"The Thrill of the Hunt"

Have you ever heard it's not what you find but the joy you have looking for it? It was to be one of those kind of days as we embarked on a long country drive that included nearly 30 miles of  remote gravel roads thru some very pretty pasture lands in the Flint Hills ranch land area of Kansas. The weather was a perfect 75 degrees as I pulled off the highway on the lonely road less traveled known as Diamond Creek Road. 

Not far up the road I saw an old stone bridge on a side road that crossed Diamond Creek itself. The muddy water was flowing swiftly as the birds sang above and I enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature. As for the bridge itself, I would say it is unusual in that it did not have a level concrete surface. Very primitive but of course that gave it the character to attract my camera in the first place.

I stood on the soft creek bank to get a better shot of the bridge and could feel the earth crumbling away...

I drove past this nice stone wall along a ranch...

Not far away I saw this old barn that appears to be abandoned.

Then it was a few miles of slow driving down the bumpy road until I saw this truly unique modern hay barn with adjustable roof. I was in awe of such an engineering masterpiece built with farm labor most likely, but Mrs. PF was not too impressed and stayed in the car as I took some photos. As I looked it over I could imagine the rancher calling up the neighbors and greeting them with --- "we are gonna have a little barn raising party tonight" can  you come over? 

 How nice it would be to be able to raise or lower the roof based on the amount of hay stored inside to keep blowing rain off the contents and the design was based on simple function....

With a winch at each corner that controlled cables and pulleys to the desired height and then you simply hook a chain in place to hold it there. In other words, it was basically 4 flagpoles with a roof over it--- Very clever....

And now back on the road, and after a few miles of driving we arrived in the ghost town of Hymer, KS which was home to only one abandoned house on an abandoned street or road and a pen full of cattle eating at a bunk on the other side of the road. 

Population of this town is at zero...

I continued onward and after a few more miles of curvy and hilly gravel roads that went past old limestone quarries and huge grassland pastures we arrived at the ghost town of Diamond Springs.....which also seemed to have a population of zero not counting a farm that was not too far away. 

You could see the abandoned railroad right of way and the only structures at this ghost town was a group of old abandoned livestock holding pens that would have been used to round up Texas longhorn steers that would have been driven on horseback up the Chisholm trail from Texas to summer and fatten here on the tallgrass prairie. These steers would be consigned to livestock commission companies to be sold at the Kansas City stockyards after the ride on the rail cars built just to haul cattle. 

I find it quite amazing these holding pens still exists as they are very old.

 and not too far down the old road was a nice old ranch with lots of history I would guess. In fact I would even guess this place was owned by a cattle buyer that would have helped fill those cattle pens back at Diamond Springs perhaps.....

The house was nice too but I didn't get a photo of it since the owner was watching me warily from the front lawn and I didn't take time to go introduce myself and politely explain my interest in their home...

The entrance was impressive and the whole place looked well kept...

 And then after a few more miles of driving thru wide open spaces we finally arrived in the small town of Burdick, KS which is where the road turned to pavement again. I like the old buildings there.

and I assume this was the town's hotel and it still looks like someone could use it but assume it sits empty.

And then I continued driving westward until we reached the small town of Lost Springs which is quickly becoming a ghost town. On the edge of town was a small oil production field that looks obsolete or played out and I paused to photograph this primitive well pulling rig made mostly of wood beams. Basically just a portable winch and pulleys with heavy cables. Move where you need it and raise the boom and pull the oil well pipe and pumps. Cannot be many of these left....

 and then a few more miles west we came upon the former or original townsite of Lost Springs.

I read with interest the part about 200 covered wagons camping in a circle and staying there. I walked to the springs and looked at the clear running water....

And I looked at the road sign that suggested the wagon wheel ruts from 70 years of wagon trains were still visible and hunted for them....

I really wanted to see these ruts.....and I tried hard in vain but sadly gave into reality....either I am blind or the ruts are now a ghost like most of the things I had seen on this day. 

I stood on this virgin prairie of grassland that had never seen a plow and pondered the missing ruts of wagons past.....someday I will find them....I hope.
 In retrospect I decided that you may not always find what you are looking for but as long as you enjoyed hunting for it....you are still a winner.
Thanks for riding along my adventure in this Spring day of March 2012....

--The last store in town--

I pulled into the very small town off the highway to have a look around. Not much left here, just a few houses, some abandoned store buildings and shops and etc. Looked like a flood town where folks had moved on. It did have a Post Office though and a little corner store that looked open. Before I went inside I took a photo first and noticed the handicap walker outside....

Inside was an elderly woman and her son sitting at a booth eating some butterscotch pie with meringue topping and coffee. They greeted us warmly and he quickly told me that it was his Mom's 96th birthday and this was her store...

Soon the phone rang and it was someone wishing her happy birthday and she jumped up quickly and moved the walker at a fast pace to the phone. 

I had unwittingly stepped back into time on this day by sheer luck. Her son Boyce explained to me that his Mom (Mrs. Baumgardner) lived right across the street from the store and each morning Mon- Sat at 5:45 am one of the remaining handful of residents in this tiny ghost town come and help her walk across the street where she would open up the store and make coffee and begin her day like so many others. Someone also helps her go home each night. He lived about 6 miles away but had grown up in this store and that same house and had brought her favorite pie for her birthday. She returned to the booth and sat for a visit and answered my questions. I asked had she owned the store a long time. "We built the store in 1947 as a locker plant and store where the local ranchers would bring steers for butchering and store the meat in the lockers there since not many folks had a home freezer. My husband died in 1997 and I have just been putting in my time here since then." 

I noticed a huge walk in freezer and the shelves that were only partially stocked now. She said it used to be a busy place as folks would come in and buy some groceries, go into their locker to get some meat for supper and visit while there. 

Everything else in town had closed except for the post office which might be on the endangered list for possible closing.

I noticed the ice cream fountain area where young folks must have loved to hang out after school and eat ice cream or drink malts and shakes.....and at one time they even had a carhop.

I sure enjoyed looking around and visiting with these folks. You just don't see places like this anymore and in fact most have been gone for a very long time.

As we left the store I took a few photos of other parts of the soon to be ghost town...

And so goes the story of my chance meeting of a birthday girl in Elmdale, Kansas (pop. 40) who is a living Icon in her part of the world...

Stay strong Mrs. Baumgardner, the world needs you to hang around longer. 

--the last picture show--

Spring has sprung in Kansas and most other places as well and I recently found myself in the very small town of Kanopolis, KS where they have the last drive in movie theater around or at least in this part of the world. It had closed a 3-4 years after the elderly owner had retired and then last year a young family took over the operation and just like that.....it was the rebirth of an American Icon. I took some photos while looking around.

I just love the small town feel of this place. I doubt it makes much of a profit because of it's location but it is way cool...

Soon it will be opening for yet another season under the star lit skies of Central Kansas and this year I want to go in the 57 Chevy and be a part of Americana..........photos of that later this Spring or Summer so stay tuned for more.......... 

the ghost of rodeos past...

It was a warm day of spring and I was driving down a county blacktop road I had not been on in 2-3 years and I was enjoying the rural scenery. I passed thru what was left of a ghost town and then a very small town that is dying off but still there and about a half mile from there I looked to the north and I saw it. Set way back from the road and looking to me like an abandoned saddle club arena. I was due for my lunch break and needing to stretch my legs so I turned up the road to have a look. I have seen several old saddle club arenas overgrown in weeds but wait....this one was a full fledged rodeo arena....not some 4H kid's place to learn to ride. It looks like time has stood still here for a few decades or so...

I haven't been to a rodeo since I was a teenager and I'm not a horse guy either but the whole idea of small town simple entertainment with local cowboys trying to please the crowd gave me reason to reflect and I looked around some more.

 Wow, this place has been rotting away for a long time....and I thought about the pretty girls in the color guard, the singing of the national anthem, the barrel racing, and broncs, calf roping, team roping, bull riding, and of course the clowns. 

I could almost hear the announcer do a skit or routine back and forth with the clown which is among the funniest monologues you will ever hear. The tin sign on the booth was for a gas station that sold Standard Oil I think but was very faded. I looked the calf roping chute and the big swinging gates for the bulls and bronc and could imagine the cow bell clanging on the bull's necks and they bucked and spun...

The bleachers were all but gone and would not have held too many folks. I am guessing they held one event here each year perhaps during the fall roundup season. 

And there were two concession stands with one being older than the other. Very primitive and they represented a simpler time...

There is just some kind of beauty to be seen in decay that calls my name. I can't explain it but it makes me want to preserve it and show others that is was there and it mattered to someone long ago. And I wondered if the hot dogs were good............and if they had popcorn?

I liked this old sign..."Say Pepsi please"

and after looking around a little more and pondering the "lost rodeo" and thinking of the old song "ghost riders in the sky" I was saddled up in my truck and on the trail again......

Thanks for joining me again. Who knows what lies ahead in my journeys? We will see next time.....