5 Sep 11
At the start of the hike....
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15 May 11
Smokey the TB meets Smokey Only you can prevent forest fires!
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15 May 11
Smokey visits Mark Twain National Forest At the ranger station where Smokey's Helpers cache is located
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21 Sep 09
Smokey, meet Smokey!
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9 Aug 09
Smokey the Pencil Sharpener Smokey must be making some cash -- or is that cache -- with all these celebrity endorsements!
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9 Aug 09
Smokey in western Nebraska.... or is he in Northeast Colorado?
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9 Aug 09
Ash Hollow from the top I'm scared of heights and the rock was decomposing, so this is as close to the edge of the cliffs as I was willing to get.
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9 Aug 09
Ash Hollow cliffs Hmmm. We would have had to start way up at the top, at the visitors' center, had we not spied the post on our way in.
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9 Aug 09
Ash Hollow spring We needed to visit the second, larger part of Ash Hollow to find a marker post to make a rubbing for Nebraska's Great Parks Pursuit, in which you chase all over the state visiting parks, making rubbings, and ultimately turn the rubbings in for a chance to win prizes. The Ash Hollow post was stated as "difficult" with a very steep 500-yard walk from the cliffs to the spring. We lucked out and saw the post as we drove through the lowlands and parked within 100 yards! Whew!
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9 Aug 09
Ash hollow wagon ruts Ash Hollow State Historical Park has two parts. This photo is from Windlass Hill, a steep region where legend has it that a windlass was used to help covered wagons descend the steep hill. The wagon ruts have over time eroded into the steep cuts you see here. However, a nearby sign states that there was no evidence found that a windlass was ever located on the hill -- though wagons did descend the hill, it said they did it through sheer skill of the drivers.
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9 Aug 09
Looking over the dam Shown looking east over the dam to the plume of water being released below the dam.
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9 Aug 09
Near the sign at the south end of dam
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9 Aug 09
Vents open Water from deep by the dam was being released into the lower stream and lake. Looked great -- smelled horrible. Ick.
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9 Aug 09
At Lake McConaughy Lake McConaughy has had a rough couple of decades. Normally about 23-25 miles long, it has had low water so long that new roads extend beyond the boat ramps. It's still a popular place for recreation, though -- and geocaching!
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9 Aug 09
so much water and they won't let me go swimming.
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9 Aug 09
at the fish hatchery Not sure if this qualifies as a state park, but it's a peaceful place.
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9 Aug 09
Separated at birth? Smokey meets himself on a geocoin.
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9 Aug 09
Smokey with the shield
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9 Aug 09
Smokey at the ranger station sign
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9 Aug 09
Bessey Sign - 2
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