Many long-time state residents, perhaps most, do not realize what a wonderful varied state is Oklahoma in its topography, four major eco-systems, diverse animals, birds and plants.
I'm so lucky that I have a good friend, Pat Folley, who is familiar with most of the most fascinating and beautiful destinations all over Oklahoma. She is a botanist who has spent countless hours in the fields, gullies, canyons and prairies of our state finding, photographing and identifying wildflowers, making her a living encyclopedia of great places to visit. This past week she and her grandson Dillon and I traveled to a most unusual topography for any state; its location near Freedom, the Blaine Formation of Gypsum Caves, rough hills and narrow canyons.
A large inland sea covered the area 200 million years ago leaving dense layers of numerous minerals called alabaster or gypsum when the sea water evaporated over time. Alabaster is chemically calcium sulfate, an acidic compound that when hydrated under pressure becomes a hard, glass-like mineral. When there is a depression and water enters, the acidic solution "eats" its way downward and outward eventually forming a sink hole. As more water enters the depression the acidic water enters cracks between gypsum layers and eventually extensive cave systems and sink holes develop.
The first recorded exploration of Alabaster Caverns was in 1898, and the land containing the caves was bought by Charles Grass in 1939. Grass sold the 200 acres containing three-fourths of a mile caverns to the state of Oklahoma for a public park in 1953 for $34,000.
The caverns were closed in June 2004 for the installation of lighting and reopened in October of the same year. Up to that time you had to bring your own flashlight with you if you wanted to navigate through the rough and irregular winding three-fourths of a mile passages as well as see to keep from bumping your head on outcrops that partially block the inky passages. There are no formations in gypsum caves as there are in limestone ones; the unique shapes of the inner walls and roof are sculpted by moving water and occasionally by early spelunkers. One of the excellent tour guides will point out plenty of both types of carving throughout the hour underground hike.
Long ago the entire cave was filled with a roaring river, now a stream fed by lateral brooks. Seepages from the walls and roof keep the cave at a constant high humidity and a cool 50 degrees all year. You can hear the springs gurgling beside you as you navigate the passages. Some dry channels as well run alongside the trails. Some are pure chalky white with no iron content at all. Others are various shades of browns, reds, cream, and pinks.
There are only three large and extensive alabaster caves in the world open to the public, the Oklahoma caverns, Barbarossahohle and Humkehle in Germany. There are smaller gypsum caves in Italy and China and elsewhere, and the largest cave system is at Optimisticheskaya in the Ukraine, although only a small portion of the huge complex is open to the public.
Five species of bat live in the Oklahoma gypsum caves: Cave Myotis bats, Western Big-Eared bats, Eastern Pipistrelle bats, Western Brown bat and Mexican Free-tailed bats. However, you're not likely to see bats in the main passage because there are too many visitors and the bats prefer unlighted areas, retreating to the dark channels undisturbed by humans.
The trip to Alabaster Caverns State Park takes a little more than three hours each way so it is possible to get there and back in one day. If you wish to stay, there are many places that you can camp, take a room at the park housing at the entrance to the park, plug into an RV hookup or stay in nearby Woodward.
For more information about the park and caves use your search engine and type in Alabaster Caves or you can call the park office, (580) 621-3381 or the Oklahoma City contact, 521-3411.
Closer to home
Upcoming activities at Lake Thunderbird State Park Nature Center -- Today: 11 a.m., Bats Around Us, slide show for all ages; 1 p.m., Clay leaf prints, ages 4-10 $1 fee; 2 p.m., Animal Charades, ages 2 and up; 3 p.m. Caterpillar and/or butterfly construction using egg cartons, pipe cleaners and construction paper, fee 50 cents.
Saturday: 10 a.m. Fabric Leaf Prints on your own t-shirt or on one of their bandanas fee $1 for bandana, ages 2 and up; 11 a.m. What is a Bird? ages 4 and up; 7:30 p.m., Program about Other Great State Parks, slide show and information about other state parks.
The new Nature Center at Lake Thunderbird is east of the lake on Highway 9 about one mile north on Clear Bay Avenue.
Betty Culpepper may be reached at bculpepper3@cox.net for comments, questions or ideas for future columns.
Outdoors
July 23, 2008
Beauty surrounds us
- Outdoors
-
- Safety is vital when working with chain saws STILLWATER -- As Oklahomans clean up after the recent ice storm that left tree limbs shattered or lying around, care should be taken to ensure protection against unintentionally risking an arm or leg being added to the toll.
- Dolese Youth Park Pond teeming with trout for young anglers Oklahoma City resident Gaston Gallant goes fishing nearly every day of the two-month trout season at Dolese Youth Park Pond, a northwest Oklahoma City fishing destination currently teeming with nearly 2,600 rainbow trout.
-
De-icing salt can harm landscape plants
Each winter, millions of tons of deicing salt are applied to state and municipal roads to keep the roads safe for vehicles to travel. Salt is spread near houses to avoid pedestrian injuries. This is necessary for safety, but did you know excessive salt can cause widespread damage to trees ? possibly leading to permanent decline and even death?
According to the Tree Care Industry Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the tree care industry, even severe salt damage might not be visible on a tree until the end of summer, leaving homeowners wondering what might have caused the problem. - Making it through That was a cold spell of what we used to call "Biblical proportions." It was made perhaps more interesting locally by the old heat-pump in the house, which died on New Year's Eve. For a week, the household was maintained by an old Franklin stove in the living room, and by the old owner, who had to carry in firewood so it could be fed every hour or so.
- University of Oklahoma team wins college fishing event ZAPATA, Texas -- The University of Oklahoma team of Mark Johnson and Chip Porche won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Division event on Falcon Lake Saturday with six bass weighing 34 pounds, 8 ounces.
- Great Western Feedout entry deadline Friday It is time to start entering for the Great Western Feedout of 2010. For those of you not familiar with it, the Great Western Feedout is a producer information feedback program that allows cattle producers the opportunity to evaluate the genetic merit of the calves they produce for feedlot performance and carcass value following weaning and a winter stocker program.
-
Part-time lakes are of full-time importance
For the unlearned, old age is winter, for the learned, it is the season of harvest.
--Hasidic saying
Today's topic is the most important wetlands you've never heard of: Playa lakes and oxbow lakes. Playa lakes are usually saucer shaped natural low places with clay bottoms located in dry landscapes. - Christmas Bird Count yields unexpected rewards What am I doing here? It is incredibly cold morning and I am crouched here in the dark in the willows on the banks of the South Canadian River with a few stalwarts indulging in an activity called "owling.
-
Increasing deer population leads to ornamental and garden plant damage
STILLWATER -- With more than a half million white-tailed deer in Oklahoma, many landowners experience nature in its purest sense as the deer can be viewed at close range.
However, this has become a problem over the years as the deer population has increased, forcing thousands of these animals into peripheral suburban areas, leaving homeowners to deal with damage to ornamental and garden plants. -
Wildlife Department to host town hall meeting
Sportsmen will have an opportunity to voice their thoughts on wildlife, hunting and fishing related issues at a town hall meeting hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
The meeting, one of a series, is set for 7 p. - More Outdoors Headlines
