McGee Creek. Never Stop Exploring

After running Sizzlin' Sasquatch Sunday, I decided to head over to McGee Creek to check out some trailz I had read about. I plugged McGee Creek into Google Maps, and away I went. Somewhere between Coalgate and Atoka, my cell phone ran out of any resemblance of a signal, but the Google map app seemed to work albeit slow. So on I went.

It sent me to the location marked by the green arrow, which was a campground. Upon turning into the camp ground, I was an encouraging sign: Potapo Hill Trail. I parked, set my Suunto, and off I went.

Yeah, the trail sign said it was only 1.4 miles. I thought it might be one way (I didn't read the "Loop" on the sign.)

This is everything I like in a trail. A well defined trail, pine needle covered, tall pine trees, wind whirring through the tree tops, bright blue skies.

Of course I had to take an upward tree shot. 

And true to the sign, the trail was a loop, coming back within about 20 yards of the original trail head.

Just across the access road, I found this pond with a trail going around it. BONUS!

A beautiful side trip, but the trail went less than a quarter mile. So it was back to the drawing board. I could not get on the internet with no signal. My iPhone kept saying "sim card not installed." To my knowledge, my phone does not have a sim card. But the google map app was working well enough to give me an image of a gravel road going for miles through the heart of the WMA, but it was around 20+ miles away. So of course I had to go check it out.

The outlined road was a fantastic gravel road, semi-scenic, and I just knew it would take me to the awesome bunch of trails I'd read about.

While this 10 mile stretch of road would make a good run with lots of hills, it was not quite what I hoped to find. 

About half way out, I saw a pull-off area with what looked like a Kodak moment. I was on top of a long ridge, and this was one of only a few places where you could see over the trees to see you were actually on the edge of a long high hill.

The view was grand, but there was no possibility of getting into the dense woods. This is a very vast, secluded, untrafficked plot of land--used for hunting of course. 

There were a few other pull-off areas designated for parking, but it did not look like these had been used for months, maybe years. Occasionally I'd see an overgrown road marked to prohibit motorized traffic.

One such road near this picture had a hint of a road heading downward toward the lake. I parked and decided to give it a good look.

Hoping this would turn into a few miles of trail running, I followed this road steeply downward for .4 of a mile.

The view of the lake was worth it, but at the water the trail ended.

I'm not sure what the purpose of this road was other than upper lake access. 

Not many fishermen would hike down a 174' decent to fish, only to have to climb back out. But I loved it. Just wish it was longer. (TWSS!!)

Well once I got home, I found the map that showed where these miles and miles of trails were located. I was maybe a couple of miles away as the crow flies, but a good 20-30 way by car. The little green arrow marks the trail head, and the map below shows all the trail offerings.

Another road trip is definitely in order!!

Sizzlin' Sasquatch--I did day two.

A mere few hours after running a 25K in western Oklahoma and driving for 4 hours across the state, the Sizzling Sasquatch was next on the list. This 3-day event features a 5K, 10K, half marathon, full marathon, and a 50K. Again. like yesterday, I was on the fence between two distances and chose the shorter one. I thought I'd actually try to pick up the pace and see what the old body could do.

Once again, I slept in the truck, and was actually comfortable getting a full 9 hours of ZZZs. Good thing, since a 6:30 start was on tap. Here, Abby gives Mike and I last minute instructions. I had no coffee in me and comprehended 10% of what was given out.

The word GO sent us shuffling into the morning darkness. We were well advised to wear a headlamp, and found our way on a short out-and-back which put us back at the start 2.2 miles later and I dropped off my light at my truck. From there, we had 3 3.65 mile loops on nice single track and mowed trails across fields of tall grass.

It was cool. I actually had to break out a blanket during the night, and we eventually hit the mid 80s by mid-afternoon.

We had been warned about wild animals on the course. Lurking in the woods were coyotes, snakes, chicks and tiggers,  donkeys, and possibly BIG FOOT. The donkeys seemed harmless enough, and I had sprayed liberally for blood-sucking critters. But coming face to face with an 8 foot Squatch had me nervous.

 Pumpkin Holler has Bathtub Rocks, and so does this race course!

 Big foot??? No. Just a 15 foot Zombie.

RD RJ had this course idiot proof. Look for orange flags and they're always on the right hand side. I never felt lost.

And don't cross yellow caution tape. (I did go on the wrong side of this orange flag.)  

 (And I did cross under this yellow tape. Shhhh.)

These shady sections were welcome in the later laps.

I fell victim to the trail sharks FIVE TIMES!! Yes, five times I had one nip my foot and I went crashing to the soft ground. I wore a blue-shirt-turned-brown. But no red. And a funny side note. On lap one, I stepped just off the trail in the first wooded area to pee. Then on lap two, I had my third fall. I always plant my water bottle (in my right hand) into the ground and roll out of the fall. It's a smooth roll, and turns a mediocre fall into a spectacular one, and I rarely end up injured or bruised. On this particular fall, I realized I was in EXACTLY the same place I had peed earlier!! My shirt was sweaty but I wasn't sure if it was all sweat!

And YES!! There was a big foot sighting and as sure as a sheet of plywood is 8 feet tall, this Squatch was definitely 8 feet!!

Well here's how my race played out. The out and back was a steady jog in the dark. On loop one, I focused on staying smooth and getting my legs to moving without any aches and pains from the day before. Half way through loop two, I decided I was gonna try to catch up with Mike Rives. My stride felt fluid and good. This had turned into a great run for me. Near the end of loop two, I thought about the chances of coming in under three hours. My fuzzy math skills could not compute what pace I would need to average to reach my goal so I took a walk break and got out my phone and entered the needed pace per mile to run 13.1 miles in 3 hours. 13.7404580. So I rounded that to 13:44 per mile, and at that point I was at 14:21. Doable--maybe. I stretched it out and purposed to run every step all the way in. I passed quite a few people, some of which might have been in the half, but I'm sure most were in the full or 10K. But no signs of MIKE! I turned the last corner with the finish line in sight and looked at my watch and saw the magic n umber of 14:44 as it turned to 13:43 average for the race. I thought I nailed it!!! But my finish time b y my watch was 3:00:26. Maybe I didn't run the tangents. One less fall and I'da made it. Still, I was thrilled. Best run for me in many many months.

One of the best things about small trail runs is the laid back atmosphere. Folks hang around, eat, shoot the breeze, etc. Strangers become friends, friends become BFFs.

Turns out Mike also had a stellar run. He finished in 2:25. He was a couple of zip codes ahead of me. DANG!!!

Misty did great in her run. I'm thinking this might have been her first back-to-back run. Meego probably had something to do with that!

Jenni WON the 50K on Saturday, and may have also won the 50K again on Sunday. Congrats are in order. What an animal!!

Every runner got these squatchy hats, and all finishers received these handmade big foot cutouts. Meego is gonna have Mike make a skateboard out of it.

Gotta say, I give this run an A+ rating. It's on my list for next year, and will be on the Oklahoma Dirt Trail Series.

More Do Wacka Do Wacka Do Wacka Do

I'm not sure how many Do Wacka Do races I have done. I know I missed the one where the course was moved due to flooding, but I think I have made all of the others. This race is usually held on the first Saturday in September, usually on Labor Day weekend. Yes. it's in western Oklahoma, and yes, it can be hot. This year were were lucky to have much cooler temps, with low 60s to start the race and highs only in the mid 80s. I opted for the 25K, although I was on the fence--thinking of giving the 50K a go.

I slept in my comfy back seat of my truck, and woke up in plenty of time to get dressed, lube, slather, and get to the start line. But I spent too much time socializing, and like  frequently do, forgot to pin my number on, and ended up starting 10 minutes late. My friend Misty also was slow getting around, and we started off together. 

A mile into this 16 mile loop, and we're treated to a splendid view to the west of a red rock cliff. It begs for us to come explore, and were it not for the race at hand and the possibility of rattlesnakes galore, I would make an adventure of it.

The course is dirt roads all the way. All intersections are well marked, and I think it should be impossible for anyone to get lost, although sometimes it happens.

Second manned aid station just ahead. Way UP ahead. Two aid stations on the loop are atop monstrous climbs. That's like something I might do.

Some years, there is no water on the course. This year, enough rainfall had filled the two ponds on the course. And there were a few muddy sections which had sticky clay-like mud caked up on our shoes. Finding the perfect mud-scraping rock was a challenge because many times what LOOKED like a rock was really a mud clog in disguise! We soaked our feet and washed our shoes in the run off from the second pond.

In places it seems like the road climbs right up into the sky.

Each incline that looks like it's straight up basically was. Of course, I love it. 

Misty stops to breathe near the top of a 150' climb.

Some years I've seen tarantulas, some years there's been snakes. This year, only the pinacate beetle showed up on the trail. These guys secrete a foul odor, and if squirted on you, it's worse than being sprayed by a skunk.

Grab a burrito and then scream down the hill!! We kept a good pace but slowed down a little in the final 4 miles.

We finished just under 5 hours, but remember we started 10 minutes late? Yeah, I forgot about that. So it was a 5:05ish. They had an enclosed trailer with benches and a huge water-cooler fan blowing which really cooled you down. I didn't stay here long though because the smell of grilled hamburgers and my thirst for a cold beer was just too strong.

The wonderful trophies--no I didn't get one. I was DFL again for the third straight year.

But I AM gonna get a DFL sticker for my truck.

We did receive a well stocked goodie bag--which included the shirt pictured above, several ink pens and coupons, and a BEER COOZIE!! The medal was great too.

RD Joel Everett and his band of volunteers do a great job with this race. They also organized a gravel grinder bike ride this year in conjunction with the race. And there are miles and miles of grave roads out here to explore. Next year maybe I'll bring the bike.