Trout on the Ark

MORELS!

Morchella Esculenta

Well, this is the year I finally get around to looking for morels. I've planned on doing it forever and simply never got around to it, or started way too late. It's still a week or so until they start coming up, and after reading multitudes of mushroom sites and viewing a plethora of youtube videos, I think I'm finally ready!

My mother grew up near Coffeyville, and has often talked about finding them near a creek on her Aunt's land. I remember going there and looking for them with my family as a child, and then being distracted by an old bottle dump and chasing after skinks scampering through the leaves. I don't recall ever seeing one there, though I've seen them a few times since. Unfortunately, I had no idea exactly what they were so I didn't bother to pick them!

Unlike many other edible mushrooms, no one has yet figured out a way to raise them, so all the morels available are wild picked. I've always heard it's difficult to find them for sale, as well as knowing that even if you do find them, they can be ridiculously expensive. Out of curiosity, I looked on Craigslist a few days ago and there were three people taking orders for them, at a mere $30-$40 per pound! (I'll find my own, thank you!)

For all the information on hunting or cooking morels you might possibly need, check out this excellent site:

Morel Mushroom info

I'll post pictures of our finds when they're available. To anyone else out there looking for morels, good luck!

Rock City

Man, Rock City rocks! Haha. Anneke and I were returning home from a weekend trip in Nebraska when we stopped by Rock City for a break. It is located just southwest of Minneapolis, KS. The park features rolling prairie and about 200 massive Dakota sandstone boulders! It is a National Natural Landmark where you can see more of these boulders than anywhere else in the world! I have always wanted to go there but had never made it until now. We were the only ones there which made it very peaceful. It was really cold out so we only hiked around for about 20 minutes. Then I snapped a couple of photos and we took off...

The Faris Caves

In the mid 1880's, a Coloradan miner by the name of Charles Griffee purchased land adjacent to the Smoky Hill river and just west of the old Fort Harker in Ellsworth county. With trees being scarce along the open prairie during this time, pioneers had to be resourceful. A practice not uncommon was to use dugouts along rivers and bluffs for shelter and housing. Griffee, using his pickaxe and mining skills hollowed out 3 rooms(roughly 12' square with 10' arched ceilings) in his Dakota Sandstone bluffs as a living quarter. Offering cool air and fresh spring water, I'd guess this was pretty good living to a person settling on the prairie.

For reasons yet unknown, Charles Griffee sold his land to the Faris Brothers(Winfield and William) in 1893. Their brothers Henry and Irwin were already established along the Smoky Hill Trail with a hunting ranch on the Clear Creek crossing.

The caves have served as a home, smithy, refrigerator and schoolhouse...

Members of the Faris family in front of the caves

Need directions? Click Here


Hidden in dense vegetation and covered with inscriptions

Visiting the Faris Caves really opened my mind to a very fascinating history of Ellsworth county. Stories of gunslingers, murderers, gambling, prostitution, lawlessness and indian attacks are all things that made Ellsworth "The Wickedest Cattletown in Kansas"! If it strikes you fancy, check it out!

My Yak

At Curt's request...

Here's some photos of my first and only time out on my new kayak. These were taken on the Ark out front of my house in late Autumn. Now the river is completely frozen over so I can't go till Spring! I think I'm going to cry wa wa!

My yak is a Liquid Logic model Saluda. It's 12' long which I think will be a great length for Kansas' lakes and rivers. There is plenty of storage space and I've already fixed up a plastic fishing kit that will fit under the front deck rigging real nice...