Celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Wilderness Act on The Prospectors Trail By Mitch Meador The Sunday Constitution What better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Wilderness Act than by hiking in Charons Gardens Wilderness Area? Some of the strangest spectacles on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge can be found in this jagged, boulder-strewn jumble of peaks and valleys. If youre a novice hiker, you stand a much better chance of seeing them if youre in the company of folks who know all the landmarks like the backs of their hands. Youre in good hands when youre on one of the new Monday morning Mountain Boomer Hikes in the company of Bill Shahan, Randy Hale and Teddy Worthington. Shahan is a retired head of Cameron Universitys health and physical fitness department, Hale is an environmental educator for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Worthington is an adjunct professor at Cameron who has been leading her students on refuge hikes for decades. This particular hike is along The Prospectors Trail, so called because its where gold-seekers congregated in the early days of the 20th century. Thinking they were on a path to easy riches, they excavated wherever they saw quartz outcroppings. What little gold they found was not enough to justify all their labor, and eventually they gave up the search. That they were ever permitted to dig here shows that the rules were far more lax in the days when this was the Wichita Forest Reserve. Things first began changing when President Theodore Roosevelt issued a proclamation on June 2, 1905, declaring this to be the Wichita National Forest and Game Preserve. Another milestone was reached on June 4, 1936, when this sanctuary was established as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Since then the refuge has become more oriented toward the preservation of wildlife and habitat. The leaders of this hike show that it is possible to enjoy nature without damaging it. Every plant along the way has a story [LongDash] sometimes more than one. Holding up a sprig of sedge, Hale poses the same question he does the kids who come to the refuge: Whats unusual about this plant? Its a guessing game that never grows old. On a rest stop Joe Moore of Lawton tells a millipede joke, while others chime in with funny recollections from past hikes. Then the journey resumes as Hale shares with hiker Isaac Woelfel how a certain kind of wasp deposits its young on the leaves of post oaks in the form of orange balls of gall. Much later hell introduce the group to a tiny black ant that when crushed smells like blue cheese. About two miles in, the group encounters the remains of several pit mines dug more than a century ago. Strange sights abound here [LongDash] the metal hoop from a long-decayed wooden barrel now hangs high in tree branches, a post oak has climbed skyward inside the hub of a wagon wheel, a cross has been attached to the base of a granite rock for reasons unknown and shards of an old stove and crockery are strewn not far away. The gold-seekers may not have found treasures, but they left some for later generations to ponder. What Worthington tells her students is worth repeating here: Do not take that. Leave it for somebody else to enjoy. And when you go on this hike [LongDash] 4.2 miles round-trip, by Moores pedometer [LongDash] be sure to wear good, sturdy hiking shoes and carry at least 16 ounces of water for each hour youll be on the trail. When your water is half-gone is a good time to turn back, Hale recommends. Also, take along a high-energy snack, and wear a head covering and loose clothing. Shahan maintains an impressive pace for a man of 82. He uses a walking stick he made himself, and says it not only helps him maintain balance going from rock to rock but also absorbs up to 30 percent of the energy expended hiking. Hale and Moore use trekking poles to transfer the load from the hip and back to the arms, prevent falls and maybe even protect against chiggers by sweeping the grass ahead. Charons Gardens is one of two units that were coupled together to make up the Wichita Mountains Wilderness Area when it was designated by Congress on Oct. 23, 1970. The Charons Gardens unit covers 5,723 acres and the North Mountain unit 2,847 acres. Together they comprise a wilderness area 8,570 acres in size. The North Mountain unit is in the Special Use Area where access and use is limited mostly to scientific and educational purposes. Charons Gardens is located within the Public Use Area, where it is open to many public uses, including hiking, wildlife observation, photography and rock sports. In addition, a limited number of backcountry camping permits are available for overnight visits into the wilderness area. Except for permitted camping, public use is limited to daylight hours. The new Comprehensive Conservation Plan puts Charons Gardens in a low-density area, which means groups are limited to 15 in size. Hale began the hike by sharing the four characteristics of a wilderness area as set forth in the Wilderness Act of 1964: -- It is untrammeled by man and generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature with the imprint of mans work substantially unnoticeable. -- It is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions. -- It is an area of undeveloped federal land without permanent improvements or human habitation and where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. -- It has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 19:21:19 +0000
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