David Martin and Richard R. Barron take a day to explore some of northwestern Oklahoma’s best attractions
My long-time friend David Martin recently told me his wife was out of town and asked if I wanted to take a one-day road trip somewhere in Oklahoma. The weather was grippingly cold, including an ice storm during the week before, but by the time we were ready to hit the road, the air was dry and the sunshine was warm.
David poses on the west edge of Gloss Mountain among the red land and deep blue sky.
Our first stop was for breakfast at Juan del Fuego Mexi Diner at 8 a.m. in Norman, Oklahoma.
We struck out to the northwest. Oklahomans know that much of our state is accessed by a cobweb of indirect, inconsistent highways. From Interstate 40 in the Oklahoma City area we turned north on U.S. 281 to Watonga, then jogged east a mile to join SH8, simply because neither of us had ever seen it.
The signature red erosions of Gloss Mountain are set against a perfect blue sky.
Our first attraction of the day was Gloss Mountain, a small but very picturesque State Park in the middle of the epic expanse of northwestern Oklahoma near Fairview. I hadn’t visited this site since fall 1999.
This is your host at Gloss Mountain State Park in October 1999, which at the time hadn’t been formally named. I am posing with my Fujifilm GW670III, a camera I loved but never mastered. Compare this image to the next one…… of your host posing in almost the same spot, 26 years later. I haven’t changed all that much, have I? My camera is also a Fujifilm, the Fujifilm HS30EXR, one of my favorite travel cameras of all time.
One thing I definitely appreciated was the almost “New Mexico” look of this part of Oklahoma.
David begins the short climb up to the rim of Gloss Mountain.As a hiker and climber, I found the stairs leading to the rim to be awkwardly spaced and oddly constructed, and I wished for a more organic route to the top.The view from the rim was quite fetching. This image looks southwest.David strikes an epic pose on the west rim of Gloss Mountain.Weather had been dreary for weeks prior to our visit but turned really beautiful just one day before our tour. In this view to the west, you can see all the way to the horizon.The sky was that wonderful deep blue that responds well to a polarizer.Just one padlock and one d-ring adorned the north boundary fence, meaning that either very few people had affixed them there, or the State Park police keeps removing them.One of these days, I want to make a picture of someone doing exactly what is shown on this sign with the sign in the foreground, with a safety net hidden below, of course.Looking east is this striking formation.The top of the trail back down to the parking lot has a nice view of the winding road into the park from U.S. 412.Your host poses near the rim of Gloss Mountain.Neither of us wanted a souvenir.David makes his way down the awkward steel stairs to the parking lot.Kids play on one of the hills next to the parking area.Near the base of Gloss Mountain is this small stream.
David and I ate some trail mix, then headed west and north in the direction of Boiling Springs State Park near Woodward, Oklahoma.
This is the pool leading away from the “boiling spring” in Boiling Springs State Park.This might be my favorite image on the day, although I don’t love the fact that it was vandalism.The deep blue sky and beautiful sunshine at Boiling Springs really make the day.Your host leaps like an idiot at Gloss Mountain. If you can’t have fun, why go at all?
