PASTOR PAUL’S PASSAGES

Our Family Outing to

GLOSS MOUNTAIN STATE PARK

Folks, we’ve been living amidst the pandemic for well over a year. Many of us have had to abandon our vacation and travel plans. We may still be exercising caution as we dare to plan travel this summer. But we’re beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel! Cruise ships, theme parks and resorts are beginning to open bookings for the summer months. Halleluiah! We love our family vacations; we need our get-a-ways to refresh and renew our energies for living.

I noticed recently that my daughter and her three children were looking a bit school-year weary. We had moved to Enid, Oklahoma over the Christmas break and have not had many opportunities to explore the countryside around our new environ. Also, I realized that neither my daughter nor my grandchildren had seen any of the territory west of Enid. So I invited them to get up early on a Saturday morning to go on a hike. I fixed them a good breakfast of pancakes, bacon & scrambled eggs, and then we loaded into the pickup and headed west on Oklahoma Highway 412.

We drove west for about 45 minutes. As we approached the turn-off to Fairview, I invited the children to look ahead to tell me what they could see. They saw some red “mountains.” The Gloss Mountains are not mountains at all, but when the kids caught their first glimpse, they thought they were seeing mountains. Continuing west on Highway 412, I told my grandkids, “That’s where we’re headed!”

Mya asked immediately, “To those red mountains?”

“Yes, Mya,” I answered, “those red mountains are Gloss Mountain State Park. We’re going to hike to the top of the Cathedral Mountain Mesa and have lunch.”

Daniel Boone’s son, Nathan Boone, visited the Gloss Mountains in 1843. He described them as “glass mountains.” The mesas have a high Selanite content that makes them appear shiny in the sunlight. We drove right off highway 412 through the state park gate. Every direction we looked we saw native red dirt prairie with sparce green vegetation. Having utilized the park’s restrooms, we sprayed the kids with sunscreen and headed up the trail.

We hadn’t gone very far before we encountered metal stairs which volunteers have installed to help visitors climb to the top of the mesa. Twice on our climb we had to make room for other hikers who were coming down off the mesa, Their faces shown with pleasure of what they had seen on the “mountain.” My three-year-old grandson, Teddy, climbed every step of the way as we journeyed to the top of the mesa.

The stairs ended before we arrived at the very top. Teddy held on to his mama’s hand as they walked the final few feet. At the top, we turned around to see our vehicle parked in the parking lot far below us. “We climbed a whole bunch!” said Teddy. My 11-year-old granddaughters were enjoying the spectacular view from the mesa. They could see Lone Peak Mountain and both began looking for a trail to take them there.

After a quick drink of water, we began exploring the mesa top. We hadn’t gone far before the girls found a small lizard basking in the sun. The turkey buzzards circled riding air currents above us. By that time, Teddy no longer wanted to walk on his own, so grandpa hoisted the boy onto his shoulders.

Across the mesa we came to an outcropping were we could stand close the the edge of the mesa and see various layers of sedentary rock. “Many eons ago, much of Oklahoma was a great shallow inland sea,” I explained to my granddaughters. “The layers you see exposed here in the mesa show us the various sediments in the sea floor.” (Didn’t I sound knowledgeable and wise?) I also explained that although Nathan Boone had seen the “Glass Mountains” in 1843, native plains people had visited these mesas for centuries and centuries.

We discovered a sparkling new green bench that had been placed on the mesa as a part of a Boy Scout eagle project in 2020. We sat on the bench and enjoyed lunch.

On the way down off the mesa, Teddy wasn’t able to negotiate the steps as easily as he had going up. He scooted on his bottom all they way down the steps. When we reached our pickup truck, another family was preparing for their trek up the Cathedral Mountain trail. They had four children under the age of five. I said a little prayer for them and wished them Godspeed as they slathered their kids with sunscreen.

We had climbed the “mountain” and seen some of the beauty of our state. Refreshed by the experience, we look forward to our next adventure.n THE CORRIDOR MAGAZINE / JUNE 2021 37