2021-05-29: A Weekend Roadtrip up to Oklahoma's Ouachita National Forest and the Talimena National Scenic Byway

Well we had a 3-day weekend, so I decided another quick geocaching roadtrip in the GeoJeep was just what we needed. After a little research I discovered the Talimena National Scenic Byway located up in southeast Oklahoma and the Ouachita National Forest.  There's geocaching, offroad Jeep trails, and lots of scenic views. So we drove up from Central Texas yesterday and today we went for a drive. Follow along as we explore what I called the "Blue Ridge Parkway" of the mid-west...

Starting out in the town of McAlester in Pittsburg County, our first geocache was at the Oakhill Cemetery (GC3Q1R1). There were well over 16,000 burials here dating back to 1863. East of town, closer to Richville, is the Carbon Cemetery (GC425CH). This one is a bit smaller with less than 200 internments and even fewer remaining headstones.

Taking the rural backroads of Highway 1 into Latimer County, we soon encounter the Higgins Hitching Post geocache (GC6N344) and two more at the Mountain Station Cemetery (GC74MF4, GC77XHN). These were near the Overland-Butterfield Stage Route. The cemetery's earliest grave dates back to 1859. Andrew Mackey was killed in a stage coach wreck on a return from a California gold field.

Passing by Buffalo Mountain, we drove up to the top for our next geocache (GC3D0EJ). I didn't find the cache cause I wasn't up for bushwhacking at the time. But it was well worth the drive up as this is a spot used frequently by hang gliders and the views are spectacular.

At the western end of the Talimena National Scenic Byway is the former Welcome Center. It was recently closed due to budgetary cutbacks. Peaking through the windows it looks as though it had only been closed for a few  minutes. Everything is still in it's place. So I found the geocache (GC8JVDN) and we were on our way.

The Talimena Scenic Byway is a 54 mile drive through the Ouachita National Forest from Talihina, Oklahoma (OK-1) to Mena, Arkansas (AR-88). Let's begin the drive and take on the scenic vistas.

It didn't take long to get to the first roadside pull-off and geocache at the Choctaw Vista (GC1GNDE). A few people parked and taking in the scenery. Lucky for us none were interested in the ammo can geocache in the woods.

A few hundred feet and across the highway is parking for the Choctaw National Trail and another geocache with a bit of historical value (GCVKB6). After a short 0.2 mile hike from the parking area, I got about as good a photo as I can get of this nearly 200 year old road, abandoned, forgotten, and being reclaimed by nature. The Fort Smith to Fort Towson Military Road was constructed by hand in 1832 by the U.S. Army under the command of Capt John Stuart of the 7th Infantry. It extends over 130 miles of rugged terrain through the Choctaw Nation.

The road was originally used to relocate the Choctaw people to their new home in Indian Territory and to move supplies and troops between Fort Towson in Oklahoma and Fort Smith in Arkansas. Robert E. Lee, General Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and other famous figures used the road. Travelers from Poteau, Wister and Talihina used the road until about 1930.

Our new roadside scenic view was at the Holson Valley Vista. Snapped some more photos and grabbed another geocache (GCXA75).

Next was the Panorama Vista, though with so many people at this stop I just wandered into the woods and grabbed the geocache (GCVKAG).

Soon after though there was another scenic vista and we once again stopped to view it. One legend has it that Deadman Vista got its name from many years ago when horse thieves were caught on a nearby trail. With justice swift back in those days, the thieves were hung from an oak tree in a nearby gap. Here's Candy taking pics at the scene and reading the historical markers.

This wasn't one of the scenic vista's, but after passing through here, I just had to have a photo. Drove a few miles to a spot I could make a u-turn. Then passed through again until I could find another spot for another u-turn. Then, safely parking off the road, I proceeded to take several photos. Oh, if only I still had my Corvette and traffic blocked for miles at both ends!

Upon reaching the north/south road of US259, we took a little side trip to the south. I like finding old abandoned sections of roads and bridges. And this "Lost Highway" geocache brought me right to one (GC34XWB). Safely pulling off onto the shoulder of US259 and taking a short hike along the old road alignment I found the old single lane bridge which crossed Big Cedar Creek almost completely reclaimed by nature.

A few miles further down US259 is the Pipe Springs geocache (GC40Z2M). Pipe Springs dates back to the 1920's when the Oklahoma-Rich Mountain Railroad built a fifteen mile spur from Page, Oklahoma to the new sawmill town of Pine Valley. The railroad workers drove a pipe into the ground to get water to supply their needs. It also provided clean fresh water to the loggers on the mountain.

So now to get back to the Talimena Scenic Byway, I could have just made a u-turn and gone back north on US259 and re-see what we just saw. Nope, we got to keep moving forward and discovering new things. Plus we got the GeoJeep! Right next to the pipe spring was this 2-track Jeep trail going east and reconnecting to Talimena. I can never remember to turn on the video for the entire trails,  but here's a short clip:

Back on the scenic byway, we make our way over to our next virtual geocache at the Kerr Nature Center (GCH896). But it was closed.

Moving right along down to the Sunset Point Vista. At this scenic view parking area there were two earthcaches (GC3R2NE, GCZ8ZT) and a traditional geocache (GC2JRG5). The earthcaches focused on the folds of the earth and the glaciers that were in this region. The traditional was a short hike up the hill where I took this photo looking back at the GeoJeep.

So the plan was to drive all the way across the Scenic Byway over to Mena, Arkansas. But it is already nearing 5:00 PM and we haven't even reached the Oklahoma-Arkansas State Line yet. After too more geocaches at the Kiamichi Valley Vista (GCTXYH) and Chaha Vista (GC8HT2Z), I decide that it's best to go ahead and backtrack to US259 heading south.

We arrive at the Three Sticks Monument virtual geocache (GC69F2). The dedication sign at Three Sticks says they symbolize land, wood and water. It recognizes U.S. Sen. Robert S. Kerr, U.S. Sen. Mike Monroney, U.S. Rep. Carl Albert, Gov. Raymond Gary and R.G. Miller for their contributions to conservation in southeastern Oklahoma. It's too bad the vandals have to put their graffiti all over it.

On the way to Three Sticks, we passed by this other monument so we backtracked to see what it was. Turns out there was also a geocache there too (GC20VE3). On Oct. 29, 1961, President John F. Kennedy and his entourage traveled to southeastern Oklahoma to dedicate a highway. US259 was a much-needed north-south thoroughfare, opening up that part of the state for commerce and tourism. It was an astounding moment in history; the president of the United States on hand for an Oklahoma highway dedication. The State of Oklahoma and the Knights of Columbus marked the occasion with this granite stone.

One final geocache (GC3DZWV) stop before making the trek back to civilization in search of dinner! Lenox Mission School established in 1853 by Dr. Simon L. Hobbs and wife as part of the Presbyterian Church mission. This is the site of the mission. The marker on the highway says that they started with 48 students. Nothing remains except for a small, fenced cemetery. Dr. and Mrs. Hobbs are buried in this cemetery.

That's our journey across most of the Talimena National Scenic Byway. I hope you enjoyed it and perhaps added it to your "To-Do" list the next time you're in SE Oklahoma.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2020-05-10: Jeeping and Geocaching in a Florida Forest Finding some Creative Caches!

WOW, it was a fun day! Welcome back to my AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventures Blog. Normally my adventures are roadtrips finding geocaches that focus more on the destination. Today was all about finding some creative geocache containers in the Osceola National Forest. So come on aboard the GeoJeep and let's see what kind of crazy caches we can find...

After talking to some of our local geocacher friends, we heard about a fun power trail (a lot of caches along a road at or near the minimum required distance apart) where the majority of the geocache containers were unique and amusing. These were located within the Osceola National Forest in North Florida, not far from the campground which we were staying in Fort White.

After a few hours of wheeling and tromping through the woods, we had found a total of 41 geocaches with only 1 DNF. Unlike the other of my blog posts, I give you the caches GC# and link to the geocache page. However for this blog, because I'm showing you photos of the geocache itself, I'm not going to provide that info so that you might be pleasantly surprised when you find it yourself. Your only hint as to the location is that they are just a few of the nearly 1000 geocaches hidden within the Osceola National Forest.

I leave you now with photos of these creative geocache containers. If these are sparked your interest in this hobby, feel free to ask a question or leave your comments below. I always look forward to hearing from my readers.

See you next week...

 

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2020-02-23: Jeeping along the James River Road in Mason County Texas

Welcome back friends. Today's adventure is a little bit different than most of my others. There were no geocaches to be found today. I had first seen this video about a year ago of some Jeeps driving through and across the James River and it looked pretty cool. I had forgotten about it until recently. Realizing that we'll probably be leaving Texas for the east coast soon, I looked it up again to try and figure our exactly where it was to drive the trail ourselves. So hop on in the GeoJeep and let's ride some backroads, gravel roads, dirt roads and some water crossings down the James River Road.

The James River flows from the James River Spring, 4½ miles southeast of the ghost town of Noxville in southeastern Kimble County and runs northeast for 36½ miles to its mouth on the Llano River, six miles south of Mason in Mason County. In 1860, Wiles Joy and Lafe McDonald became the first White settlers on the James River. Sometime in the early 1900's the Noxville post office moved to the James River from the Little Devils River.

The James River Road closely parallels the river along the north half but then eventually splits off and separates as it goes south. But not before it crisscrosses over a couple of times. That's where it gets fun for the high clearance off highway vehicle owners who don't mind getting a bit dirty!

And the more rain you get, the more mud there is to play in!

So from the town of Mason, take US-87 south for a short way before turning south on 1723. After a few miles make another right onto 2389. Follow it down until you pass the Llano River, then look for the James River Road turnoff on the right shortly thereafter. Most of the drive is like any other dirt/gravel road, but there are some low water crossings and scenic spots too.

On this day that we drove through here, along with the water crossings, there were also some dry swales too which was kinda odd. But it just added to the various scenes and types of terrain.

Seeing these mini caves and erosion holes in the swale walls above, I thought they'd be some great hiding spots for a geocache. This would test the geocacher to see who's brave enough to reach inside and grab the container.

After an hour or so, we finally arrived at the major crossing of the James River. I've crossed some small creeks before, but none this wide. From inside the Jeep, crossing the river was pretty cool. Once on the other side, I dropped Candy off and drove back across. I wanted her to get a video of the GeoJeep crossing the river. Watching the video afterwards, it doesn't look all that spectacular. The video I had seen a while back was taken from a drone so you're looking down on all the water with the Jeeps crossing over. I guess I need to get a drone for the next time.

After the wider crossing of the river, the road got a bit rockier as we continued south which made for slower traveling. And since the road turned away from the James River, that was the last of the water crossings.

After about four hours on the river road, we eventually made it out and back to the main roads eventually reaching the highway. We still had a few hours getting back to McCamey in West Texas.

It was a fun day out exploring the backroads. Hopefully by sharing this story with you I've made it interesting enough that now it's on your bucket list of places to visit if you're ever in Mason County, Texas.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.