Photography: Arcadia 2

Today’s second visit to Arcadia includes a few shots of Lake Arcadia. The lake has a couple of free entrances off Route 66 (edit: only one free entrance at the far northeast corner), where it receives state and federal subsidies. If you go around to the western any other entrance, the City of Edmond charges a hefty fee for access. (Wait: The refuge entrance on the south is free.) I stopped at the the visitor’s center and simply followed the sidewalk out to the shore. There’s a high promontory with a pavilion of sorts, from which this first image was taken.

Then I trudged down one of the many trails to the waterline. Strong winds from the west meant there wasn’t that much water movement against the shore. I stood on a rocky ledge and shot back west. Then I walked back around the cove and out onto the point that I had just shot. From there I homed in on a rocky outcropping just offshore farther west from where I stood. I would love to come back and hike around out here, but I had more driving to do this trip.

This is a famous landmark. The giant sculpture of the pop bottle is the trademark of Pop’s, where there are dozens of niche brands of soda pop. None of them have any high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, just plain old cane sugar. That includes the fountain drinks. The other claim to fame is bison on the menu.

All along the old Route 66 you can find places where the highway was moved to a newer and presumably better track across the countryside. Here we have a section of the original roadbed, now a residential side-street off the highway. However, the actual original pavement has been covered with asphalt. This next shot is the original concrete surfacing. My understanding is that this what it looked like all the way across Oklahoma.

The entire Deep Fork Valley is rimmed in dramatic hills cut through by deep tributaries. Just east of Arcadia is this view where Choctaw Road heads north away from Old Highway 66. Out here, the legendary Route 66 is almost a fetish. Lots of signs commemorate it, such as on this barn. Also, anything that stood in those old days is likely preserved as a landmark of some kind. This little stone building was once some kind of store, maybe even a gas station from the old days. I had trouble getting a good angle because of impediments on the roadside and high-speed traffic.

The Deep Fork River itself has some dramatic features now and then. This view upriver from Choctaw Road sports banks carved from red sandstone. There were lots of little trails from both sides and ends of the bridge, and I spotted the remains of abandoned fishing gear down there. The downstream view is more placid, but you can still see how it got its name. It’s a deep cut into the surrounding terrain.

I decided to save Luther for another day trip. I recall it being a bit less picturesque, but I think the surrounding terrain has some visual delights.