Mount Magazine, part
1
May 19 through June 6, 2004
Around the same time a two-week dry spell
was putting an early end to the waterfall season, my attention
got diverted to an upcoming photo contest that was part of the
annual Butterfly Festival at Mount Magazine. I figured if I was
to enter any photos into the contest, they ought to be from the
Mount Magazine area, so I wound up making eight trips to our
state’s tallest peak in a three-week period.
My first trip was after work on May 19.
I was hoping to get a picture of the new moon at sunset.
As I was stepping out of the truck at Cameron Bluff I spotted
some unfamiliar leaves across the road, which turned out to be
Fringe Tree - a new one for me. The sun disappeared behind a
thick haze on the horizon before it had a chance to show much
color, and I never did spot the moon. The wind coming over the
top of the mountain was the strongest I've ever experienced,
and I was a bit nervous being close to a lethal drop. Still, I
got a few pictures of the bluff in front of Brown Springs. A
huge copperhead crossed the road in front of me just as I was
leaving.
Friday, May 28 Cliff and I drove up to
Mount Magazine to catch the sunset and scout photo locations.
We made it to the visitors center before it closed and looked
around a bit. Cliff was hoping to buy a book on rocks and
minerals but they were out. We drove out to the Petit Jean
River valley overlook and I took compass readings and enjoyed
the awesome view. Then we hiked up to check out the nature pond
nearby. We were running out of daylight so we hurried back to
the truck, hoping to find access to a bluff that would give us
a view of both the sunset and Cameron Bluff. We caught a few
glimpses of the sun through the trees and could tell it was
going to be an awesome sunset. At Brown Springs, the picnic
area had been turned in to an overflow camping area because of
Memorial Day weekend, and there were campers near where I
wanted to drop down to the bluffs, so we headed down the trail
at the back end of the picnic area. It indeed was an awesome
sunset but we didn't get to see most of it because the view
from the bluffs is just too far to the north. We came home
without a single decent picture.
Sunday afternoon we had a front come
through and dump almost an inch of rain in 20 minutes. Around 5:
30 Cliff and I hopped in the truck and headed East along
Highway 64, hoping to find some magic views at the tail of the
storm. We never saw any rainbows, and except for some
interesting clouds there wasn't anything worth stopping and
photographing. But then we wound up back at Cameron Bluff on
Mount Magazine and indeed saw some magic. First, we got to
witness a nice sunset. But the real show was the wispy clouds
following the contours of the mountain below us. The wind was
pushing the clouds up the mountainside to our left around the
Brown Springs area. Then just as we were leaving the wind
shifted and the clouds started coming straight towards us at
Cameron Bluff. Right when the clouds got to us they would rise
about 30 feet and race over our heads. I’ll never forget
that scene.
Even though we didn't get home til past 10
and I didn't get to bed til past midnight, I was up at 4 a.m.
to get back at Mount Magazine for the sunrise. Once there I
hiked along a nice new trail the State Park people have put in
going to Bear Hollow. Near the middle of the hollow I found a
great little bluff just downhill from the trail with a view of
the rising sun.
After that I drove over to the Brown
Springs picnic area and walked down the trail. A few hundred
yards along I spotted a Maple Leaf Oak right on the trail. Nice
to finally see this rare tree, and without having to search!
There were some open fields to the left of the trail, full of
the tall stalks of wild indigo plants with their white flowers.
After four trips to the mountain I finally got to see some
butterflies.
I made my fifth trip up to the mountain on
the evening of June 1. I knew the moon would be almost full and
low in the southeastern sky around sunset so I went to a spot
near the Petit Jean River valley overlook. It turned out to be
my favorite experience of all my trips. It was incredible
watching the shadows of the mountains below get longer and
longer, all the while the big moon staring down at me. The only
sound was the whispering of the warm gentle breeze through the
trees below the bluff. After sunset Blue Mountain Lake to the
southwest turned pink as it reflected the colors in the clouds
above.
Another series of storms came through the
area the evening of June 2 so I set my alarm for 4 the next
morning. I figured chances were good for some shots from the
top of the mountain of fog down in the valleys, but the mist
and fog at Cove Lake on the way were too good to pass up. After
waiting half an hour for a colorful sunrise shot that never
happened, I hopped in the truck to head up the mountain. But on
the side of the road next to the spillway I spotted flowers I
had only seen in books called Mexican Hats. I’m glad I
stopped because this small wildflower patch was a lot nicer
than it looked from the road.
I then drove up on top of the mountain then
over to the Petit Jean River valley overlook. Sure enough there
were clouds down in the valleys. Blue Mountain Lake was
completely hidden. After taking a few snapshots I drove down
the south side of the mountain to check out a spot I’d
read about in Tim Ernst’s Arkansas Waterfalls guidebook, called Hardy Falls. I didn’t get
my camera out because I assumed, correctly, that the falls
would be dry this time of year. But the site was fantastic and
I look forward to returning when I have more time.
