A Photography Day Trip on a Bright Autumn Wednesday
In the middle of an October staycation, I decided that my around-the-house activities weren’t going to be enough. I asked my long-time friend Robert if he wanted to make a photographic day trip, and, after we both pored over our maps, we tentatively decided to drive to Winding Stair Mountain in southeastern Oklahoma and take the famous Talimena National Scenic Byway.
As I drove east from Byng, Oklahoma to McAlester, I kept seeing fog on all the farm ponds. The weather had turned colder the night before, so the water was warm and the air was still and cold. I passed many ponds because I couldn’t really get to them, but found this one, with some grazing horses, near Arpelar, Oklahoma.
My first couple of photo stops were at a small town called Arpelar. People from other areas might say “Arp-a-lar,” but we in the country know this town’s name is “Ar-PAY-ler.”
This old, very rusted-out car and wrecker were by the side of the highway in Arpelar.This super-rusted wrecker was on the other end from the car in the previous image. Note the NUKLHED Harley Davidson license tag on the bumper.
We met in McAlester for breakfast at The Original Egg, then headed in the general direction of Robbers Cave State Park.
Robert poses in the doorway of a long-abandoned restaurant in Krebs, Oklahoma. Krebs is known statewide for its Italian restaurants, but this one on the edge of town has long been vacant.This is another frame of Robert at the abandoned restaurant in Krebs. I think this looks like an album cover.Arriving at Robber’s Cave State Park, we got out some gear, including this 10-20mm, which is sitting on the bed cover of my truck.
As we drove toward Robber’s Cave State Park, we decided fairly quickly that the very dry weather in the last six weeks had caused the autumn colors in eastern Oklahoma to remain muted, so we discarded plans for driving farther east in search of them. Robber’s Cave, however, looked very promising.
Just minutes into the trail at Robbers Cave we started to have a great time exploring, as in this image Robert made of me.I love a trail that feels like the things we explore as children. Robbers Cave is like that.There are lots of narrow passages and slots at Robbers Cave.I’m tall, but this slot was taller by a lot.I love the colors in this image, punctuated by the bright arrow bolted to the rock, showing the way.Robert works his way up with intersection of stone, one of the best spots we saw at Robbers Cave.Robert uses the red arrow as a hand hold as we move up the trail.“Hand me your camera over these boulders. What could possibly go wrong?”This is known as the “Stone Corral,” thought to be where the robbers hid their horses.I love the linear shadows playing on the rock face. The light all day was beautiful.I was very impressed with the cracks in this huge boulder.I believe I am discussing something about photography in this image.Here is another beautiful curved spot in the trail.Roberts works with his 28mm in this image, and although he has had this lens for nearly a year, he still hasn’t really gotten comfortable with it.Near the top of the trail, I spotted this tree against the super-blue sky, and found the right spot for this beautiful sunstar.On our way back to McAlester, we came back through Krebs. Robert had once dined at the legendary Isle of Capris, but sadly, it remains closed after it was done-in by the pandemic. It’s still a neat-looking sign set against the deep blue sky.As we parted, Robert got out his signature round mirror for this double-selfie. He and I had a great day behind our cameras.
Good times. That was the warm up round!