Flint Hills, Tall Grass

March 10, 2011

Grassy byways

Another scenic byway that passes through Kansas’ tallgrass prairie is the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway. Like I did with the Native Stone Scenic Byway, I had the pleasure of writing about the 47-mile stretch of K-177 that passes from Council Grove down to Cassoday. You can read that story here.

The story of the Flint Hills is also a story of tall grasses. Some of the best vistas of the largest remnants of what was once a vast sea of grass can be found by traveling the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway. Go anytime of year and you won’t be disappointed. There is always something to see.

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Tagged as Cassoday, Chase County, Council Grove, Flint Hills National Scenic Byway, tallgrass prairie, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

March 2, 2011

Stones and Byways

The Native Stone Scenic Byway is a great way to discover the Flint Hills. I recently had the opportunity to write about this 48-mile long byway for the TravelKS Blog. You can read the post here.

Stone Fence along the Native Stone Scenic Byway

Early settlers learned to use limestone to build fences to mark off their cattle pastures.

The Native Stone Scenic Byway (read more about it here) is a tremendous stretch of road, with great vistas, tallgrass prairie, and many examples of how early settlers figured out how to create a way of life with limestone.

Forecast warm with chance of wind

A very hardy plant, little bluestem grows in a bunch in dry soil. Its roots reach 8 feet down, looking for water.

December 30 was a good day for thermometers. It was also a good day for hiking. How often does the temperature reach 65 degrees in Kansas during the final days of December? It did this year, leaving my wife and I with just one thing to do. We went to Konza Prairie for a walk. It was a perfect way to say so long to 2010.

I also went to look for some quick pictures of little bluestem. More later on little blue. We found a whole lot more.

The good news was the temperature was way up for the end of December. The warm temps brought out plenty of hikers, even some wearing shorts and t-shirts. It was also good news to have a breeze from the south. That kept the temperature up. The bad news, there was plenty of breeze to go around. At times it was downright windy.

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This is why

Ground plum is one of the first spring blooms in the prairie.

This time was different. I’ve heard stuff like this before and each time become frustrated. This time, however, what I heard got me questioning myself.

It was another campaign/proposal/story about saving the forest. I don’t even remember where I heard it. Maybe on the radio, or maybe something I read online. Things like this come around fairly regularly. There are always campaigns to save a rainforest, or plant a gazillion trees. Someone is always trying to raise money to plant trees. Others want to get some legislation passed to protect trees. Trees, trees, trees, until I’m sick of hearing about trees.

Why don’t these people say something about saving the tallgrass prairie? Why do trees get all the love? What about some love for big bluestem?

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Tagged as big bluestem, Flint Hills, Grasses of the tallgrass prairie, tallgrass, tallgrass prairie, trees

December 7, 2010

Defenseless

The Flint Hills invite you to come closer and take a look.

In nature, almost everything has a built in defense. Roses have thorns, turtles have shells, rabbits run fast, and even mosquitoes fly just faster than a swat. The natural world is competitive – the survival of the fittest and all that – and plants and animals must have some kind of defense.

The same is true of ecosystems, which are also competitive. The North American tallgrass prairie, for example, was always threatened along its eastern border by encroaching woodlands, but fire, grazing, and drought defended the prairie, kept the woody plants at bay, and allowed the grasses to dominate their environment. Today, the threats to native remnants of tallgrass prairie are far more dangerous, since the prairie is basically defenseless against modern threats, like development.

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Filed under Flint Hills, Flint Hills Overview, Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem

Tagged as big bluestem, Flint Hills, Grasses of the tallgrass prairie, tallgrass prairie, trees