Clint's Big Campout / Hike Part 2

 

 

This was the hike that I have been planning for , for some time. I planned to hike from Barkshed Rec area over to Gunner Pool , a total distance of 4 miles , then rest ( a lot ) and the hike back to my trusty pickup at Barkshed . Last time I travelled this distance on foot I was in my 30's , and I remember being sore afterwards. I have been trying to shape back up , and since we have moved up here to the hiking mecca of the universe (the Ozarks) , I have been able to get a lot more trail time in .... although I see the weight hasn't fallen right off , as planned . Oh well ... more to carry .

     I started about 9 am , and made pretty good time , making it to Gunner Pool by noon . After having a good rest , and meeting a nice couple from Little Rock there , I turned back and retraced my steps back to Barkshed , taking a few side trips here and there. I did pretty good , until about mile 6 , when I got back to the halfway point sign . The last two miles were pretty tough going , but I know I will be employed soon , and I told myself to enjoy every minute of this time that I have available now to enjoy the outdoor life .

 

      Penny and I are so blessed to have this time in our lives , to relax for a little while , and press the reset button on our lives. I know it may seem selfish to some , but we have really enjoyed all the time off we have had , and have had a real blessing from God to have been able to enjoy this time . I will never regret having made a leap of faith and put these experiences in my life and these pictures and memories here for our friends and family to enjoy along with us.........   Enjoy the Hike !!

 

 

   

The sun rises over the bluff line ... another great day ! 

   

Water is always seeping out of the limestone formations ...

I know that ledge has been hanging there for eons .... but what is to stop it from cracking off , just as you walk under it ?

 

A small waterfall into a canyon ....the trail goes up in there and then crosses ...I guess if it is really  flowing , you are going to get wet feet .......

LOTS of the trail is like this .... it drops of steeply to the right

Another of the 1000's of vistas to see ....

My hiking stick .... Thanks Candice !!

The Sylamore widens out at points , but still flows really well .

Another effect of the government sequestration .... yet Obama still has his big parties at the White House . Would you trust your life to traverse this bridge ? .......... I did ..... did you expect any different of me ?

River of Life ........

More bluffs , and the river down below , and small caves in the base of the bluffs . I read somewhere that Black Bears like to hibernate in small caves .....in Arkansas ... near rocky areas ...... 

A small waterfall ... it bet this is really something right after a hard rain .....

Springtime has sprung !

This place made me think a lil .... the trail ran along a bluffline for quite a ways ...the other side is around 100 foot drop to the river  . What if you come around the bend , and say a black bear is on the trail coming the other way ..nobody is going up the bluff ... down isn't really an option either ..... hmmmmmm

Kind of like a mini Mount Rushmore ....

Im WAYYY up there ....... :)

 

I can see me in a kayak ... coming down this stream .....

Lots of bluffs everywhere you look

Trailhead sign at Gunner Pool .. I made it 4 miles in about 3 hours.. pretty good time for a flabby old guy !

At the halfway point (Gunner Pool) I took a siesta , and removed my sweat soaked clothing to dry out . I entertained undressing and going for a swim , but after I waded in with my feet , I could only take it for about 1 minute before I was numb from the cold. I was really glad I didn't , when after a bit a couple showed up on the beach nearby without me noticing them !!

Like people ... some trees are cast a poor lot on places to make their home ... looks thirsty , doesn't he ?

The trail is marked well with blue blazes on the trees .... after 5 or 6 hours of hiking you start to resent them ..... they mock you , taunting you .... only 349 more to go ... now 348 .. now 347 ..

This cave is on a side trail I found off of the main trail ... Penny always gets aggravated when I want to get of the main trail (ever since that time we got lost) , but I like to see what is there ... I threw a rock down , and it sounded quite deep .... In my younger days I might've tied off a rope and dropped into it ..... but not today .........would make a nice lil bear den .... don't ya think !

Much of the trail runs along the bluffs overlooking the river .... some are over 100 feet tall ...  of course , I have to get close to the edge ......

This was the sign at the halfway point from Barkshed to Gunner Pool ... I was in good shape on the first trip thru ... by my return trip later , I was feeling my age !

Mountains , rivers , trees ..... sigh ..... God's country for sure.

A shot for my wife , Penny .... she likes wildflowers ( don't say anything , but I do too !)

A feeder stream flows thru a limestone chute into a small canyon ... Im going to have to get back here sometime after a good rain when it is flowing real hard ..... I bet it is something to see.

The trail follows blufflines lots of the times ... you know the Indians that lived here must have used these same trails. I know the animals still do , by the tracks I see.......

I found this (paw?) print down near the creek where the road from my camp ended ..... it was "following" a deer track ... a LARGE deer track ........ I guess I'd better be moving along ...

 

This is where a spring comes out of the mountain near Barkshed Rec area ... I love springs !

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 !