Robbers Cave State Park

October 20, 2008

We love to camp! And this time of year is the best time to camp. The sensations of breathing in that fresh outdoor air laced with the scent of pine and oak and cedar, hearing the water splashing against the rocks as it moves downstream, and hearing the sound of birds chirping and leaves rustling, are simply heavenly. Blissful. Serene. Tranquil. Placid. Peaceful.

Our last outdoor outing wasn’t really a “camping” trip; we stayed in a cabin in Broken Bow, OK, near Beaver’s Bend Park in SE Oklahoma. It’s such a nice area; fantastic for outdoor enthusiasts. Joe, John, Jodie, and I spent a weekend in Broken Bow last July for some canoeing and hiking, and even roasted a few marshmallows and made s’mores. But it wasn’t really camping.

Our last real camping trip was last March in Sulphur, OK, and that was before John and Jodie came along. So we were long overdue for a family camping trip.

And we really needed to go back to Robbers Cave and spend more time there. We had spent a few hours there after driving up from Broken Bow on the Indian Nation Turnpike in July, and hiked up and around the cave. The hike was a bit rocky and strenuous; no, make that immensely rocky and strenuous! Well, to me anyway. The kids and Joe seemed to do OK but I had to stop for a breather about every 10 steps. I was pouring sweat so much that when I did finally get to rinse off my face, it tasted just like salt water. Luckily there was a water faucet at the trailhead where we could all rinse off, gulp down a mouthful or two, and even rinse our hot sweaty heads off. But all that hiking and climbing felt fantastic and woke up those endorphins! It was as if every bit of stress or worry or anxiety in my body that was slowing me down, was sweated out.

Let me back up: Robbers Cave is about a 3-hour drive east of OKC near McAlester, OK. The website http://www.oklahomacampers.com/robberscave.htm describes it best: “Robbers Cave is located near Wilburton, tucked into the San Bois Mountains in Southeastern part of Oklahoma. This park is named Robbers Cave due to its outlaw past with the likes of the James Gang, Belle Starr, and other famous outlaws who came to the area.
A trip to Robbers Cave will not be complete without climbing the rocks up to the cave that bears the park’s name - Robbers Cave. The trails in the cave area are not very strenuous, and the views of the mountains from the top are well worth the effort.”

The kiddos had Fall Break Thursday and Friday, October 15&16, so my plan was to leave by noon Friday and get there with plenty of daylight left. Camping is a lot of work to go for just one night. But, neither Joe nor I could get off work early. So, we got all our packing done Friday evening then left early Saturday. Well, “early”: about 7:45 in the morning. I’d hoped to be out of the house by 6:00, but I didn’t even get up until 5:10.

It turned out to be an amazing weekend for camping. Temps were in the high 70s/low 80s. Nights did get cold though. The Park was holding its annual Fall Festival, complete with crafts, music, food, and CLASSIC CARS. Joe was chomping at the bit to go look at all those cars, so once we got camp set up and after the kids did a little fishing at the river, we footed it out to the main park where the festival was being held. I’m not a car person but I gotta admit, those cars are pretty cool. One day Joe will get his rat rod painted and fixed up, and he’ll be displaying his own classic 1930 Model A at these car shows. And I’ll be right there with him.

Back at camp (the Park was PACKED with people! Cars were parked along the road out toward the campsites for probably half a mile. Well, maybe not quite that far), built a fire, and grilled chicken and baked up some potatoes for dinner. Mmm, it was good. The chicken was really tender. We hung out around the fire as the sun set, then went to bed about 9:30. Joe and I stayed pretty warm, cuddled up next to each other, but I didn’t realize the kids were so cold. Poor Nathan had only a single blanket and I felt so bad; if I’d realized it I’d have let him have the comforter we had on top of us. He was shivering and his lips were blue the next morning as we warmed up around the campfire.

I woke up at 3:30 in the morning with a severe headache, and couldn’t get back to sleep. I generally get eyestrain headaches after being in the sun for an afternoon or several hours. I don’t know if it’s technically a migraine, but it’s a relentless throbbing at the back of my head near my neck. It gets all the worse if I move, so it’s hard to do something as simple as get up and take some Advil or Tylenol. I should have known it was coming on; when we were around the campfire, I had to shield my eyes because the fire was just too bright.

I remembered I had some Advil in the front seat of the car, and I didn’t think I’d locked the front door, so I finally dragged myself up from the air mattress and around Joe (who never woke up!), moaning in pain the whole time, and slipped on his sneakers to walk out to the car. Well, the car doors were locked, and I couldn’t find my key (which I thought I’d left in the front pocket of my hoodie), so I had to get back to my purse to find my spare. I got the spare, went back to the car, got the little packet of Advil, then proceeded to open it. Ugh, it was hard to open, so I had to find a knife or something to open it.

Now mind you, it’s 3:30 in the morning, only the moon is lighting up the sky, I’m stumbling around with the flashlight, all the while moaning in pain as my head throbs with every heartbeat. Finally I took the Advil with a bottle of yogurt drink, then relaxed in the car for 10 or 15 minutes before going back to the tent. I think the air mattress was not helping my aches. Finally though I was relaxed enough to go back to sleep. It was 4:30.

I woke up again at 5:30, then again at 6:30. Sometimes when I woke up I could hear a raccoon around our campsite, having a late night snack on the baked potatoes we left out. Sure enough, the next morning we found muddy ‘coon tracks all over the white plastic lid of our camping-supplies box.

Sunday afternoon we hiked across the river and up the mountain trails (not to the cave this time!). Oh, it was hard work – my heart was beating so hard I thought my chest would explode, and I was dripping with sweat in no time – but I wish I could hike like that every weekend. I don’t know how many miles we actually hiked, but we hiked up the mountain then down to the dam; around the lake then up to a bluff on the other side of the lake, the side that faces the main area of the park.

We had met a man and his dog hiking down from the bluff, and he said it’s a steep hike but you’ll regret it if you don’t go up there for the view. He was absolutely right. We would have definitely regretted it. The view was simply incredible. Amazing. Vast. Breathtaking.

By the time we got back to camp we were just so tired and in need of fuel for our bodies. We really wanted to go back to the cave and climb up it too, but instead we packed up camp then ate at Pizza Hut in Wilburton. It was Sunday evening, and a school night, after all. We had to get the kids to bed so they could go to school the next day AND so we could go to work the next day. Plus it was a 3-hour drive back home. We’ll be back sometime, when we can stay longer.