Our Anniversary Escape this year led us to Hot Springs in Arkansas. The
biggest motivator seemed to be that every other attempt to visit the namesake
placename has ended in some disruption or another. The most recent
attempt north of Yellowstone in Montana found the place had closed for the
season the weekend just prior to our arrival. This turned out very
similar to other attempts too, though not a complete failure.
Hot Springs turned out to be an interesting little spot to explore and soak in
a little, quite literally and of course, figuratively. Three days seemed
perfect for this visit, though a few more days might be in order if one were
to have an interest in conquering things like the 21 km Sunset Trail.
That was not on this particular agenda, though we did find time for the Gulpha
Gorge Trail, after pausing to ride up to the top of the Mountain Tower for a
look around the valley. The remainder of the time involved traversing
Central Avenue numerous times and some time relaxing in a mineral bath and
enjoying some good food.
Artistic encounters in the area proved intriguing and diverse. Some of
the pieces were gigantic, consuming three or four stories in bright new
paint. It was a intriguing display of relatively new art that seemed to
be coming from everywhere.
The second half of this adventure turned north, passing through the Flatside Wilderness of the Ouachita National Forest. The detour was mostly unplanned, beyond knowing of a waterfall there that just happened to be along the way. We found the cascade mostly dry, though an interesting space in the middle of nowhere to visit. The trek in and out of the location, crawling up and the rough roads offered their own adventure.
Back in Heber Springs offered time to enjoy friends and family and scoot up to Batesville for the annual dusting at Batesville Motor Speedway. It was a bit cooler than last year, and the wind was not quite as tuned into the direction it should have, but not awful.
A day on my own led me to the North Sylamore Creek Trail. Road conditions deterred previous transports from enjoying this piece of scenery. The short route down to the Allison Trailhead is not always in best of conditions. This time, well-prepared with a high clearance vehicle, the road presented itself in much more appropriate fashion.
With the primary obstacle in accessing the trail, a secondary obstacle loomed. The creek itself it not much at the point the crossing is first witnessed. However, the forest service encourages everyone to travel further north about 100 yards and cross at a much deeper section.
Once on the trail, the sights are quite something to witness. Rising up and then meandering northerly above the river offers spectacular views of where water likely spills over the edge of the bluff high above, in several locations; that is, in damper conditions. Caves and other karst features litter the landscape the length of this situation.
After exploring about 4 of the 30 kilometers associated with this trail, I decided it was probably time to think about heading back since I had no clue how long it was really going to take and there were other plans for the evening hours. Emerging from the wilderness area, I found plenty of time and decided to take a quick vehicular jaunt over South Sylmore Creek.
The road back to Heber Springs from Mountain View takes about as much time as crossing from one side of Kansas City to other. It is much more interesting though, even if the state continues to push to straighten out the roads and remove the deep valley dives.
Conversation and a good meal closed things out nicely, so much so that we completely forgot to jump over to Sandy Beach to enjoy the sun set on another enjoyable journey into Arkansas.
The drive homeward did not really stand out all that much. Anticipated afternoon storms, coupled with a return to work looming on the morning horizon the next day encouraged arrival at an earlier than normal time. It had been another good journey, with multiple new additions to The Ozarks collection.
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