‘Been a long winter…..

This winter, while not being particularly cold or snowy, has gone on for too long.  For me, winter started about last November.   By early February, the Princess and I started booking critical campsites so we would have things to look forward to.  I do not like planning that far in advance but for sanity’s sake, we needed to feel like our camping season was just around the corner.  I know there are a lot of people, I’ve seen them on the “internets”, that are out twelve months a year.  That sounds great to me now, but come November I will have had enough time in the ORV for a while and, then in January it is way too cold outside to enjoy the camping experience.

One of our early reservations this year was for a couple of sites at the Buffalo Outdoor Center (BOC) in Northwest Arkansas in early April to share with our “family by choice”, Donna and Bob. The BOC is located along the Buffalo National Scenic River. Having never traveled to this part of the country before, we did not know what to expect. The two main draws for the area are the multi-use forest trails and floating on the Buffalo River.  As it turned out the northwest corner of Arkansas is beautiful.  Very steep, wooded valleys and limestone bluffs with lots of spring waterfalls. We didn’t ride the waves but did enjoy the trails leading to the waterfalls.

Bluff views along the Hawksbill Crag Trail.

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Our first day in the Ozark – St. Francis National Forest found us on the Hawksbill Crag Trail.  This is an “out and back” trail of only 3 miles but the website suggests allowing over two hours.  The timing of our visit was just right for wildflowers, the redbuds and dogwoods were in full bloom and the hardwood trees had a touch of green letting us know spring was here.  Later in the season a lot of the rock formations would have been hidden by the vegetation and many of the creeks would have been dry.  The main feature at the end of the trail is a prominent rock formation protruding out over the 100-foot bluff.  Neither Sherrie nor I enjoy heights but she did agree to pose for a tourist photo.  

A couple of reviews of the trail we read (meaning Sherrie) indicated that the six miles of gravel to get to the trailhead were a little steep and rough.  Sections of the so-called road were one lane at best with a significant drop-off. The ruts were about waist deep and the boulders in the middle of the road were marked with green paint so you would know for sure what had just relocated the oil pan.  The Supreme Mistress of Navigation was a little concerned about the welfare of the truck.  I on the other hand knew we would probably be alright.  Upon arriving at the end of the road we parked next to a Tesla sedan complete with three kids in the back seat.  The only thing I can figure is that teleportation is a real thing.

Every where we walked, the trails were lined with wildflowers.

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Many of the trails in the area took hikers out to waterfalls.  There are so many waterfalls in the state you can buy a guide book dedicated to just those trails or you can pick up a smaller free guide from the BOC registration desk.  If you discount the gravel to the trailhead, the hike to Twin Falls was a very easy stroll to what turned out to be “triple falls” because of the particularly wet spring.

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Between the hiking and relaxing at the campsite, we took a driving tour of the area. Stopped on the square in Lafayette at a repurposed old post office turned into an upscale restaurant, Cheers.  (I have heard that name somewhere before.)  The food was good but they did not seem to know our names.  Later we moved on to Bentonville to see the Crystal Bridges Museum.   According to their website, the museum is dedicated to the American spirit and American Artists.  We were impressed by the range of the exhibits and the interesting architecture.  The hour walking through different galleries was fascinating and we could have easily have spent twice that amount of time and not seen it all.

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This outing was our first time in Arkansas.  It was an easy half-day drive that gave me a chance to work out some changes to the distribution hitch and see if anything needed maintenance on the rig after the winter in storage.  More importantly, we needed some easy time away from the house with friends.  Already looking forward to the next adventure.

Dennis

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