Wednesday 3-26-25 Hiking, Camping & Relaxing

 

Robbers Cave Office and Lodge

 

Another gorgeous day in Oklahoma at Robbers Cave State Park. 

In 2022 when we were here the morning temperature was in the low 30s and the highs were in the 60s. This morning the low was 60 degrees. What weird weather we're having!!! 

I crawled out of bed at 7:15 and had oatmeal for breakfast. When we finished breakfast we got ready to go on a hike.It's always nice to be someplace where you know where things are. The trailhead was right at the entrance of Whispering Pines loop. We started our hike on Coon Creek Trail Loop, which was two miles. The trail had rocks and roots on the trail and the terrain was easy. The trail looped through the trees. We got to where the trail Y'd, at this point you can decide to go back to the campground or hike to the lodge. We had already hiked two miles and we felt good so we decided hike to the lodge. 

The lodge isn't that big but it is very nice. The entrance was very nice and had some double doors. They had three young ladies working the front desk and there was no one there. We said our hellos and went to the back patio. The back patio was gorgeous with three giant Chandeliers. They had an old fireplace that was built by the CCC, it had been located in one of the residence's cabin. Most of Robbers Cave Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Company 1825. From 1933 to 1941 the 1825 Company mainly World War I veterans worked on the park. Below is a sign on all they did. 

We sat on a metal bench and rested for a little while. Then we walked over to Belle Starr Loop Trail, which is a two mile loop. The signage for this trail were white. This trail was more challenging, we hiked down the mountainside through boulders and back up the mountainside. We had to climb over boulders to get to the bottom. Once at the bottom the trail flattened and continued through the trees. We hiked to Coon Creek Lake, where we took the trail along the bank for about .25 miles. This part of the trail was in the open on a road, where vehicles were allowed on. At the end of the lake the trail went behind a gate and up a hill back into the trees. As we hiked this trail we saw an old water pump house, one of the 24 check dams the CCC built for flood control, there were a couple of ducks swimming in the lake. Once we got back to the mountainside we had to climb back up through the boulders. The last section Larry held out his pole so I could climb over the rocks. This helped a lot. Once on top of the mountain it was easy to get back to the campground, we were back on Coon Creek Trail. This section is shared by both trail Coon Creek and Belle Starr. By the time we finished our hike we had hiked 4.25 miles. We had a super first hike.

 

 

In front of the boulders we climbed down from the lodge

 

The trailhead sign for Belle Starr Trail at the lodge

 

Patio of the lodge

 

Sign about the CCC

 

Hiking trail going through the trees

 

Coon Creek Ridge Trail sign

 

When we got back to the Minnie we relaxed a little bit. Then I made sandwiches for lunch, it was too warm for soup.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing. Larry read and I did played games. Larry has already finished reading three books and now working on his fourth.

 

Relaxing with a book

 

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 36 minutes and 50 seconds, which put me in 27th place in my group. Then I played Angry Birds.

After dinner I walked around for about an hour to finish my steps. I ended up doing 18,500 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group. 

After cooling off I started a book called Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau. It's about a fourteen year old girl who becomes a nanny to a five year old girl for the summer. She was raised in a very conservative home but the home she nanny's for is anything but conservative. So far it's a funny book and you can picture the shock of the girl in certain situations.