Cycling: Even Farther North

(As always, click any image to see at a larger size.)

Technically I was in Edmond today, but in Greater OKC it maps as NE 164th. This is very much into the Deep Fork watershed because I spent an awful lot of time on my small chain ring.

The route was fairly simple, just reversing my previous visit to this area: north through Spencer, up Spencer-Jones Road and north on Hiwasee. On the way, I spotted this abandoned house (right) in Spencer. I suppose it hasn’t been that long, because there’s no sign of vagrant camping. However, it hasn’t been mowed since some time last summer.

As I crossed the bridge on northernmost bend of the North Canadian River at Hiwasee Road, I saw that there had been a bit of rockslide on the bluff across from the beach. A few miles farther along I couldn’t resist taking this shot of the private pond where NE 150th runs into Hiwasee on the east side. I rode on over the turnpike and kept going north.

The section (mile-square area of land between “section lines”) to my west is almost entirely undeveloped. If you take a look at this area bounded by Hiwasee, NE 150th, Anderson and NE 164th, you’ll see from any satellite view that it’s just one huge portion of the Central Oklahoma Cross Timbers. In its natural state it would be scrub forest dotted with meadows, but in the last century the proliferation of ponds and lakes has raised the ambient moisture of both soil and air so that the trees grow thicker and taller.

I can’t tell you which came first, either the road or the lake, but alongside this far northern end of Hiwasee Road on the north side of NE 164th is Hiwasee Lake. The lake is quite old and the whole bowl is surrounded in serious security fencing. You can catch glimpses of some older obscenely expensive mansions clustered along the shores. This image on the right shows an old bridge on the upper end of the lake.

Up on the next ridge I spotted this abandoned palatial home with lots of glass still in the frames. It makes you wonder what kind of legal hassles would prevent someone from keeping that house in shape because it’s value out here is pretty high. There were plenty of other, older mansions all up and down these hills. The valleys are mostly high-priced horse range and private ponds or lakes. The pond in the image on the left was simply the result of the road passing through on a fill, and someone decided to adjust the flow through the culvert under the pavement. Nicely framed in redbuds just starting to leaf out.

The hills didn’t run out just because Lake Arcadia ended this stretch of road. Just zig-zagging around the south end of the lake was still just as hilly as I knew from previous rides in this area. One of the few free access spots on the lake falls inside the educational nature preserve. This is the Tinker Creek arm of the lake where you can fish and hike for free year-round.

I found a new picnic spot. Whatever had once stood up on the hill behind that gate had burned down to the ground back a few years ago when a wildfire swept through here. The surviving trees on either side called out to me with an invitation to stop for lunch. So I ate my sandwich and chatted with the trees, but I didn’t hear any birds. On the other hand, I was thrilled with the scent of blooming wisteria carried on the breeze. Of course, the view across the road sloping down into the North Canadian River isn’t bad, either.

Lots of brutal hills and about 35 miles today with no stiff winds, temps around 65°F (18C). I stopped off at the Aubrie McClendon memorial and spoke to the redbud, tidied up a few items knocked out of place by winds and whatever. It’s a clergyman’s instinct to take grave sites and memorials seriously, even if I have no clue about the person.