The Rest of the Story
March 19, 2005
I’ve got a few leftover photos and
untold stories from this winter that I’d like to share.
I’ve continued to go on brief excursions close to home
for sunrise and sunset shots, where I’d be lucky to get
one decent picture. And I’ve gone on several bushwhacks
in the wilderness where I only snapped a few bad pictures under
terrible lighting with the point-and-shoot camera.
I wasted no time in getting out on the
mountain bike Stacey and the boys got me for my birthday. On
Saturday, January 15, Joey and I put in a full day around the
headwaters of Herrods Creek in the northeast corner of Franklin
County. There’s a neat little canyon there I found last
year that I wanted to take another look at. First we hiked down
the mountain on the west side of the creek until we found the
upper end of the canyon, then backtracked to the truck. There
were several nice waterfalls along the way. It was only one
mile round-trip, but the mountain is steep and rugged. Next we
drove over to the ridge on the east side of the creek and rode
our mountain bikes down a jeep road, searching for an easier
route to my canyon. This trek was three miles round-trip, and
we actually pushed the bikes more than we rode them. The jeep
road was steep and rocky the entire way. We were wore out for
days after that!
I returned to Herrods Creek canyon the
following Saturday. On our previous outing, Joey and I got
within 400 yards of the creek before the jeep road made an
unexpected turn (my topo map said the road should go all the
way to the creek). I wanted to evaluate those last 400 yards to
the creek, and I was hoping to explore inside the canyon this
time. The last 400 yards was an easy bushwhack through
beautiful Beech tree woods, and the canyon - all 400 yards of
it - was lined with big icicles. I didn’t even bring the
little camera with me though, so no pictures.
Something interesting happened on the drive
in that I got a few bad pictures of. On East Fly Gap road
there’d been some big-time shifting of the earth. Next to
the road an enormous boulder bigger than a house had slid about
10 feet down the hill. There was a fresh gap between the
boulder and another above it. The road below the boulder had
some big cracks in it. One crack went completely across the
road, but somebody had already filled it in with dirt and limbs
(looks like somebody got stuck). The powers that be had already
blocked the road on either side of all this. I had to make a
big detour.
I still drive down to Lee Creek park and
the riverfront park alot. Sunset on Valentine’s Day was
gorgeous. Every time I’ve stopped at the riverfront park,
there’s been a huge flock of water turkeys (Anhingas)
roosting in a group of Sycamores growing out of a jetty.
Usually there’s always a few taking flight and circling
around the roost, and the whole flock is always making a bunch
of racket. For some reason they give me the creeps!
On weekends that I had to work and
couldn’t go explore, as a consolation Grant and I made a
couple of road trips to get acquainted with the mountains south
of the river valley. On the afternoon of February 26 we drove
south of Poteau and got on the Talimena Scenic Drive at the
western end of Rich Mountain, and followed the mountaintop
drive to its eastern end at Mena. I had heard of Rich Mountain
through the years, but somehow had no idea exactly where it was
or how big it was. Its tallest peak is only 72 feet shorter
than Mount Magazine, which is the tallest peak in the midwest.
I guess Mount Magazine and the Talimena Drive keep the name
Rich Mountain out of the spotlight. Anyway, Grant and I took in
some thrilling scenery and I look forward to returning many
times to Rich Mountain.
The evening of March 5 we drove down
Highway 71 and just north of Waldron turned west and headed up
Poteau Mountain. The drive, which basically runs along the top
of the mountain westward to the Oklahoma line, was a big
letdown. There were a couple of roadside picnic areas at the
lower elevations, but the views from there were either blocked
by trees or just weren’t very exciting. The tallest peak
on Poteau Mountain is only 12 feet lower in elevation than Rich
Mountain, but there wasn’t a single spot along the road
to enjoy what must be some fantastic views. The road has got to
be the roughest one I’ve driven in years. We did see some
great, rugged country filled with huge boulders and majestic
pines along the road. The drive was educational - I learned
that a great deal of the forest on the north side of the road
is in a wilderness area; and we came down off the mountain just
south of the Sugarloaf Mountains around Hartford and Midland -
giving me a much better sense of how these mountains of the
river valley and Ouachitas lie in relation to each other.
Here are a few more shots from that morning
at Clear Creek Park:
Charles, Barb and I went to Mount Magazine
the morning of Sunday, March 6 and made it to the bluffs
overlooking Bear Hollow before sunrise. The clouds were too
thick for a nice sunrise, but the view was still awesome.
We could see clear to Mount Nebo 20 miles away. We also drove a
few miles down the mountain to Hardy Falls. Charles was hoping
to find the site near there where a military plane crashed in
the 40s, but we had no luck. We discovered a nice waterfall
down below Hardy Falls.
And finally, Friday afternoon Marh 11 I
drove up to White Rock to catch the sunset and maybe see an
unusual astronomical event - for only a few days a year the
planet Mercury is visible. This year it was supposed to be
positioned close to the new moon. There was a great sunset
(pictured at the top of this page) but when it got dark enough
that the new moon was visible against the sky, I couldn’t
find Mercury anywhere. Probably it was hidden by the haze. I
finally saw it on the drive home, but it wasn’t all that
exciting.
