Osage Hills Run

This morning, a few of the Sunday morning Turkey Mt group caravanned to Osage Hills State Park to run some new (new to most of us) trailz. It's 67 miles one way, and to some--driving 114 miles to run 5 miles seems silly, but the trailz here are so amazing it's well worth the drive.

We had a few runners meet us there--peeps who live in Bartlesville or Dewey. Krystal Brown and Don Gillam were two.
We started out in the main campground which had an unlocked bathroom (and hot showers, which we wold not need this day.)


Our first half mile was a styeady climb to the highest point in the park. There's a "observation tower" there, and we gathered around and observed. It sometimes is an amazing view from here.

It's also a good place for a group picture. Our dog runner was JD, who did a good job of herding us around the loop.


I led for most of the way, and had a good run (which means a good pace for me.)


When I steped off the trail to take pictures, I would bring up the rear until the group reached an intersection or a WOW place.


Lookout lake is one such WOW place. A trail actually leads right down to the shore, but we bypassed that turn choosing to stay on the main loop.


I have always found this old bridge fascinating. It was built close to 100 years ago, and will no doubt last another 200 years.

Get a good look at this shelter. This will be race headquarters for a new trail marathon/half marathon/5K to be held on June 21. 
It will be called the DANGER CLIFFS TRAIL MARATHON / HALF MARATHON / 5K. 
Online registration will be open soon.


Here is the beautiful Sand Creek Falls. There are actually people who visit the park and have not made the trek down to see the falls. They are amazing!


Philip and Coleen cross a natural dam to see a gurgling channel of rapids.


We climbed up and out of the falls area to the top of some bluffs. it was here that the idea for calling the upcoming trail race here "Danger Cliffs Trail Marathon.". I LOVE THE NAME!! Clyde Cole gets free entry to the race for suggesting such as perfect name.


And along the cliffs we did go. There are a couple of different places where you can run right on the edge--and over the edge if you are not careful.


From here, it's a good 60 feet down to to the water.

My biggest fear here is not the height, not of falling, not of hitting my head on rocks below, but of drowning because I would sink right to the bottom of the river. I guess if I hit my head on the way down, I might not even have to deal with drowning.


The race will run by each of these areas, but we will stay a safe distance from the edge, won't we? (Nod your head yes!)


After that, we ran a loop trail that is rockless and pancake flat (which is actually flatter than relatively flat, in case you were wondering.) Philip and Coleen asked for a shortcut back to the car and I sent them the wrong way--so we all ended up with 5.1-5.15 miles depending on whose GPS watch you wanted to believe.

No trail running trip to Bartlesville is complete without a trip to Murphy's Steakhouse. Normally, I would order breakfast food, but Murphy's is famous for their Hot Hamburgers.

What you have here is a generous hamburger patty on Texas toast, and then a pound of hand cut fries and brown gravy poured over the whole mess. It is off the charts!! I have done some calculations, and depending on the gravy, it has 1300-1600 calories. I ran 5 miles with a few inclines, and might have burned 600 calories, so I stand to gain a pound today. Lucky me.


And Lucky Me is right. I made a happy plate and was happy to make that plate happy. I know some people are vegetarians or vegan, and some people just won't eat grease and starch. But they are the ones missing out. If no one had been watching, I would have licked the plate.