Our new life in the Ozarks: Fall Foliage Touring in the Sylamore Ozarks

Fall is in full bloom here in North Arkansas , and Penny and I decided it was time to load up the Jeep and make a trip down to the Sylamore Forest and check out the sights of the forest as the leaves say goodbye for this year. We had a good time cruising the highways , but also got to get further off into the woods since we now own a Jeep with high clearance and four wheel drive. I got my map out and scouted out some trails that I had turned back from while driving my Ranger pickup . As we got off into the forest , it was really something to see ... our little Kodak camera really doesn't do the colors justice in the pictures. We didn't see much wildlife on this trip, but then again ... hunting season is on .
After driving down several forest roads (trails) , we looped back out to the main road and drove over near Gunner Pool to take a short hike to the overlook over the Sylamore Creek valley , which is part of the Sylamore hiking trail that I hiked last April . It felt good to get out into the forest , with the warm sun on our skin and the smells of the leaves on the ground and falling all around us. We took our sack lunches and picnicked out on the bluff overlooking the Sylamore Creek area. What a really beautiful spot! We could actually look down from the bluff area and see fish swimming below ... some 40 or 50 feet down . The water is so clear in these mountain streams. After lunch , we loafed around some of the boulders in the area , and explored a short section of the bluff trail that runs on to the Barkshed Camp trailhead. It really does rejuvenate my soul to spend time in the forest ... especially the area around the mountains and streams ... it is hard to explain . I hope I never become unable to get outdoors to enjoy the gift of nature that the Lord has blessed us with !