FEATURE
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Rock, carving is considered vandalism, says park manager Rick Martin. "That sandstone can't be replaced," he says. "Eventually the rocks will fall down."
Martin says he discourages people from climbing the mushroom concretions. However, one notable concretion is climbable — Devil's Oven. The formation somewhat resembles a brontosaurus head lying on the ground. Eager to climb it, I found a small tunnel leading from the back of it to the top. It was just large enough for me to squeeze through and wiggle out onto the flat surface of the concretion. It was surreal, standing on such a bizarre rock, seemingly inserted randomly into miles of rolling prairie.
KANOPOLIS STATE PARK
Running out of daylight, we sped south about 10 miles on Highway 141. Kanopolis Lake glittered in the late-a-fternoon sunlight, visible from miles away.
Kansas's first state park, established in 1955, Kanopolis offers 26 miles of multi-use hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails. Park manager Rick Martin says that visitors can "expect to see a little bit of everything" on the trails.
A popular trail among hikers is the 1.5-mile Buffalo Tracks Nature Trail, which features a canyon and 60-foot cliffs with a spring-fed creek at bottom. "You can easily spend hours up there exploring," Martin says. "These are not your well-groomed city trails."
Beginning mountain bikers can take Split Boulder Trail, which winds through 1.6 miles of woods and meadows, speckled with boulders and water crossings. Horseback riders and their horses can camp at Rockin K Campground, where they can access the Horse Thief Canyon Trail, which loops through woods and canyons.
Indeed, the circuitous trails pass by canyons, pastures, spring-fed creeks, beaver dams and prairie dog towns. Wildlife enthusiasts can find an abundance of deer, turkey, pheasant, quail, beaver, muskrat, skunks, possums, badgers, bobcats, snakes and lizards.
The park has over 200 campsites and four cabins available for rental. It also offers hunting, fishing and boating opportunities. Visitors should contact the park office for rules and regulations, to make reservations and to obtain maps and permits.
Contributed photo
The park charges a daily trail permit of $3.50 per person year round. It also charges a daily vehicle permit of $4.20 during prime season
Contributed photo Rock star: Jennifer DiDonato stands one of about 200 concretions in Rock City.
THESE ARE NOT YOUR
WELL-GROOMED CITY TRAILS.
> Rick Martin
Kanopolis Park manager
(April 1 through September 30) and $3.70 in the off-season.
The sun was low by the time we had arrived, so we only had time for a 45-minute hike on one of the nature trails. Crossing through woods and prairie grasses, we ended our trek at a boat ramp to watch the setting sun.
THE RETURN
After a day of searching, climbing and hours of driving, we headed back to Lawrence. Approaching the Smoky Hills again, an unexpected roadblock and state trooper awaited us.
He said during one of the prescribed field burnings, the fire got "a little too close to the road." After several minutes of waiting, we drove by to see that the blackened grass we'd spotted earlier had burned straight up to the pavement.
After getting on I-70, we decided to stop for some Starbucks outside of Manhattan. Only a few miles from our exit, my car began struggling up a hill. I gave it a little more gas, only to have it die seconds later.
We coasted the rest of the way to the top and had the next hour and a half to reflect on all we'd experienced — the beauty and the oddities. Ending the day with a dead car and a sleet/lightening storm seemed amusingly appropriate for all the eccentricities rural Kansas had given us.
Quirky Kansas Attractions
Truckhenge TOPEKA
Before transforming his family farm into a grassroots art tourist attraction, Ron Lessman says he owned a lawn service and raised hogs. Whenever an old truck used in his lawn service broke down, he simply left it in his yard to provide shade for his hogs. After selling his hogs in 2000, Shawnee County zoning officials considered his trucks abandoned vehicles.
"They told me to pick my trucks up, so I did," he says. Lessman literally raised his trucks up on one end and spray painted tongue-in-cheek political statements on the sides. Thus, Truckhenge was born. Lessman spent the next 11 years adding "Beer Bottle City", "Boathenge" and various sculptures made from recycled materials such as shoes, license plates and scrap metals. He even made his 8,000-square-foot Quonset home using recycled materials.
Lessman offers guests 1.5-hour tours of his recycled art displays, home and pond for free. Visitors can call Ron at 785-234-3486 to schedule a tour during daylight hours any day of the week.
The World's Biggest Ball of Twine | CAWKER CITY
Frank Stoeber probably never expected his trash to become the treasure of Cawker City, drawing thousands of people from around the globe each year. As an alternative to throwing away his sisal twine scraps, Stoeber began wrapping them into a ball in 1953. Overtime, Stoeber and his friends kept adding to the ball until it was too big to keep in his barn. Stoeber eventually transported it to town, where it remains today.
About 100 miles northwest of Manhattan, Cawker City holds an annual Twine-a-Thon. The town also features what Linda Clover, the Ball of Twine caretaker, calls the Outdoor Masterpiece Art Gallery, which incorporates twine balls into replicas of paintings like the "Mona Lisa" and "The Scream."
Visitors can pick up a variety of twine-themed souvenirs, including miniature twine ball key chains. For those who wish to stay overnight, the Ball of Twine Inn is available for only $30 per person, per night.
The Ball is available for viewing at the intersection of Wisconsin St. and Highway 24 at no charge. Clover can also give a history of the ball and pieces of twine for visitors to add to it. She can be reached to schedule a viewing any time of day, any day of the week, at 785-781-4470.
Garden of Eden | LUCAS
Samuel P. Dinsmoor wanted to build a log cabin after he moved to Lucas, Kan. in 1905. But because Lucas was a treeless prairie at the time, he constructed a cabin out of quarried limestone, made to look like logs.
Ahead of his time, Dinsmoor pioneered the grassroots art movement in Kansas, creating massive sculptures all over his half block of property using concrete (a new medium at that time). A member of the Populist Party and an adherent of deism, Dinsmoor's art is saturated with political and religious statements.
"A lot of people come for the art," Mary Anne Steinle, tour guide and great niece to Dinsmoor, says. "But I think most people come to see the body." Dinsmoor studied mummification and left detailed instructions for his own mortician. His mummified body is on display under glass in the limestone and concrete mausoleum that he built.
The museum is open for half-hour tours of the house and grounds from 1 to 4 p.m., seven days a week, November through April, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, May through October. Adults pay a $6 entrance fee.
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KUJH Check out KUJH for more coverage of this week's elections and the reactions of the coalition members.
SEE KUNITED ON PAGE 6A
"I ran because I believe in this coalition."
Briner and vice-presidential candidate Josh Dean said they were proud of their coalition and also of the 20.9 percent voter turnout, almost 10 percent greater than last year.
"We did what we wanted to do," Briner said. "We started conversations that wouldn't have happened had we not run."
As the night continued, Renew
all members kept up their resolve.
SEE RENEW KU ON PAGE 6A
CRIME
Students vandalize Learned Hall cause damage to safety supplies
BY ALEX GARRISON
aqarrison@kansan.com
Learned, Eaton and Spahr Halls are unlocked at almost all times, said Jill Hummels, director of public relations for the School of Engineering.
Several students reported a theft of a fire extinguisher and an erroneous discharge of a safety shower in a lab inside Learned Hall, at
Edited by Samantha Collins
15th and Naimmith streets, early Saturday morning. The Public Safety Office report from the incident states that two 20-year old men from Overland Park were arrested at the scene.
Public Safety assessed the damage at $45.
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
Three times this week, a man walked into a women's residence hall restroom, opened a shower curtain and watched a woman shower. Now the police are searching for that man, according to a press release by the KU Public Safety Office.
"Peeping Tom" shocks showerers
At 7:20 p.m. on Monday, the man walked into a women's restroom in Hashinger Hall and watched women
The KU Public Safety Office is asking for any information available in finding the man. Its phone number is 785-864-5900.
showering. At 7:30 a.m. Wednesday he went into a women's restroom in McCollum Hall and did the same thing. Shortly afterward, at 7:40 a.m., another instance of voyeurism by the same man was reported.
The police report said that the man entered the dorms by "tailgating," which could either mean that he followed on students' heels into the building or waited around until someone unlocked the door. Captain Schuyler Bailey said
CRIME
"If we do get video of him, it will be released to the public." Bailey said.
the KU Police are looking at video footage from the residence halls to see if they can find footage of the suspect.
Edited by Sarah Gregory
TICKETS | 3A
One more sentenced for KU ticket scandal
Charlotte Blubaugh was sentenced for 57 months.
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