This land was once the bottom of a vast inland sea. The flight was our opportunity to see the space from above; to try to imagine what enormous prehistoric fish might have seen below those vast waters. We flew over Dover, KS, and spotted the farm along the Waukarusa River where our friend Bob used to live. Bob and I sat in the back seat. Chad and Max were in front.

Housing thinned out quickly, but an occassional road or power lines stretched through the area — evidence of tax dollars at work.

The Flint Hills are primarily grassland. It is the best feed in the United States for beef cattle, and ranchers from Texas, Oklahoma, and other states send their cattle to Kansas for summer grazing. The rocks in these hills sits very near the surface, making land impossible to plow for raising crops. However, in the spaces east of the outcropping we spotted farms with crops planted in fields.

Spring, just ended, had been extraordinarily wet—after several years of drought conditions. Most farms had full ponds. There were also rivers and lakes dotting the landscape. Some fields had water standing in them.

My favorite geographical details in this landscape were the draws and cuts snaking across rolling hillsides. Trees in the Flint Hills are scrubby. It is difficult for them to grow on top of rock.

Everything was covered in a velvety-soft lush green of late Spring.

The most beautiful aspect of the Flint Hills are its undulations, its rolls, and the sweeping grandeur of its vista. Those who find a starkness in this area are not looking at it closely.

We departed Topeka at 7:00 AM and returned about 8:15 AM. Our cruising altitude varied, with an upper limit of about 1000 feet. In places we were very much closer to the ground. Our average speed was 110 mph. Occassionally the hills rose toward us. Occassionally Chad, our pilot, would bank so we could admire particulars of the landscape. The farthest point southwest we visited was Strong City, in Chase County: the heart of the Flint Hills.

Our entire ride was S - m - o - o -t -h !