A few random images from my prayer rides so far this week…
First up is a shelter I saw standing on the north bank of the North Canadian River at the mouth of Crutch Creek. You can see a rather primitive attempt in front of the better one. What doesn’t show in the image was that there hung a cable across the river just above this thing, tied between two stout trees. I can’t guess how the cable is used, but I don’t think it’s heavy enough to ride across safely. I believe the river banks with a certain margin are considered public recreational property, but access isn’t guaranteed. I’m guessing the cable is used to make wading across safer. Most of the year there isn’t much flow, and this is a popular fishing spot. This was what I was able to see from my prayer spot.
A good ways upstream from that last shot is the lower dam on the Oklahoma River recreation area. The dam stands just under Eastern Avenue, just south of the I-35 and I-40 Junction. It was a good place to pray with the less than thundering roar of the silty water. There’s nothing hindering anyone walking right down into this flow, but it’s rarely this heavy.
I was unable to stitch these two images together, but this is the same spot, panning farther to the right and viewing downstream. I wasn’t able to stay quite as long here because the winds were high and the fishermen were starting to show up. There was no safe place to lock my bike, and without the isolation from other humans, it’s pretty hard to stay engaged with the natural elements.
