October 6, 2013

Greenleaf Lake (click image for slideshow)

A Sunday with a high around 70 lured Wendy and me 111 miles southeast to Greenleaf State Park to hike the first portion of the hiking trail there. On our way south we stopped in Tulsa for lunch at the Texas Roadhouse and to buy books at Gardner’s.

Instead of parking along the abandoned road east of the Highway 10 bridge, as I’d done previously, we started out from the official trailhead in the state park, making our way south and west through the woods to the old dam and spillway, where we enjoyed a snack and posed for a pic.

Then we crossed the Highway 10 bridge, disgusted by the armadillo road kill strewn about. The trail blazes are fading out, so we had to scrounge a bit along the abandoned roads east of the bridge to find the trail leading along the lake shore over to the swinging bridge, where the side fence was covered with spider strands, flung out in the breeze.

Swinging Bridge

Wendy is still getting used to longer hikes, so we turned around at that point, making our way back across the bridge.  I couldn’t resist giving the old bridge a good shake while she was mid-span…what a stinker!  We found some variety by diverging onto an old road for part of the return journey and ended up hiking 5.25 miles, the longest day hike for Wendy thus far and closing in on my typical day hike of 6 to 7 miles.

Back at the park, we admired deer and turkeys snacking and strutting their way across the grass near the marina. It was great to be hiking in autumn weather, even if the colors have yet to turn.

Weary but happy, we made our way back home, stopping along the way for a delicious and well-earned dinner at El Chico.

Click here for a slideshow from this day hike