WASHITA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.
Day 61 – We’ve been on the road for this trip for two months today. It seems longer than that to us, and we are looking forward to whatever comes our way next. This morning when we got up the wind had died down and a cold front had moved in. It was 28 degrees and sunny.
We have no complaints about the high winds yesterday after reading about the tornadoes that struck in 5 other states. Yesterday at one point, the sky was very dark and the gusts were quite strong, and I looked at the clouds and wondered what we’d do if those clouds started swirling around in a circular motion. Best wishes to all who were affected by the tornadoes!
This morning we saw that a few more campers had come in later last night, including on the site reserved next to us. We now have free-range dogs and young children running around everywhere, LOL. That’s okay though, it’s too cold to open the windows, therefore it’s not too loud out. We hung around the campground this morning, waiting for it to warm up some. Then we went for our drive – it’s wildlife refuge day. More high winds are expected tomorrow, so we’ll be hunkering down at the RV again then.
Even though it was a Saturday and the weather was nice, though cold, there weren’t many people out on the roads or in the water. We only saw a couple of boats and just several fishermen. When we first looked up the details of Washita National Wildlife Refuge, the literature said they had a 22-mile auto tour. It’s the main reason we came here – for days of wildlife viewing opportunities. It turned out most of those 22 miles were on roads that followed the outskirts of the Refuge property, not roads that meandered through the Refuge specifically for an auto tour. Most of the roads we were on today were traveled also by drivers who probably didn’t even know they were within a wildlife refuge, therefore for us to slow down to like 2 MPH would have been crazy. We didn’t see or photograph much while driving at the posted speed limit!
We did take a hike on a Refuge trail which was nice, and whenever we saw a gravel road through some farmlands within the Refuge, we turned off on them. The high today got up to 51 degrees, briefly. When we got back to the RV, we had a very late lunch and caught up on some stuff there. Pictures from our drive follow, along with a little information about the history of the Refuge.
Washita National Wildlife Refuge was established April 15, 1961 and encompasses 8,075 acres. “The Refuge lies in the heart of Cheyenne & Arapaho country. Thirty miles west marks the 1868 Battle of the Washita. Many Cheyenne & Arapaho men, women, and children died in battle against General George Custer and his troops. In 1892, the U.S. acquired the lands from the tribes and opened them up immediately to homesteading. Cheyenne & Arapaho still live in the area.” from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service brochure.
The Refuge rests on the northwest portion of Foss Reservoir between the towns of Butler and Mammon in Custer County, Oklahoma. Headquarters and Office are located 5 miles west of Butler on State highway 33, then 2 mile north and one-half mile west. Washita National Wildlife Refuge: 20834 East 940 Road, Butler, OK 73625-5001. (580) 664-2205. www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/oklahoma/washita/index.htm.
For more detailed information about Foss State Park, click here.