A journey south to a little cabin at the foot of Beaver Dam, then west across the Springfield Plateau to Dripping Springs Falls.
A clear and cold day led a push quickly south without much attention to exploration. Arriving in Carthage found the temperature a more manageable 18°C, but other departure delays only afforded time to pause for provisions. The 1894 Jasper County courthouse drew a moment of attention, standing out against the blue skies.
Connecting with base camp for the evening on schedule offered time to wander about the streets of Eureka Springs in search of sustenance. The only available option on a Tuesday evening appeared to be the usual haunt, the Balcony Restaurant at the Basin Park Hotel. Everything else either had not yet re-opened for the week after Christmas or did not open until later in the evening.
Gray skies persisted throughout most of the journey west, passing through the sprawling and mostly uninspiring highly populated areas of Rogers and Springdale. A long brunch at a delicious new find, The Buttered Biscuit, hoped to give the weather time to move on. It did not. The beautiful day promised in prior forecasts appeared highly unlikely. Exiting the metro area with fading optimism, the last standing remnant of the 1944 revision of the St Joseph Catholic Church in Tontitown provided minor momentary amusement. A little further along, 25 km from the intended destination, pessimism gained more ground, as steel gray skies extended in all directions.
Without warning, skies immediately cleared upon arrival Natural Falls State Park. The area stood rain soaked, with trees glistening as if covered in ice, while Dripping Springs Branch poured its payload the 23 meters to the bottom. This beautiful back drop to the 1974 movie "Where the Red Fern Grows," both above and below the falls, is accessible from a mostly paved and fenced path, with a few other random trails wandering in other directions.
Time flies when the day turns beautiful. Two hours wandering about the trails at the falls vanished in the blink of an eye. Wanting to dock at home port relatively early, only a small amount of wander time remained. A F-4 Phantom captured attention momentarily in Grove but, as with the initial journey southward, a non-stop chase northward took precedence. The warm weather and blue skies of northwest Oklahoma would have to wait another day.
It is always good to get out, wander the highways every so often, and find something new. While not particularly awe-inspiring on this journey, it was a chill retreat from the cooler temperatures of the north. Indeed, a good break from the constant barrage of technology too.
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Further Reading
Jasper County, MO
EurekaSprings.org
Arkansas Catholic
TravelOK.com
Grove Area Chamber of Commerce
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