Wildflowers--third in the series of 8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills (Reposted)

      The floral display in the Red Hills in most years is good enough to deserve a spot on the top 8 list of Natural Wonders of the Red Hills. This year has been spectacular. From the earliest blooms of Easter Daisy in March to the last puffs of purple from gayfeathers in the fall, the chronological march of flowers paint the mixed-grass prairie with remarkable beauty. A wide variety of habitats from gypsum and sandy soils to loamy range sites set the table for a diverse floral component. It all translates to an amazing amount of eye-candy for anyone traveling the roads of the Red Hills during the growing season.

     Craig Freeman, Senior Curator for the R. L. McGregor Herbarium at the University of Kansas states there are about 630 plant species in the Red Hills. It would be impossible to present pictures of  all of just my own collection of images. I have chosen a selection here to hopefully delight the viewer and to perhaps demonstrate the legitimacy of this component of this ecosystem as one of the 8 Natural Wonders in this land of enchantment. This posie parade starts with the iconic, showy fall wildflower of the Red Hills, Ten-petal Mentzelia or "Candleflower."

Ten-petal Mentzelea, aka Chalk Lilly, is one of three species
in this genus in the Red Hills. These plants' flowers 
open late in the day and are also fall bloomers.

                      

       Indian Blanket Flower (AKA Cowboy Daisy--one of the most recognizable and 
common long-season bloomers.  Also called Rosering Gaillardia.)

Blue Funnel-lily

Blue Wild Indigo

Buckeye and variegated butterflies on Black Sampson (AKA Snakeroot)

Butterfly Milkweed

Cardinal Flower--along streams

Cobea Beardtongue

Prairie Coneflower

Stout Scorpion-weed attracting a Digger Bee

Dotted Gayfeather

Butterflies on Echinacea (Black Sampson or Snakeroot)

 Rayless Gaillardia (tall ones) in with Norton Flax (blue), Stiff Stem Flax (yellow) 
and Narrowleaf Yucca (Soapweed along the fence)

Purple Locoweed, AKA Lambert Crazyweed, with Plains Hymenoxis (yellow)

Scarlet Globe Mallow

Purple Poppy Mallow (AKA Prairie Winecup or Cowboy Rose)

A reddish version of the usually yellow flower of Prickly Pear cactus

Bush Morning-glory

Plains Gayfeather

Lemon Bee Balm

White Beardtongue (Penstemon)

Pincushion Cactus

Prairie Blanketflower (Gaillardia)

Purple Poppy Mallow (Prairie Winecup or Cowboy Rose)

Cat-claw Sensitive Brier

Golden Prairie Clover (Silk-top Dalea)

Prairie Spiderwort (Cow Slobbers)

Smooth Twist Flower (foreground), Spotted Bee Balm(background)

Want to see more?  Here's a handy guide to Red Hills wildflowers.  Contact me if you'd like one. Also, one of the best sources on-line is Michael Haddock's website called Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses.  Google it for plants of the Red Hills and the rest of Kansas.  Also, just out this year is a fantastic book called "Kansas Wildflowers and Weeds" by Michael Haddock, Craig Freeman and Janet Bare.  It is available through the University Press of Kansas.

My Home is in the Red Hills

Change of pace here with the Kansas Outback. I put a little ditty I composed to honor this fantastic landscape. One picture. One tune.

If video doesn't play, go to this site:

https://youtu.be/dHUPgcXWCys

Lyrics

My Home is in the Red Hills

 

Although I wasn’t born there, the Red Hills are my home,

With majestic buttes and mesas and sparkling gypsum stones.

And crystal springs in canyons feeding streams that run so clear

Home is where the heart is and I’m yearning to be there.

 

The flowers in the springtime start the annual spectral show,

All the hues of the spectrum paint the prairies all aglow,

And the healthy bluestem grasses feed the ranchers’ hungry herds,

It’s the beauty of this country that I’m longing to be near.

 

The enchantment of the red dirt land yields secrets that are told,

In strange and hidden places in the gypsum cracks and holes,

Bats, roadrunners, porcupines and funny armadillos,

Some fascinating creatures in this land I call my home.

 

Although I wasn’t born there, the Red Hills are my home,

With majestic buttes and mesas and sparkling gypsum stones.

And crystal springs in canyons feeding streams that run so clear

Home is where the heart is and I’m yearning to be there.

 

Ken Brunson, Dec., 2020

 

 

Caves--second in a series of the 8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills (Reposted)

       Over half of the estimated 700 or so caves in Kansas occur in the Red Hills. Ranging from openings big enough to drive a truck through to crevices so tight it would make an earthworm claustrophobic, they harbor adventures and fascinations beyond belief. The many caves of the Red Hills occur in that portion of primarily Barber and Comanche counties where the Blaine Formation of gypsum is exposed. Water dissolves this mineral which is made up of calcium sulfate in various forms. Besides the amazing bats and other animals which make these holes their home, there are beautiful crystalline ceilings and walls in some of the caves. The Kansas Speleological Society has mapped many of these caves and is a dedicated group of spelunkers who take pride in not only enjoying these treasures but taking great measures to protect them and their wildlife. 

     All of these caverns and crevices are on private ground. They are not readily accessible to the public and this is probably a key reason they have not been significantly impacted in bad ways. However, increased energy and mining development in this portion of the Red Hills could definitely affect them. These are fragile and unique ecosystems for Kansas and deserve our collective conservation attention. They also deserve recognition as one of the 8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills. 

Paxon admires the sun shining through an opening and onto a reflecting pool in
 Triple Arches Cave.

       No one knows more about the cave bats of the Red Hills than Stan Roth, retired instructor from Lawrence. Stan spent over four decades taking students to caves in the Red Hills and studying all the interesting features in this Kansas Outback! Stan still devotes time and trips to the Red Hills, and continues to educate more students of all ages. Here, Stan enjoys a maternity colony of Cave Myotis bats in Gentry Cave.

Adaira wiggles her way through Double Entrance S Cave.

  

Lance Hedges was an incredible friend and colleague. Here, he spends some quality time in Havard Cave along with local rancher, Nate Harts, who is checking out the Registry.  Registries, where cavers record their names and visit dates, are maintained in a number of Red Hills caves by the Kansas Speleological Society.

The author sits next to the head of a distiller tank once used to make "spirits" in Still Cave.   Intriguing stories such as this abound in this land of enchantment and mystique. 

Townsend's Big-eared Bats hang out in many of the caves of the Red Hills.

A classic scene in the Red Hills is where gypsum outcrops are seen. This is known locally as the "Gypsum Hills," because, well, that's where we are able to observe the gypsum.

Snow Day in the Red Hills

Honoring a recent snow in the Red Hills 

***

When magic flutters from the sky

to fascinate this traveler's eyes

it finds final resting places

upon red soil on which it graces.

Amidst the hills and valleys there

are natural secrets to none compare

quite dormant at this time of year

appreciative of  this cold nectar.  

For when springtime comes around

the moisture gained within this ground

will feed desires of thirsty plants

when brown turns green upon this land.

As aquifers become restored

to release their stores to streams once more

their flows present the lifeblood then

sustaining all this life again.

The enchantment of this frozen place

shown in this part of the state

accented by such icy events

with such fine gift of heaven sent.

Clouds remain to praise their gift

and sun breaks through with rays to lift

spirits of the people there

whose ranches receive such loving care.

Winter snows are not that rare

but when storms come we give a cheer

for dependent wildlife living here

for the turkeys and white-tailed deer.

The beauty of this grand landscape

extends beyond these coldest days

and with this blanket of silver white

feeds the soul with such delight.

 

8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills--Big Basin Prairie Preserve and St. Jacob's Well (Reposted)

 

Photo by Jim Mason

     With this post I launch my selections of the 8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills of Kansas. Perhaps you've heard of the 8 Wonders of Kansas at https://kansassampler.org/8wondersofkansas/  .

Any self-respecting Kansan should be aware of and have been to this wonderful site developed by the Kansas Sampler Foundation and a whole bunch of fine folks and led by Marci Penner. There are other 8 wonder sub-categories including such subjects as Architecture, Art, Cuisine, History and others. I'm expanding on this theme by presenting my own selections for the special place in Kansas I call the Kansas Outback. The Red Hills represents the proverbial counter to the claim of a flat Kansas. While all of Kansas offers so many interesting features in so many categories, the Red Hills is a particular land of enchantment and treasure trove of natural surprises. In this and subsequent posts, I present my selections of the best 8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills in no particular order of rank.  First to be highlighted is Big Basin Preserve and St. Jacob's Well in western Clark County.

     St. Jacob's Well is a sink hole in a particular area of the Little Basin which is, itself, part of a larger land form called the Big Basin.  The vista from the parking lot at the well exhibits the beautiful prairie landscape.  A description is provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism website:

     The Big Basin Prairie Preserve is 1,818 acres of native mixed grass prairie managed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. This area is in the Red Hills region of Kansas. The landscape can generally be described as rolling hills with both level uplands and small canyons. The preserve also includes an intermittent stream , Keiger Creek, which flows through the northeast corner of the preserve, and two non-draining basins that make the preserve topographically and geologically unique.

Big Basin:

     Big Basin is a large circular depression. It is about one mile in diameter and about 100 feet deep. The walls of the basin are nearly vertical. Scattered across the floor of Big Basin are a number of small ephemeral ponds that catch and temporarily hold the water that flows into the basin. U.S. Highway 283 bisects Big Basin, with approximately two-thirds of the basin lying east of the road and within the confines of the preserve. The remaining western third of the basin is privately owned.

Little Basin:

     The Little Basin is about 280 yards in diameter and 35 feet from rim to floor. Within Little Basin is a small permanent pond known as St. Jacob’s Well. St. Jacob’s Well is a pool of water about 84 feet in diameter that has never been known to go dry. The well has been the subject of many local legends, most associated with the idea that the well was bottomless and/or connected to an underground stream that was capable of washing away anything that fell in the well. The well was also reportedly inhabited by blind fish. Research has shown the well to be roughly funnel shaped and 58 feet deep. No evidence of any underground stream or blind fish has been found.

     Big Basin, Little Basin, and St. Jacob’s Well were formed in the recent geological past by a process known as solution-subsidence. This process occurs when surface water gains access and dissolves underground deposits of salt, gypsum, or limestone. The overlaying layers of rock and minerals subside to fill the volume vacated by the water soluble deposits. The process of solution - subsidence is thought to still be occurring, and small depressions have been noted forming within Little Basin.

A panoramic of the water hole in the ground known as St. Jacob's Well.

A close-up of the "bottomless" well stimulates an imagination of travel-wary and thirsty pioneers and cattle drivers gleefully diving into this refreshing water and savoring buckets of life-sustaining liquid for the next few days or weeks of hot, dusty prairie travel.

Wonderful flora and fauna greet visitors to Big Basin and St. Jacob's Well. 

A small herd of Bison are kept in the Big Basin and can often be seen on the drive back to St. Jacob's Well.

      More information can be found about this unique area at the Natural Kansas website:  http://www.naturalkansas.org/bigbasin.htm .