Clint's big Campout / Hike Part One

Well , I certainly had a great weekend. I have been building myself up with dayhikes in order to do a longer more remote campout and hike down in the Sylamore Forest area.  I left my very understanding wife Penny, on Thursday and camped out and made my trek on Friday morning and then camped again on Friday night . I hiked from Barkshed Rec area to Gunner Pool (about 4 miles) on the Sylamore Creek Hiking Trail system which is about 30 miles in length . It connects to the Ozark Highlands trails system which covers most of Northern Arkansas (165 miles long).

     I took these photos Thursday afternoon of a side trail I discovered that led out of Barkshed. There are so many trails in this area , and the scenery is so very beautiful. This is the very reason that I have wanted to live near the mountains here in Arkansas for so long . I am blown away by the scenery , and also the remoteness of the area .... it seems like this part of the Ozarks have far less visitors than over in the more popular Buffalo River area , which suits me fine .......... 

     I ended my first day camped in the wilderness area , listening to the forest sounds of the whipporwill , hoot owl and a wild turkey gobbling occasionally as he made his roost. The stars are so very bright out here , as there are no cities or towns (or cell service!) for miles . I sat and watched planes in the night sky with their flashing white and red beacons , travelling in a hurry to get their passengers hither and yon ..... I'd rather be here in the wilderness , listening to the night sounds and adding wood to my campfire ......

More on Next Post .....       

 

 

 

 

 

 

This grove of pines trees tried to swallow me and the Ranger whole .... we had to fight them off !

                                                                       natural steps

 There is a vista to see everywhere you look

 

Always the Slyamore Creek flowing nearby ... I love that sound of river water running !

Upstream from the low water pass  ... if you came around the bend in a canoe/kayak you'd better be a paddling  for the bank... unless you can make yourself 12 inches tall and squeeze under the bridge!

It had rained pretty good the day before I came out .... so there was good water flowing in the Sylamore and it's feeder streams.

An Indian's view of the world ........

My Camp

I outfitted my Ranger a while back to do exactly this type of backwoods camping .... sure beats a flimsy tent ... especially now that the black bear population is on the rise in Arkansas . Thanks to Millie Kessler for sewing up the curtains for me !

The wind finally died down and it was safe to start a campfire. What is camping without a campfire ??

 

The sun sets on a great day in the Ozarks .... I love hearing the whippoorwills call and even heard some wild turkeys gobbling as they went to roost nearby .

 

The Slyamore Creek from the low water bridge crossing at Barkshed . I really MUST get a Kayak soon and float this stream down to Gunner Pool .

Dogwood Trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spent some time today hiking on the Dogwood Trail near our home. After our morning stroll around the block at home ( where we saw a HERD of deer run across the road) , we decided the weather was so nice and we wanted to get some more exercise , so I suggested the Dogwood Trail . Penny was a little hesitant at first , since she has not hiked this trail before . It is about 3 miles round trip and has quite a bit of up and down hills . We did good , and enjoyed the time together walking and talking in the forest .  I'm still trying to get in better condition to hike even farther and remote trails , but I fall victim to ice cream cones in the evening time. Penny isn't interested in any remote hiking (bear phobia) .... so I will be on my own when that time comes , hopefully soon , as the weather is warming up and I really enjoy hiking when it is cooler . I suggest everyone find somewhere to get out in the forest and walk some .....  it really clears the mind !

 

 

 

 

Penny and Me ... Bull Shoals Lake in the background

You can't tell by the picture , but I'm standing right on a 40 foot drop off ledge down to the water edge.... What draws me to always want to go to the edge ? I've been like that all my life .... Used to drive my Mother nuts  ... now it drives Penny nuts  :)

In this photo you can clearly see the effect of ice cream eaten late in the evening on a regular basis ..... If only I had chosen celery sticks instead  !

Me at the trailhead after the hike .... do I look any less fat ?

Penny beat up this defenseless  tree and made it fall over and cry ......  She can be like that sometimes ! :)

 

Penny , after 3 miles of hiking .... I don't think she ever broke a sweat !

A Nice Spring Day

Penny and I had a nice day today ..... went for our morning walk to loosen up , and then later headed into town . Went to our great library (http://www.baxtercountylibrary.org/)  and picked up this weeks reading material. Next was a trip to the nursery at Home Depot to pick up some flowers and vegetable plants for our container garden (all on sale right now) . Spent the afternoon planting and watering , then got the urge to crank up the grill and prepare a nice dinner . We sure love having a nice deck to hang out on. Finished up watching the Hal Lindsey Report on TBN network which always is very thought provoking . I pray for God's mercy on this nation ................



Penny and I had a wonderful day riding around in the Sylamore Forest area near Barkshed Rec Area  and Gunner Pool . We were down in Texas over the Easter weekend and we got our first taste of real warm weather while we were there. It was so nice to get back to our new home , and still have some cool spring weather to enjoy.  I am planning to do a hike/campout on the Sylamore Creek Trail  which runs along this creek area and through the surrounding hillsides . It will be about nine miles round trip on this section , which will be the most I have hiked in any one day in some time. I have been doing several 3 mile hikes to try and shape up . I was reading on a trail journal website about a 62 year old retired teacher (female) that was getting ready to set out on the Appalachian trail , some 2,100 miles from Georgia to Maine .......  makes me feel real manly !

 

My dream hiking adventure would be to accomplish the Ozarks Highland Trail , some 165 miles , that runs from near Ft Smith , AR to the Sylamore area south of our home . That would take some dedication and some strong knee joints on my part. I can dream .....

 

 

 

 

Gunner Pool ... deep , cold and clear water . I want to swim here this summer!

The dam that forms Gunner Pool .... the water is as deep on the pool side as on the dam side . How come I always have the same sweater on when I take pictures?  I swear ... I do have other ones .....

I bushwhacked up the creek area from the pool and got some nice shots

This grass at the base of the cliff is starting to green up ...

I love trails that run alongside bluffs ... maybe in a former life I was an Indian scout .......

I KNOW there has to be Gold Nuggets somewhere in this creek bed ......

This was a small waterfall ..... and some happy moss plants !

A look up the  Sylamore Creek valley from the bridge to Gunner Pool camping area

A second look towards the stream flowing from Gunner Pool Dam into the Sylamore Creek

This is over at Barkshed Rec area ... about 5 miles upstream from Gunner Pool area

The low water bridge at Barkshed rec area

Penny .... a rock climbing super woman !

 

Looking upstream from Barkshed .... I just want to set out and go for hours and days .... just to see what is around the bend in the river . I am always impressed with the sights I see when I am out on the trails ..... What a great place to live !

Another trip on the Dogwood Trail

These are some pictures I took on my hiking adventures
on the Dogwood Trail near my home . I love getting out on
the trail this time of year . Penny and I were taking our walk
around the neighborhood today , and we saw about 4 or 5 deer running in the valley behind our house . They came up and ran across my neighbors yard and then down and across the street . I am always glad when I leave the house and get out in the woods..... every time I am always amazed by something .

A nice home for a squirrel ......

These bluffs are at the end of the Dogwood Trail in Lakeview. You can look across the lake and
see the dam site . I had a lot of fun scrambling around on these rocks ..... good thing Penny wasn't along
I might've made her a little bit NERVOUS .

 

This is what a hollow tree looks like from a squirrel viewpoint ........

 

 

 

There are nice solid oak benches placed every half mile along the trail .......

A very nice spot to stop and sip some water and take in a beautiful lake view.

 

I worked my way out onto the last rock in this outcropping . I felt a little

squeamish as I leapt over the crack onto the rock. I know the sign at the trailhead says

a 200' bluff at the end of the trail .... I think the water is very deep around here .

I could just imagine as I landed on it , it cracking off and taking me down with it .

But ..... I still had to get out there ! I didn't stay on it to long though .....

 

The shorelines of Bull Shoals Lake are all like this around my area ... very rocky.

The water is really very clear though ..... it's a beautiful lake .

Finished the Roof on our Deck



This was our deck before I started working on the roof top . Every time it snowed or rained
it would be a mess and we couldn't enjoy it too much.

After the roof was built ... we can still enjoy the wildlife , even if it is snowing ..... It SNOWS a LOT up here !
 

Another snowfall this week ... we are going thru bird seed like crazy . There are so many beautiful
varieties of wild birds that come up to our deck to feed. Penny and I really love to watch them , and
I even broke out my bird identification book to start identifying them .... are we GEEZERS ??



 

This is the area underneath the deck .... now with the top covered it makes a great storage area .

   I was reading a book today .... 98.6 degrees , by Cody Lundin . There was a quote that I thought really struck home ....  it went

" It doesn't take any guts for someone to applaud when others are already clapping " ..... I thought of this quote later this evening when I saw a story about a student at a college campus who had been expelled and was facing charges , because he would not "stomp on" a piece of paper that his college professor has instructed them to write the name " Jesus " on . How sad the state of this country is very quickly becoming. I am sure there were several (hopefully lots!) of other students who knew or felt this stupid exercise was wrong .... but yet only the one boy "clapped" and stood up for his rights. This rest were content to just "go along with the crowd " and do what the professor instructed. I pray for my daughter Candice who is directly in the line of fire of the wave of this culture at our Universities .