ...

A cooperative Curve-billed Thrasher

... which sat in a cactus rather than flying away as I got gradually closer and closer ...

He even took a moment to preen

The campground is reasonably nice, especially if you can get a campsite a bit away from the main area, which we did.

 

Our campsite was at the end of the row, below a small hill

Unfortunately, being Oklahoma, it got quite windy, which makes cooking and camping a bit tricky.

We had a lovely dinner and a fire, despite the wind

The park is adjacent to Lake Carl Etling, which was quite low when we went and, therefore not exactly filled with waterfowl.

 

Carl Etling Lake

Just some Red-headed Woodpeckers ...

The Woodpeckers seemed to have the lake to themselves

... and lots of Field Ants ...

Field ants are quite large

Fish out of water?

Scott had hoped to fish, but the low lake squashed that plan. It had some fish (Carp, I believe), but you could probably just pick them up as they wallowed around in shallow muddy water. 

Black Mesa State Park claims to have some of the darkest nighttime skies on publicly accessible land in the country. And, it was dark. But, unfortunately, it was also cloudy. 

We had planned to stay two nights. But, the steadily increasing wind, clouds, lack of birds, poor fishing options and pandemic fears sent us home after one night.

We drove through home through northeastern New Mexico and encountered Toll Gate Canyon, which served in the 1870s as a toll road from the Dry Cimarron through Tollgate Gap, providing one of the few reliable wagon roads between Colorado and northeast New Mexico. 

Remains of the old Tollhouse

This road remained an important commercial route until the Colorado and Southern Railway came through this area in the late 1880s. The old Tollhouse is pretty neat -- but there were no cookies!

And, as we reentered Colorado,  I got my ONLY Lifer Bird of 2020 -- a couple of Chihuahuan Ravens playing along the railroad tracks.

A new bird: Chihuahuan Raven

Not the greatest camping trip we've ever had. But, it was nice to get out of the house.

Every minute in nature is a good one

Trip date: May 17-23, 2020