Kansas, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area

New Mexico Tour, Day 7-8

From Dodge City, it's 13 hours to home. I could "smell the barn," but I had a couple of stops planned.

Dodge City Stock Yards at dawn

The first was Pawnee Rock, an historic site just southwest of Great Bend that marked the halfway point on the old Santa Fe Trail. I was the only person there on a quiet Thursday morning when I climbed the sandstone prominence. From the top, it was easy to imagine the bison herds and passing wagon trains of 150 years ago.

It is said that Pawnee Rock got its name when Kit Carson was on his first trip west at seventeen. While on guard duty, he shot his own mule thinking it was an attacking Pawnee. His associates commemorated his experience with the name, Pawnee Rock!

The view from Pawnee Rock, KS

My second stop was on the other side of Great Bend, the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. A 28,000 acre wetland, the Cheyenne Bottoms is famous for birds. During spring and fall migration, tens of thousands of geese, ducks and shorebirds can be observed. The area is bisected by gravel roads, so I parked at the headquarters and circled the pools on my bike.

Cheyenne Bottoms

This poor snake was run over and breathing his last.

Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area Bike Lean

Praying Mantis

No question -- there are a lot of birds here. There is also a nice free campground on the west side of the refuge. My best bird sighting was when I surprised a dozen pelicans. They rose off the water in dramatic flight just a few yards from me.

If you carefully review the wildlife area map, you'll see dozens of little circles in the water. Each of these is a duck blind. It's a killing field for migrating waterfowl!

 

Hennepin Canal Trail

From Great Bend, I just drove until I couldn't stand it any more -- which was a rest stop somewhere in Iowa. Sleeping at a rest stop on a cot in a minivan is lot better than sleeping in a car, but it is still not very restful -- too much activity and road noise. I'd had enough by 4am and got back on the road. After crossing the Illinois border, I was sleepy again so I pulled over for an at-dawn visit of the Hennepin Canal and another nap. Three hours later I was home and, after unpacking the van, I took another nap!

 

Bike Route: Cheyenne Bottoms

Route Summary:

• State: Kansas
• Date: 2020-10-01
• Route: From HQ and around Pool 1
• Distance: 12 miles