Saturday I went hiking with Matt and my cousin Logan. We decided to try and locate the natural bridge in the Mark Twain Natl Forest. If you read this blog regularly you may remember last winter when Matt and I tried to find this without success. This time I came prepared with gps coordinates and a detailed topo map of the area. The natural bridge has no trails leading to it and there are no signs. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s indicated on some topo maps no one would probably know it existed at all. It seems strange that something so big would be hard to find but in the maze of steep hillsides and trees you really don’t even notice the entrance until you are practically right on top of it. Luckily this time the maps and gps allowed us to find this hidden splendor. Click photos for larger versions…

It’s a lot larger than it looks in the photo.

Note how small Matt is in this photo.

We stopped for a sack lunch inside the cave. Again, this photo makes it look deceptively small.

Saturday night Andy and I went to a bball game at my alma mater. Thanks to some of my special connections I was able to take some courtside shots. Although since we were sitting on the 3rd row it really wasn’t even necessary to go courtside to get them. Here are a few of the pics (click them to enlarge)…

I’ve always loved the mountains. When I was about 5 or 6, my mom’s entire side of the family took a road trip out to Colorado, and I was very excited to see real mountains first hand. We drove through the night, eventually stopping for breakfast at a Village Inn in the dark hours of the early morning.

As we were eating, the sun gradually started coming up and one of my cousins proclaimed “you can see the mountains out the other windows!”. So with much excitement I ran across the restaurant to see for myself. I’m sure to everyone else it was perfectly routine to see the sunrise reveal the distant mountain range, but to me it was a truly spectacular sight.

Anytime I visit places with mountains now it’s always exciting to catch that first glimpse in the distance. To this day I always anticipate the spot on I-70 in eastern Colorado where on a clear day the front range first becomes visible (it’s mile marker 370).

Over the years I have seen many a mountain range come into view, but my very first sighting from the dining room of a Village Inn will probably always be one of my favorite memories.

Each and every year there is a period between Aug 1 and Oct 25 where I am a year older (and wiser) than Grant. I always enjoy this time of year because it makes me feel superior and when we are planning something or having a discussion and things aren’t going my way, I can always pull out the “well I’m older, so I win”.

However as of yesterday we are back on the same playing field – and both in our last year of twentydom. Grant chose to celebrate this by eating chocolate broccoli fondue in front of his friends, so I am not entirely convinced that he has truly caught up with me in terms of being wise.

Since it was nice out last night I decided to check out the new bike trail in Carl Junction. It’s called the Thoms Station Trail and I became aware of it when Grant and I discovered the bridge while kayaking. As I understand it, when the Ruby Jack trail is complete it will connect to the north end of this trail. The south end of this trail is also planned to connect to another bike trail in NW Joplin that I haven’t checked out yet so I guess when all that is complete it will create about 40+ miles of continuous trail.

I had trouble finding the trail head because there really isn’t much info online about the trail or where it is located. The trail is very short, in fact it was less than 2 miles roundtrip, but it’s also still under construction. So if you are looking to spend more than 15 minutes on the trail you might be better off walking.

Here is the trail head – it’s on Allen Street in CJ between Summit and Main. It’s a rather awkward lot and would be problematic for more than 2 or 3 cars.

It’s a typical rail-to-trail setup…nice level grade with gravel.

The Center Creek bridge is certainly the highlight of the trail. I am told it is the longest non-car bridge in the state, but who knows if that’s true. Either way, it’s about 400′ long and fun to ride across.

The section crossing the river utilizes the original railroad supports.

The bridge is a nice spot to stand and enjoy the view of the river. And in this case the fall foliage and nice weather!

Currently the trail ends just past the bridge at Briarbrook Drive, but as you can see construction has started to continue the trail further south.

A nice opening along the trail as I was heading back to the trail head. This would have probably been a nice spot to view the tornado a few years ago!

Sunday afternoon I decided to go on an expedition to explore the site of the former Lakeside Park, which is now only accessibly by river. It’s hidden back in the woods, completely overgrown with only a few remnants of what used to be “the” place to be in Joplin.

This place has always fascinated me and I like to walk around and imagine what it was like back in the day. Sometime I should take copies of the old postcards and try to take photos from the exact same angles… another day I suppose.

-click for larger image-As you can see, the river is nice and clear today with lots of nice ‘rapids’.

-click for larger image-The fall colors also made this a particularly enjoyable float.

-click for larger image-Here I am approaching the site. People used to ride the trolley to get here, which I think is cool.

-click for larger image-Here is an old wall. I can imagine a group of dudes a hundred+ years ago sitting here scoping out the ladies.

Here is an old post card. This is cool because at least part of all 3 structures are still around today. The arched bridge, the supports for the bath house, and parts of the dam.

-click for larger image-The only large remaining structure of the park, a long arching bridge that crosses Center Creek and continues deep into the woods, probably at least half a dozen arched sections, if not more.

-click for larger image-Time has not been so kind to the west side of the bridge.

-click for larger image-The river was so nice today! This is looking from the top of the bridge downstream toward my house.

-click for larger image-This is where I was standing when I took the previous pic.

This bridge is long gone but the support posts are still around – however I didn’t get a pic.

This used to be the low dam that held back the small “lake”. People would walk across here and get their feet wet. I have concluded that the roller coaster was located to the southeast of the dam – so it would be in this photo if still standing.

Another random old wall further downstream. I think it’s cool to imagine the people constructing this wall around the turn of the previous century. For decades this place was full of people and good times. Now there is only the sound of the river and the birds.