FORT SILL, Okla. (Nov. 12, 2015) -- Many of you are from places where the trees "change color." Most of my life I've lived where the trees stayed green all through the year, or just jumped to brown and threw themselves off the branches. Occasionally, you could drive through a neighborhood where someone would have a beautiful maple tree in their yard that looked like it was engulfed in fire. Even as a child I realized how beautiful it was.

I went to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge where I met with Donna Phillips, vice president of the Association of the Friends of the Wichitas. She has volunteered at the refuge for 14 years. Phillips organizes and runs a series of tours this month that goes into the special-use area and hikes down into Hollis Canyon (weather permitting).

The two to three hour tour starts with a bus ride to the canyon. Phillips, drives the bus, and if they are able to get into the canyon, the group then begins a mile hike to the bottom. In case weather has permitted them from entering, Phillips then takes the group to other places in the public-use area that has color.

"The color has not been what it has been in the past," Phillips said. "If we don't get to go into Hollis Canyon there are a couple of smaller hikes we try to go do and talk about geology."

Tours are free, but donations are encouraged. There are three tours this month on Nov. 7, 14 and 21, with 30 seats available per tour. By the time of the interview the first two tours were completely full with just 14 seats available for the final tour. As I talk with Phillips two more seats are taken and she tells me by the time the story runs, there may be only a few seats left.

"There are other things the (Friends of the Wichitas) do on the refuge," said Phillips. "We offer hikes, we have two on Saturday mornings, one is family-friendly and the other is more strenuous. Monday is the 'Mountain Boomer' hike, and we have a hike on Thursday that can be family-friendly or otherwise."

There is no charge for weekly hikes and no reservations are necessary. Simply arrive at the visitor's center at 9:50 on the morning of the hike with the proper attire and be ready to go.

There wasn't anyone who could take me on a tour to Hollis Canyon so Phillips recommended I try and find "Heart Rock." She tells me it's a large rock cut into the shape of a heart by Mother Nature and set on another rock as if it were a pedestal. I tell her I'm not particularly keen on the idea of hiking alone and she reassures me the rock is just a few feet from where I'll park my car. Now that sounds more like my cup of tea.

The drive to Heart Rock takes me further away from I-44 as I pass the visitor's center on my right. I follow her directions and soon find myself looking on parts of the refuge I haven't seen before. At times the land would lay flat letting me see the tall golden grass ripple in the wind like water in a pond. Then I'd turn a bend and see bright red bushes surrounding a bolder forming a crown. The trees, in all honesty, weren't as colorful as I'd hoped. There were splashes of red here and there but most of the leaves were a yellow-green color, not yellow enough to be golden and not green enough to be pretty. At least to me.

But it was a beautiful drive. Quiet and peaceful with the warm sun heating my car just enough where I wasn't cold, but not so much where I'd have to turn on the AC or roll the windows down (although I did, it was just too pretty not to). After about 10-15 minutes I pulled over and parked my car.

Across the street were massive boulders, the kind that are so large and gentle looking that you just have to climb them. So I did! Well, I climbed them AFTER I looked both ways and crossed the street and scanned all the area around for snakes (safety first!). Phillips was right. Maybe two or three hops up the rock, I looked to the left and there it was -- a rock in the shape of a heart.

I wanted to climb higher but my reason got the best of me. I probably shouldn't be hiking around or climbing on my own. I'll have to come back later.

On the drive back I thought about some of the things Phillips told me. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is the most visited refuge in the refuge system. It is one of the few that has a visitors' center, one of the few that offers campgrounds and one of the few that doesn't charge it's visitors to use the hiking trails.

"We want people to bring their families out," Phillips said. "We want people to get out and learn about the refuge and we want to share our knowledge with them. We want to get young people out and into the hike and into the environmental education programs we have here. It's just a special place," she said. "Everyone should know it. Come out and let us tell you about the Wichitas."