Blue & Alley Springs

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Granger Meador

Blue Spring (click image for slideshow)

My third day of Fall Break 2011 was like Groundhog Day: I again had a late breakfast at Hillbilly Junction and drove over to Powder Mill Campground to hike, followed by Alley Spring. In my quest to escape the time trap I did try to impose some variations.

I began by ordering French toast instead of pancakes with my bacon and egg. And, like Bill Murray in the movie, I threw in a good deed: helping a lady and her daughter, who were stuck in their SUV, by giving it a jump start. Then I bought a bland turkey sandwich at a convenience store rather than a tastier one at a grocery store deli. I skipped Rocky Falls and drove straight to the campground at Powder Mill Creek and hiked the 1.5 mile trail south to Blue Spring rather than the north trail to the Current River overlook at Owls Bend.

The south trail was a fairly straight flat shot along the riverbank, compared to the vertical oscillations up and down the bluffs the day before. I posed on a pedestrian bridge across a dry feeder and the trail drove through much undergrowth along the riverbank. I spied a few big rocks projecting from the Current and after 1.3 miles reached the Blue Spring Branch feeding an average of 87 million gallons of water daily into the Current, as told by the signage.

The spring certainly earns its name, with water gushing out of the deep blue 310 foot deep fissure. It pours out and over a rocky barrier towards the Current, with much greenery growing in the clear waterway. I posed and ventured out on a lower walkway to peer down into the blue fissure, where I could spy several large fish. Climbing to the upper platform, I spied a couple who had walked up to the spot where I’d stood a few moments earlier.

The surface of the pool was covered in tiny circular ripples. It looked like a shower was in progress, but the ripples were bubbles rising up through the water from the green growth below. Several large rocks poking up out of the branch were festooned with greenery as well.

As I backtracked I encountered three fit gentlemen wearing wader boots. Their attire and athleticism were explained a bit later when I spied three kayaks now pulled up along the shore. A butterfly along the trail was feasting on flowers, but I resisted the berries.

I then drove back west to Alley Spring, arriving about three o’clock to have a light late lunch by the Alley Branch and then tromping over to the mill, which was open this time. I did not find the interior displays very enlightening, although they had all of the old equipment, albeit not operating.

I took a 1.75 mile overlook trail up to where I could see the mill and Story’s Creek School building far below. The trail led along the ridge before descending in a series of switchbacks to a sweeping set of stone steps at the south trailhead.

I thought that would finish out the day, but on my way eastward I stopped off at Flat Rock Lookout Tower, one of the typical high Aermotor fire towers of these forests dating back to the early 20th century. I was charmed to see that, unlike like its cousin the Sugar Camp tower I’ve climbed so many times, this one was still kept in shape and there was no discouragement to climb up.

Well, only two discouragements: a swarm of yellow jackets at one of the upper landings and the padlock on the cab’s trapdoor, protecting what appeared to be a still-active antenna. From up there the rolling forest looked almost flat, but through a gap in the tree cover I could see the undulations of the highway I’d just travelled. The sun was lowering in the west as I descended and drove over to The Hungry Moose at Summersville. The menagerie inside the entrance made me wonder what sort of food would be on offer, but I had a traditional chicken fried chicken meal and left as stuffed as the animals adorning the establishment. I didn’t spot a groundhog in the bunch.

I haven’t hiked much distance this break, with only about four miles per day instead of my typical six and up. But I’ve enjoyed myself nevertheless. Tomorrow is another travel day to return to Bartlesville for laundry duty, but I plan to stop off in Springfield for more garden photos, this time at a large park on Scenic Drive, which sounds promising.

Click here for a slideshow from this day hike

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Ozark Springs and Rivers

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Granger Meador

My new boots

On the first day of Fall Break 2011 I made a leisurely journey eastward on US 60 and I-44 to Springfield, Missouri. I stopped at Nonna’s near downtown for an Italian lunch and then headed over to the big Bass Pro store to buy a new pair of hiking boots and backpack. I’d worn out my first pair of Columbia boots some time ago and the second pair were cheaper RedHeads which aren’t worn out yet but have thinner soles and a clumsier feel. So I bought a new pair of Columbia middle-height Firelane OmniTech boots that provide a better trail feel.

My new day pack

I’d also worn out several cheap backpacks and had been using a Coleman hydration pack. I didn’t care for the plastic taste of the mouthpiece and how the first swigs of water in the tube were always warm until you reached the cooler water back in the reservoir, plus the hydration pack simply did not have room to hold a sandwich container inside. I didn’t want a full backpack for my day hikes, so I selected an Ascend H1250 hydration pack with more compartment room and immediately took out the hydration pack itself – I’ll carry an orange drink and water bottles in there instead.

With those decisions made, I bought a Halloween outfit for school at a nearby temporary costume shop and drove over to the rose garden at Springfield’s Phelps Grove to shoot the various flowers.

Flowers at Phelps Grove (click image for slideshow)

Then I drove on eastward on US 60 over to the Comfort Inn at Willow Springs. I had a late dinner at the McDonald’s since most of the restaurants in the tiny burg had closed. This was the most highly rated hotel in the region for my planned hikes near the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers. I planned to take things very easy this break with shorter hikes.

The next morning I found a layer of frost coating the car with temperatures in the low 30s. I had a late breakfast at the nearby Hillbilly Junction gift store and restaurant and then drove over to Rocky Falls where Rocky Creek tumbles over erosion-resistant volcanic rock. I shot  a video of the falls, and then decided to skip the hike from there up to Stegall Mountain.

Alley Spring Mill (click image for slideshow)

I instead headed over to the Powder Mill campground to hike along the Current River. I chose a very scenic drive up Highway 19 to Eminence as my route. There are two trails here, one being a spur leading over to the Current River section of the Ozark Trail, and the other leading to Blue Spring. I parked by the Ozark Trail spur which led to the bridge over the Current on Highway 106 and then headed upslope.

The trail was in good shape, climbing the bluffs to ride below the ridge north above the east shore of the Current River. I saw a butterfly and tried to take a photo of it, but it dashed away and blundered into a spider web. I tried to free the poor thing, but it was too late: the spider had already claimed its victim and I only managed to capture the butterfly’s demise.

A huge tree had fallen across a trail switchbacks and I posed to give it some scale before I attempted the Limbo. The forecast had been in error, claiming it would still be in the 40s in the afternoon. I’d worn a sweatshirt in anticipation and it was living up to its name since the temperatures had climbed into the mid 50s. So I stripped it off and continued onward in my undershirt.

After about 1.8 miles of hiking I reached a campsite and the promised grand overlook of Owls Bend on the Current. I posed in my undershirt and sat down to enjoy a turkey sandwich I’d picked up in Winona on my way over. Then I walked along the bluff to view my lunch spot from the upstream bluff, where a tiny lizard peeked out at me.

I backtracked through the creek beds and tall trees towards Highway 106 and my car, having only travelled 3.63 miles. There wasn’t enough day light left to take the second trail over to Blue Spring, so I decided to do that the following day and drove west to the photogenic Alley Spring Mill for the golden hour of shooting right before sunset.

The iconic red mill was built in 1894 and eventually closed because its turbine and steel rollers were designed to grind wheat to flour in an area where corn was the main crop. It is a beautiful setting, with a powerful stream fed by the 81 million-gallon-per-day spring.

A large tree complements the red mill and its beautiful sluice and pool. The downstream view from the sluice gate was gorgeous as well. Behind the mill the big spring pool generated lovely reflections of the trees and mill. A trail led past pretty falls and alongside bluffs which had nifty little eroded areas. I assembled a video of the flows.

I drove away in the fading light, briefly stopping at a highway overlook before returning to Willow Springs for some yummy pizza and a late night of blogging. Tomorrow I will head back to the same areas to see Alley Spring in the morning light and hike at Powder Mill campground, heading south instead of north this time to visit Blue Spring.

Click here for a slideshow from this day hike

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Kight Hill on Oologah Lake

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Granger Meador

View from Kight Hill (click image for slideshow)

My colleague Betty Henderson wanted to go for a day hike while her husband was also enjoying the fall weather on his treasured mule – she, like me, is no rider. So we headed to Oologah Lake. Two years ago I tried to hike to what I thought was Kite Hill along the first part of the Will Rogers Centennial Trail, but was turned away by a morass of churned mud at the entrance to this equestrian trail. Recently the award-winning Bartlesville-area conservationist Phil Lorenz contacted me via email and shared that one could avoid the muddy start of the trail by parking off a nearby road. It seemed like a great time to try out his suggestion.

We parked in the spot Phil had pointed out on a map beside a car with an environmental tag and headed north along an old road straight toward Kight Hill. I had wondered why a fully forested hill would be called Kite Hill as it surely was a terrible place to go fly a kite. Well, I found out later it is actually Tom Kight Hill, named after the founder of Oklahoma Military Academy in nearby Claremore, which is now Rogers State University.

Soon we encountered a fellow I recognized from internet photos as Phil Lorenz himself, hiking along at age 91. We introduced ourselves and Phil kindly said he might show me some caves near Osage Hills in a few weeks. Then Betty and I headed on for about a mile, passing flowers and the goldenrod along the bedecked pathway toward Kight Hill, which projects out into Oologah Lake and in high water can become an island. It has been far too dry to worry about that problem.

We ascended the hill and took a side trail over to the east shore, then followed a trail marked “5” on around the south side. A side trail from it descended to the shore, where the dried mud had cracked into stonelike slabs. Back on the trail we heard voices and spied a couple out enjoying the lake with a powerboat and jet ski. The trail turned back around and we began to regret that both of us had completely forgotten to bring along any water. Our trail “5” later intersected a trail “3” and we took it since it was leading back to the entry, but then the evil trail turned back and made a big S shape leading up around the upper ridge of the hill.

Betty was becoming quite parched but still pointed out a small patch of fall color across the way. The lack of autumnal hues here was in sharp contrast to what I saw in Arkansas last week. Betty posed by a large tree up top which had decided to mostly branch out in one direction.

Increasingly dry and exasperated, we broke through dozens of large spider webs. Only once did I get one of the arachnids on me, and Betty was kind enough shoot a video of my surefire spider removal technique.

We passed a tree with a small pool of water in its open base but despite our thirst were not tempted to partake. We reached a large campsite on top of the bluff on the island’s southeast corner, but saw no way down to our vehicle. So we reluctantly tramped on westward. Up here there were nice views of the lake shore through the trees.

Betty correctly insisted we turn about, despite my petulant reluctance to backtrack, and I finally spotted a trail making a steep descent. Despite her dehydrated state she made good use of trekking poles on the way down the treacherous slope. Thank goodness we brought those even as we foolishly forgot our water – a lesson learned for future outings.

Our wandering about the hill over 5.5 miles made us a bit late for an evening engagement to meet Betty’s husband, who had spent the day astride his mule in far greater comfort. We all joined some friends for dinner and a movie, and the expedition to Kight Hill was great fodder for laughs as they pictured us panting about on a hill surrounded on three sides by untold millions of gallons of water.

Click here for a slideshow from this day hike

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Dancing with Laurel and Hardy

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Granger Meador

Combine the Archies with Laurel and Hardy and you’ve got a winning combination!

Contrary to their on-screen personas, Oliver Norvell “Babe” Hardy was the easygoing one in real life, while Arthur Stanley “Stan” Jefferson was the idea man who wrote most of the gags and was often the de facto director despite on-screen credits. And it is true that after his retirement Stan Laurel was still listed in the phone book and fans would call up, amazed to reach him. He personally answered all of his fan mail and was such a close friend of Ollie’s that he refused to perform ever again after Hardy passed away in 1957.

Dick Van Dyke befriended Stan in his late years and famously imitated him on his television show. He later talked to Stan about the homage and Stan pointed out some inconsistencies in the costuming, including how the brim of the hat wasn’t flat. Dick confessed he couldn’t get the hat to look just right and Stan said, “Why didn’t you ask to borrow mine?” Dick was flabbergasted and it is fitting that he would give the eulogy at Stan’s funeral in 1965.

In his will Stan left his hat to Dick and as part of the eulogy, Dick Van Dyke read The Clown’s Prayer:

As I stumble through this life,
help me to create more laughter than tears,
dispense more cheer than gloom,
spread more cheer than despair.

Never let me become so indifferent,
that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child,
or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged.

Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people,
make them happy, and forget momentarily,
all the unpleasantness in their lives.

And in my final moment,
may I hear You whisper:
“When you made My people smile,
you made Me smile.”

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Hawksbill Crag & Dismal Creek

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Granger Meador

Hawksbill Crag (click image for slideshow)

I’ve hiked a handful of trails in the Boston Mountains of the Ozark Plateau, and added two more to my list on a warm Saturday in early October. The trails were both close to the Buffalo River, which I’d already visited twice for day hikes and a canoe float trip since my day hiking mania began in the summer of 2009. One of this day trip’s trails was quite popular, with dozens of fellow hikers on the trail with me, while I only saw one couple on the other trail. Both hikes are featured in the 50 Hikes in the Ozarks trail book.

I had an early breakfast at Eggbert’s and purchased a trail lunch at the QuikTrip and then hit the road. The sun rose as I slid down US 75 to Tulsa. Driving east on US 412 I encountered a fellow teacher and a former principal with their wives at a pit stop on the Cherokee Turnpike. The administrator just shook his head in sorrow and proclaimed my hiking plan was far too healthy; they were headed to Eureka Springs to eat! I threaded through Springdale, past Huntsville, and finally turned south on Arkansas 21 towards the Buffalo River. My first hike would be to one of the most photographed spots in Arkansas: Hawksbill Crag, also known as Whitaker Point.

I exited 21 just before crossing the Buffalo, heading east up County Road 5. It was a narrow gravel road and very steep, putting the 11% grade on 21 to shame. Thankfully I did not encounter any cars on the ascent to the bluffline where you could tell the Buffalo must stretch along below to one side although the forest blocked any views. The road kept winding and climbing through the start of the autumn colors until I reached the trailhead, where I found a dozen cars already parked.

I geared up and was glad to find a side trail leading back to a homemade pit stop and then returned to the road where a trailhead stone commemorates former Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers’ support for wilderness areas. Some readers will remember Bumpers from his passionate closing defense argument in President Clinton’s impeachment trial.

Autumn has been kissing the trail, its red leaves like lipstick traces. The trail splits at the first major drainage and I followed the trail book’s proper recommendation to head south toward the bluffline. I scented tobacco from a couple of hikers ahead of me, who upon reaching the bluffline began working an offtrail descent. I left them to their business, but if one can descend there to walk alongside the high bluffs which carry the trail, it should be a nice walk indeed.

Upon reaching the bluffline the trail headed southeast towards the point, named after Whitaker Creek which turns and forms a big valley.The trail has a number of social trails looping repeatedly over to the edge of the bluff for valley views. I could see the valley below me intersecting the Whitaker Creek valley. I passed a huge stone perched out on outcrop and a passing hiker told me he’d put that for me earlier in the morning. It had been quite a job, but he hoped I appreciated it.

I soon came to a larger turnout and caught my first glimpse of Whitaker Point. From this vantage point it reminded me more of a snake’s head than a hawk’s bill. I knew a later view would be the classic one seen in so many brochures but this wide spot was a great place for lunch beside a big tree leaning back from the bluff’s edge. Looking back northwest I could see the tall straight bluff. I shot a panorama of the Whitaker Creek valley and snapped a blurry self-portrait.

A big group, composed mostly of girls, had driven up in a van as I began my trek and they passed me on their way to the crag. As I was eating a couple of very fit women came by for a glimpse of the rest of their party over on the crag. They were both leery of the edge, so I offered to take a shot of their group from the bluff’s edge as heights don’t bother me too much. They were quite grateful, and I was amused to later observe how one of them walked out onto the broader flat surface of the crag without too much trepidation. Walking out on the broad crag is not terribly intimidating, while other perches which actually have greater support under them are more problematic to those with touches of acrophobia.

I captured wide angle and telephoto shots of a lady peering out from the crag’s heights and a braver fellow peering from the edge, and then walked along to find the classic viewpoint of the hawk’s bill. I returned to this point several times for long waits over the course of an hour but never found a time without someone perched atop the crag. So I used shots with them camouflaged by foliage and a bit of photoshop to create landscape and portrait beauty shots. I only strayed out on the point itself briefly to shoot a natural rock pile shelter on a point farther southeast and the view northwest up the bluffline.

The far side of the crag brought the term Whitaker Point alive by gesturing straight up the turn in the valley. Most of the flowers along the trails were asters, which wiggle in the breeze too much for an easy macro shot, but I managed to pull one off. Wandering beyond the point on a sketchy trail led me to a rock wall alongside a small drainage and I bushwhacked over to the primitive camp above the point. I took one last shot of Whitaker Creek valley and then headed along a higher trail loop toward the trailhead.

A dozen cars were there again, mostly different from when I’d headed out, and I enjoyed the fall colors as I returned to highway 21. I followed it nine miles south as the crow flies to another scenic spot. While Hawksbill Crag is appropriately descriptive, thankfully Dismal Creek wasn’t. The trail book calls this hike The Glory Hole, but that term carries connotations I’d rather not think about. It refers to a spot where Dismal Creek runs over a overhanging rockhouse to flow through a hole it has carved in the roof. I knew our recent drought would mean little or no water flow, so here are some nice shots of what Glory Hole Falls looks like when it is actually running.

The trailhead is completely unmarked these days and my GPS tracker couldn’t maintain a good lock during this hike, presumably due to the mountainous terrain. There’s an abandoned house on the north side of Arkansas 16/21 and to the south is a very rough road leading down to Dismal Creek. The side road was too washed out for my Camry, so I parked off the road up top and walked down, winding around to an abandoned trailhead sign. Sure enough, Dismal Creek was dry albeit beautiful. I reached the first overhang upstream from the Glory Hole and clambered down to the creekbed, following it downstream.

I went upslope for a shot of the creek as it descended and then returned to the bed, following it past a bathtub formation and then climbing again for a shot of the descending rocky bed. Soon I encountered the fabled hole, shooting it from multiple angles. Perhaps the hole has mysterious powers, because now my superzoom camera also lost its GPS location for several minutes.

The creek descended a high bluff and I followed a trail around to the rockhouse with the hole in its roof. I peered up through the hole and thankfully there was only a tree on the other side.

Looking out from the overhang I could see how the creek led on down past huge boulders and high bluffs, so I followed a bluffside trail. I posed by a high wall and later spotted a walkingstick insect in the leaves below the bluff. One bluff adorned by a large patch of moss or lichen towered stories above me as the trail petered out at a fire ring. I passed trees tortured by nature and by humans while others sported fall colors.

A profusion of color beside the trail caught my eye as I headed back to the car, passing an elderly couple who had never been here before either. I assured them they were nearing their goal and then drove back west to dine in Springdale and then plunged into the setting sun.

My traveling companions on this day trip were the old Agatha Christie thriller They Came to Baghdad and the first chapters of Life Itself, the autobiography of Roger Ebert. For the drive home I listened to selected favorites of Teddy Thompson.

I’ve now hiked many of the well-known short trails in the Boston Mountains, with notable exceptions of Lost Valley and Round-Top Mountain, which were closed by flood damage. Lost Valley re-opened in June without its footbridge and camping while to my knowledge Round Top is still closed by a rockslide. I’ve only been on brief sections of the 164-mile Ozark Highlands Trail and Buffalo River Trail and there are many more trails stretched out along the Buffalo River. So I’ll be back in this area again, but if I do take a hiking trip over Fall Break (a trip with friends to Kansas City may not occur), I’m thinking more along the lines of unfamiliar terrain in southeast Missouri or a return to hike more in the Ouachitas in southeastern Oklahoma and the central part of western Arkansas.

Click here for a slideshow from these day hikes

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