A SIDETRIP
When we first heard of Monument Rocks we were a bit sceptical. Big rocks in Kansas? Yeah, right. We had been across most of Kansas on I-70 and US-54 several times and somehow the idea of anything deserving the name "Monument Rocks" in western Kansas seemed incompatible with the flatness we were used to.
Nevertheless, we decided to detour from our normal return from western Kansas (Colorado) and look up the famous boulders. Besides it would give us an excuse to drop in on Betty's friend in Dodge City. So at Oakley, we turned south on US-83. The map showed nothing off the highway but probably dirt roads for 37 miles and Monument Rocks about two-thirds of that distance south and a couple of miles east. Hope they have a sign.
Sure enough, about where we expected it, there was a sign pointing east. We dutifully
turned and followed a range of roads varying from pretty good to just passable. It was
several miles more than we expected and more turns than we thought necessary.
At one point we stopped to admire what we thought must be the Kansas Grand Canyon.
We were surprised it had no sign showing it's official designation as a national
landmark. As I walked to the edge, the largest bunch of pheasants I had ever seen
took off all at once. [One could use the term "bouquet of pheasants" and possibly be
considered erudite or pretentious, depending on how you classify someone who uses
unnecessarily large or obscure words.] If you have ever been near a few pheasants
bursting into the air at once, you will understand why I took more than one quick step
backwards when perhaps fifty did that. - it was loud.
Back on the road, we soon saw what we were looking for. Tall rocks sticking up from
flat prairie.
The Monument Rocks are not huge; probably between thirty and fifty feet tall, but they
are spectacular in the way they stick up out of flatness. There are two groups of rocks,
one much larger then the other.
To get an idea of the size, Betty made her way through the crowd :^)
and posed with one of the rocks.
Actually, I cheated on this picture. The rocks are soft and would be very hard to
climb. Betty wouldn't try, so I put her on top using Gimp software. I made up the
crowd too - only that one other car came by while we were there and he was probably lost.
On our way back to the highway, we passed the least busy intersection in Logan
county, the corner of 450th and Dakota.
bruce
Lots of this. Flatness, gravel roads
and cattle guards in the roads.
In the distance we saw them
This is the larger of the two - not really as far (or as large) as it looks.
This is the smaller of the two groups. Notice the car in the far right corner. The road
actually goes right through the smaller group, but you can drive just about anywhere around here.
Other than the rocks themselves, it is flat everywhere.
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Well, we thought it was probably Logan County - we were lost part of the time
trying to find the Chalk Pyramids. Never found them. Maybe next time.