Day 5: Prairie Dogs, Bison, and Boulders

Today was a day of hikes and lack-luster storm systems in the far southwest of Oklahoma.  The team took on Wichita Wildlife Refuge where we saw a Prairie Dog colony, Bison herd (or lack thereof), and took to the summits of the local mountains.

The level of skill it took LCDR Burich to take this is impressive.

First summit of the day, the view was worth every trail we blazed.

The climbing of Mount Scott;

Mount Scott sits at a height of about 2,500 feet and is only climbed by doing a "boulder scramble". I can neither confirm or deny that, some knees were scraped, clothes got a bit dirty, and some SWIFTers were very tired at the summit.

Starting point, better pick the right path

Action shots are the best kind of shots

  

 







The views made it worth the hike.

The three brave souls to summit the mountain!!!

The "lonely" storm;

It wouldn't be a day in SWIFT if there wasn't a storm or two to chase. The day was relatively inactive across much of Oklahoma and northern Texas. However, just after getting off the mountain some storms began to fire and just like that it was time to chase. These storms started just across the border in Texas, and though, while not tornadic in nature, gave us some great shots.

The classroom came alive when this storm decided we had stayed a bit too long, and gave us a rush of cold air and winds that rocked the van.

We are back in northern Oklahoma tonight, where SWIFT will debate its next move. Looks like the great north and the Rocky Mountains may be calling our name tomorrow. Stay tuned!! SWIFT out.