LAWTON, Okla. (AP) - Some new signage will greet visitors at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge this spring.
There are actually two sets of signs, according to Deputy Refuge Manager Ralph Bryant.
One set is in the 5,273-acre Charon’s Gardens Wilderness Area in the western part of the refuge. Randy Abbe, a maintenance worker with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, constructed these six signs at Bryant’s request, and Bryant and Abbe placed the signposts at places where paths intersect inside the wilderness area.
“Our trails, especially the ones in the wilderness area, have never been really marked, except right at the trailhead where you leave the picnic area or the parking lot,” Bryant told The Lawton Constitution (https://bit.ly/1bmgJ2p).
Many people have a particular destination in mind when they go to the refuge. They start off on a trail, come to a fork with no markers and have no clue which path to take. That makes it difficult for them to find the place they wanted to go.
“Up on top of Elk Mountain, the Elk Mountain Trail is basically a mile long and ends up kind of on a top, flat area. But then five or six trails just all kind of scatter out many different directions and there’s nothing that says where you’re going. Once you get on top, where do you go from there? Which trail do I take, where does it take me?
“We get so many people who get lost. They end up taking the left segment of those trails, and they end up falling off the east end of the mountain and get lost somewhere over around Bonanza Mine or up above Fawn Creek. A lot of our rescues are right in that area. We end up having to bring them on down off the mountain to Fawn Creek, and then we can pick them up and shuttle them back around to where their vehicles are,” Bryant said.
It’s easy to get confused. While the foot trails are designated for the use of people, animals use them as well, and sometimes they wear out game trails of their own. Sometimes hikers are fooled into thinking these trails were meant for them, and before they know it, they’re lost.
So now there’s a sign on the mountaintop that reads “Elk Mountain summit - end of trail.” That sign lets people know where to turn around and go back down the trail.
Other signs are at the Treasure Lake/Post Oak Lake parking area and at the turnoff to Post Oak Falls on the south section of the trail that leads through Charon’s Gardens Wilderness Area.
Another sign is at the south end of the Rock Rooms and the Boulder Field to indicate an alternate trail hikers can take to the northwest to reach the Back Country Camping Area, Crab Eyes or Echo Dome. It ties in with the Sunset Trail.
“It just helps define a little bit about where you’re at, where you’re going,” Bryant said.
The other set of signs serves a completely different purpose. It’s along the old trail to the Burford Lake dam that a team of volunteers led by Bobby Williamson restored in 2011. The Red Earth Desk and Derrick Club paid for the interpretive display, which provides information on the geologic history of the North American continent, explains the differences between gabbro, basalt and granite, and tells how those differences affect the vegetation within a particular area.
D’Anna Mallow, volunteer coordinator for the refuge, headed up the project to put some 10 signs out along the trail. She went over initial drafts to include wildlife conservation along with the information on geology, Bryant said.
Members of the Association of Friends of the Wichitas and the Fish & Wildlife maintenance staff drilled holes and set the signs where they belong.
An unveiling of the Burford Lake trail signs will be announced later.
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Information from: The Lawton Constitution, https://www.swoknews.com
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