This batch is an eclectic mix from several rides. I’m getting over seasonal allergies and it kept me from riding much for a few weeks. This is a view from the South River Trail back toward the OKC Skyline. You can always recognize OKC by the appearance of the massive Devon Tower.
I was trying to capture (below) the green weeping willows covering the north bank of the North Canadian River from the bridge at NE 122nd Street. This is one of my favorite shorter rides, and bridge sees so little traffic that I can sit here in natural quiet most of the time. The sun was still a little low on the eastern horizon, so the color is vivid.
This (below) is facing upstream from the same bridge. I was trying to capture something with the telephoto function, but it seems to have failed. It’s not bad, but it didn’t get what I could actually see. This was right before I discovered I had a flat tire on the front of my bike. The thorn strap had managed to dig a hole in the tube. Don’t buy Rhino-Dillo brand tire liners.
Today I visited a couple more points on Draper Lake. This (below) is Point 22, where the boat ramp is totally exposed by the lower water level. I was standing on the boat dock, but it was not even touching the water at any point, just lying on the sand of the shore. Some guy came hustling past on foot with his dog, able to walk the entire shoreline as far as he liked because there was no brush at all that far out.
What made Point 22 half-way interesting was this lovely rock formation jutting out into the water. Today, the abnormally light breeze meant very little splashing on the rocks, but it was still quite lovely, if a bit damp and slippery. The rocks here are unusually soft and water soaks right into them.
Over on Point 23 there is a fishing dock that looks the same as all the rest. For a while I had the place to myself, so I rode my bike right out on the dock. The far shore exhibited a very large and solid rock formation. I tried a couple of times but the random motions from the fishing dock made it hard to get a good telephoto capture. This was the best I could do.
The rock formation on Point 23 itself was less inspiring, but turned out to be a very nice place to sit quietly and watch the foam forming on the sandy shore. The soil right at this point is very densely packed and forms a sharp rise. What little wind there was drove the waves just hard enough for foam to form, and then it would inch along the shore to a pocket and collect into a large rolling wad. I was mesmerized by it for a little while.
Geez, I’ve never seen anything like that Point 22 photo. At first I thought it was a road that just lead into the water. Hah.
The water level has dropped even more since my last visit to the lake. At this point I could probably ride around at least half the lake shore without dodging any brush at all.