Mount Magazine
February 15, 2004
I got up at five to beat the sunrise to the
highest mountain in Arkansas. Snow had been forecast for the
area including Mount Magazine. We can’t seem to get any
snow at home, so I have to go chase after it. At some point
south of Paris I started seeing snow on the ground and in the
trees, but the roads were dry. Along the highway past Cove Lake
suddenly I was facing the whole mass of Mount Magazine, and it
just filled the sky. Even though it was still fairly dark out,
the mountain was plainly visible for all the snow on it.
First I drove out to the Petit Jean river
valley overlook to hopefully get some sunrise pictures. The
view was incredible! The valley below was covered with fog, and
the mountains miles away on the other side had a thin layer of
snow. It was totally silent except for an occasional whisper of
wind through the trees just below the bluff. There wasn’t
any color to the sunrise - I think there was too much fog. Once
the sun rose I hung out at the overlook for at least half an
hour hoping the sun would light up the top of the fog layer
down below - but that never happened.
At Cameron Bluff, pictured above, I could
hear the rushing of water. It was coming from a cascade
far over on the opposite mountainside. Above it and to the
right I could see this huge mass of icicles - they were at
least 30 foot tall!
