Didn't drive too far today to get to the Alibates Flint Quarries. Maybe most of you won't find this too interesting but to us rock hounds we were in our element.
We arrived at 10.30am but of course the one and only tour for the day had left at 10.00am so we drove a little further up the road to a place called McBride Canyon. We camped in there all on our lonesome even though the people at the ranger station said it might be packed because of memorial weekend holiday.
As it was still early when we arrived we decided to do a bicycle ride in to the trail head and do the Mullinaw Creek walk. Well, that was a ride and a half. Stinking hot, lots of loose rocks with sand in between and quite a few hills to boot.
Looks good to start with but it went on and on and on.
And on and on. When we got there we only walked a little way as we were worried about getting back.
Tuesday 29th May 2018 - Flint Quarries and Lake Meredith
Today we did the guided tour of the Alibates Flint Quarries. You're not allowed to go in there on your own as it is a protected site. It was inhabited by indians over 13,000 years ago. They dug the flint out from under the top layer of Dolomite to make arrow tips and other tools. The flint is 7.5 on the Mohs scale so is very hard and very sharp when shaped so was useful for things. It is not used for anything much these days except jewellery.
Found this horned toad on the way up the trail. Funniest looking toad I've ever seen, it looks more like a lizard.
A collared lizard
This is some of the flint
Our informative ranger
The view from the top of the mesa, very sparse
After all that we drove about 10 miles up the road to camp at this fabulous lake called Lake Meredith. It has been formed by damming the Canadian River to bring water supply to about 15 different counties in the area. It has a capacity of 120 feet deep but has never gotten over 102 feet. At the moment it is quite low at 75 ft due to lack of rainfall and overuse by irrigation practices.
Our free campsite for the night
The boat ramp
So hot I had to have a swim
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