DayTrip: Kansas

My mother and I took advantage of the stunning day yesterday with a last-minute adventure westward. It was forecast to be in the mid-60's and sunny! !
My mother wanted to go to the Konza Prairie, near Manhattan, and I had a few side-trips in mind. Black smoke billowed over I-70 in Topeka; smelled like a building fire- like plastic and treated wood. We exited on hwy 4.
I'd read about a spot to collect invertebrate fossils Northeast of town- where the hwy passes under Hwy24. The directions, from a KGS article on the spot, told us to pass the first ramp and hit a dirt road on the right before we passed under the bridge.
The spot was great! The fossils and rocks were pouring out of the shale and limestone- It is very similar to the fireman's memorial in Kansas City. We spent an hour or so collecting all sorts of reef-type critters; corals and sponges, chrinoids and handfuls of brachiopods and bivalves. No trilobite, but this one is something that is rarely found in Kansas. Many of the fossils had wonderful details like scars ans spines- they've eroded so well from the soft grey matrix that even the hollow spines on the two shells below were clean and clear of any mud. Gorgeous! The ones that were only partially exposed were just as detailed as he loose ones- sometimes scooped out and polished and apparently set on the rock, but still attached. The erosion here is truly art! I placed two of the shells which had good texture on my leg for a photo- what a cool spot! Mom liked the tiniest ones best, but I couldn't get enough of those with so much detail! We never fount the deposit of coal here, or the pyratized wood. Still so worth it! We hopped on Seventy for another while and found ourselves on 177 in no time! I got a kick out of the giant, ugly, 'WELCOME TO THE FLINT HILLS" which is written on a giant slab of limestone above I-70, though I know Ive seen it before. We had to turn around to catch our 'exit.'- McDowell Creek rd- And paralleled the Kaw for several minutes. The river seemed so blue- a great difference from the muddy, frozen Kansas River which we passed and crossed a few times coming from the city.
Konza's small gravel parking area was packed- dozens of other vehicles carrying people enjoying the same great weather! The hills around us- the flint hills- were very impressive! The topography was a surprise to me- Ive never really seen them other than the few times Ive driven the interstate.
The grass was endless- an infinity interrupted only by the occasional woody draw.
The backside of the parking lot was full of trees- many cedars, elms, oaks... One short, gnarly one could have been over four feet in diameter- there for hundreds of years, Im sure. One of the TRAIL signs was leaned against one of the trees- several more signs lay horizontal and beaten.
The woods were most dense near the windy creek, which we crossed twice on a pair of thin wooden bridges. The sides of the creek were very eroded- the gravel was flint and limestone and the water was crystal-clear.
Then we found the prairie- The trees stopped and the grass started and we were back on the surface of a vast ocean of grass. Each and every inch of it was full of detail- I cannot imagine what the place is like in the summer- Big and lively I would assume- It should certainly make a good trip when we find that season.
Lots and lots of native tallgrasses, but not too much else. we passed though a cluster of dried, brown compass-plants on the way up to the 'radio tower' summit. Such structures are the only things interrupting the view behind the hill- from our side, there are many miles of flat farmland visible.
There were many people on the trails- you could see them crawling all over the hills, which resemble the more familiar loess hills in size and steepness.
At the top of the 'mountain' was a spectacular view and an incredible wind- the wind started started when we got about three-quarters up- blowing at a constant 20mph-
at least strong enough to make you remember your hat and jacket. ...

I caught a few people-less panoramas with the 35mm, but the stream of people was hard to work around. The crowds certainly put a damper on our visit, but the area was top of the hill was well worth it!

The windy walk back was a short, beautiful 1.2miles through the same prairie and into a long woody draw. The people were thick near the old homestead. I was tempted to confiscate one of the many fallen, bent and scratched trail signs, but I re-planted a few instead. Maybe next time.

We headed back towards Manhattan and made a couple of quick stops on and over the Kaw for pictures and a 'walk on the beach.'

The large sandbar under hwy 177 is smothered in footprints; 'Cant imagine that the thing hasn't been picked clean of all of the nicest artifacts, but I sure hoped for an arrowhead- Ive only ever found two!

CLOSE ENOUGH! A small shard of pottery.

We gathered up some shards of bones and the fossilized lower jaw from a small deer or something. Some other dark, rusty-coloured bones like a large pelvis and a pair of vertebra were newer- only starting the process of river-aging. The wind was even stronger here- gusts strong enough to force me a step or two sideways or backwards. My mother was often turned from the wind and ducking from the painful clouds of swift sand that constanly pelted and tore at us. I put some extra effort into gaurding the cameras, but the wind worked the sand into every crack. The clouds of sand snaked down the long gravelbar like those wierd lines of snow on the road- and went many feet into the air- I imagine that even the cars on the bridge far above us and dowstream felt some of it.

Finally, a quick run up the east side of Tuttle Creek Reservoir to check out a volcanic Kimberlite formation that I'd read about in another KansasGeologicalSurvey report. The lake was pretty cool- off of the dirt road were rows of harvested corn that stretched to the shore. It made for some nice photographs, but I cant imagine that its any good for the water quality of the lake.

an increase in the turbidity of the water, from adding a fine sediment like cropped dirt, would have a negative impact on the amount of Dissolved Oxygen that fish and invertebrates can use and the amount of sunlight that aquatic-thingies use to decompose matter on the bottom. Somehow, its sure that all aspects of the under-water environments and communities will be influenced by the additional sediments alone. Who knows what kind of chemicals are being spilled into the lake because of the farming!? The poorer water-quality of Lake water is not limited to the Lake, either.

The poor lake-water is sent downstream, eventually landing in the Kansas River, the Missouri and the Mississippi! (Never did find the kimberlite...)