Friday, February 15, 2019

The Eight Natural Wonders of the Red Hills


     Over the past few years, I've presented what I feel are the best 8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills in separate installments. I brought them all together in this one post with respective links (see picture captions) to each posting. 

     Perhaps you've heard of the 8 Wonders of Kansas at https://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/? 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 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. Recognizing there are certainly more great wonders in this Kansas Outback, here are my selections of the best 8 Natural Wonders of the Red Hills in no particular order of rank. 

[To navigate to each respective post, place the caption's url link in your browser bar and search or block out the caption and then right click. Tap the "go to..." and it will take you there.]

Landscape

                                                                  https://tinyurl.com/RedHillsLandscape
Wildlife
https://tinyurl.com/RedHillsWildlife
Streams 
https://tinyurl.com/RedHillsStreams  
Caves
https://tinyurl.com/RedHillsCaves

Wildflowers
https://tinyurl.com/RedHillsWildflowers
Big Basin Preserve and St. Jacob's Well
https://tinyurl.com/St-Jacob-sWell

 Grasslands
https://tinyurl.com/RedHillsGrasslands
 Fossils
https://tinyurl.com/RedHillsFossils

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."  Henry David Thoreau






Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Frosted Red Hills

     A winter day in the Red Hills presented a silvery-laced scene recently. The combination of heavy fog, freezing temperatures, and windless weather painted a fascinating landscape. It was just the right conditions for creation of hoar frost--frozen water vapor that forms extensive crystals on all plants and other features of the land. The fleeting moment was short-lived as the Kansas wind awakened the following day to nearly wipe the canvas clean. 
A frosted grassland west of Belvidere, Kiowa County.
A hoar-frost portrait of sumac.
Pic. by Lee Ann Brunson

Trees and Red Hills hill capped with white.

Thompson Creek

A frosty, steamy pond in the middle of the Red Hills.


A somewhat dreary day imparts a special and
subtle beauty of soft color.


A diverse land usually quite tan in the dormant season,
gets highlighted with the touch of frost.

A lone bison in a field of frosty grass.


A lone cedar adorned with frozen leaves.


A misty scene on a cold day on a foggy lake. 


Used up and laid to rest, even heavy metal
tastes the icy layer.


A frost-laden canyon through a hoar-frost fence.
Pic by Lee Ann Brunson
A small cholla cactus seems out of place in this frozen prairie
in Kiowa County.