Today We Learn Mount Wichita Is A Growing Dirt Hill With A Facebook Page

Yesterday I mentioned asking a pair of college students who were walking near the base of Mount Wichita if they knew how that mountain came to be.

They knew not.

I did not mention the pair are students at Midwestern State University, the college a couple blocks north of my abode.

This morning I did some Googling attempting to get an answer to that vexing Mount Wichita question.

Previous attempts to Google such were not successful. Today's attempt was successful, using the search term "Lake Wichita Park Hill". My first blog post about this subject shows up on the results, and when one looks at images of the Lake Wichita Park Hill, my first photo I took of the mountain, I mean, hill, is the first on the list.

From the aforementioned Midwestern State University's online school newspaper, in an article from way back on October 8, 2013 I read the following....

Residents visit the park for its running trail, dog park, disc golf course and a mound of dirt unofficially named Mt. Murphy after Jack Murphy, the city’s director of parks and recreation.

“The hill started about 15 years ago,” Murphy said. “It came as a suggestion when deciding how to use the excavated dirt from the bottom of Sikes Lake.”

Murphy said the hill is 83 feet tall right now. He said the plan is to build it up to 100 feet and turn it into a local attraction with perhaps a spiraling trail going up and a metal structure on top.

So, almost three  years ago that which I call Mount Wichita was only 83 feet tall? With a plan to eventually grow the mountain another 17 feet?

Well, Mount Wichita, I mean, Mount Murphy, seems way taller than 100 feet to me. I don't think a 100 foot elevation gain would be as aerobically stimulating as is the climb to the summit of Mount Wichita.

Yes, I am sticking with the Mount Wichita name. Mount Murphy just does not work for me.

After learning how Mount Wichita came to be I saw the search results also included a Facebook page dedicated to Mount Wichita.

Except on the Facebook page Mount Wichita is called The Dirt Hill.

Reading the plethora of comments on the The Dirt Hill Facebook page I learned I am not the only one who finds the climb to the summit to be extremely aerobically stimulating.

Dredging is part of the Lake Wichita Revitalization Plan. Methinks it would be a good plan to take that which is dredged and make a couple more mountains, so as to then have the Wichita Mountains. I think a Wichita Mountain Range would make for a very good tourist attraction.

Another part of the Lake Wichita Revitalization Plan is to make a sandy beach near the base of Mount Wichita.

A mountain range with a beach. Seems like a good plan to me....