October Arkansas Wandering

A new angle of presentation materialized on the recent journey south into north central Arkansas.  It seemed it might be fun leveraging Google Earth to share these adventures. A lot of consideration ensued with that in mind, and the road unfurled under beautiful blue skies.

The weekend lived on the backroads, a few of which were captured on the GoPro.  It all started with a detour down AR-66 in Leslie.  Weary of the view from US-65, the alternate route east along AR-66 from Leslie offered considerably less traffic and beautifully windy roads.  Turning south on AR-263 just before arriving at Timbo took the expedition south to AR-9 at Rushing and on to Shirley and the old Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad bridge that crosses the Middle Fork of the Little Red River.

The crossing was assembled in 1907 and opened to travel in 1909, running until 1946.  After that it received concrete makeover for motor vehicle traffic and nobody looked back, or down for that matter.  Passing through can be somewhat hair-raising.

Ghosts and ghouls greeted the evening of arrival, through an array of decorations for the Halloween holiday.  It was quite a site.

Checking in on Mossy Bluff National Nature Trail the next day found things a bit dryer than usual.  This year had been hard on cascades and waterfalls.

Following up on a a personal project initiated on the last visit to this area, scouted yet another old logging trail within the Jim Kress Wildlife Management Area.  This led along a path of shedding pines dry creek beds, leading from Warren Mountain Road to the Big Creek crossing of the same road.

Circling around and following along a few new highways back to home base led to yet another Big Creek crossing at Tiger B Road.

A good dinner and conversation with family and friends closed out adventures for the day, with thoughts towards how tomorrow would unfold.

Heading north the next day found skies threatening to cloud over, but remaining relatively dry and clear for a journey down Gunner Pool Road.  It was a good thing.  Rain could have made things very messy.  As it were, the camera proved uncooperative enough in the first couple of kilometers, becoming unstuck and drifting this way and that a few times.

A peaceful and quite 150 meter descent over 2.8 km along an old fire road, now horse trail, set the day in perspective. It was not a huge task, though a little steep near the end, but nothing unmanageable.  This part of the forest is usually overgrown in August and September, and typically dying back by this time of year, before the growing season begins again in March.

A month earlier would have witnessed spiders and their webs, devouring most of the insect life. The rest of the year, they cannot seem to keep up and the random assortment of insects are overwhelming.

Increasing frequency of hikers have left their trashy mark here and there, but nothing too awful, yet.  The intrusion of ATV, shattering the pristine quiet of the scene suggested that "yet" may come sooner than later for this part of the abandoned.

Otherwise, it was a peaceful and quiet walk in the woods. Out and back means what goes down must come up. The hike out is no more exerting than it is going down though.

This late mid-October late morning visit, all was dry, except one of the few running horsetail falls in the Ozark National Forest this season.  Most ran out of water much earlier in this dryer than normal year.  A couple of nearby springs feed this one, ensuring a fairly constant flow.  It would be interesting to see this one after, or during, a good rain.

The return trip to home base paused momentarily at an old "swinging bridge" over South Sylamore Creek.  The wire suspension, wood deck bridge is open to two-way traffic, but be prepared for one lane of traffic.  It is only about 3.5 meters wide.  The structure was built in 1943 and spans 60 meters to cross the creek and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Later that afternoon, one more excursion into Jim Kress WMA, discovered Litaker Ridge Road, a reasonably good cut through the area.  Civilization does not exist here.  The wind and their passage through the pines is all that matters in the moment.

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Further Reading

Shirley M&NA Railroad Bridge

BridgeHunter.com

Along the Mossy Bluff

jusTodd on Medium

Jim Kress WMA

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

Verona Italian Restaurant

Steele Falls Trail

AllTrails.com

Sylamore Creek Swinging Bridge

BridgeHunter.com

Google Earth Presentation of this Same Story

Courthouse to Schoolhouse through a Cave

The namesake of Indian Cave State Park only recently re-opened, after having been closed for repairs for a couple of years.  Flooding badly damaged walkways and access to those areas near the river.  A forecast of clear and 30°C day encouraged a wandering to the local.  It is impossible to say how many times it was passed on the way here or there.

A 1920's Richardson County Courthouse stood gleaming in the mid-morning sun of Falls City, encouraging the first small break from the road.   Contrary to the forecast, weather made the journey soggier than expected.  Gray skies shrouded the city, and passing through Weston, the clouds unleashed their fury.  Crossing into Kansas improved the situation incrementally, until arriving to full sunshine in Nebraska.

Google indicated a seemingly random gravel road would prove a more expedient path and it turned out relatively well.  Blue skies and wide open space unfurl above a sea of corn in every direction.  Harvest is coming soon, and it looked to be bountiful in these parts. 

The GoPro picked up the journey down to the cave site.  Meandering through an extra bit leading down to the restored schoolhouse and general store from the old river town of St. Deroin proved too much for the device though.  It decided to nap only a short distance from the cave.  A couple of short hikes later, it had recharged enough to make most of the return trip.

Heading south  back along the route Google had recommended, just enough battery power remained to capture the long, empty gravel road.  The device gasped a final lithium breath in much shorter time, forcing the remainder of the journey to stills. 

Historic structures abound in the little river town of Rulo, once an important crossing point of the Missouri River.  Some stand firm and well kept, while others appear as though they might be soon swallowed by the landscape.  The camp site of the Lewis & Clark Expedition stands pristine at the corner of the highway, just in front of an overgrown brush spot between the trees.  I am sure things were quite different this yesterday, 218 years ago.

Avoiding the chaos of the interstate, the old river road invited much more inspiring views.  At the confluence of the Big Nemaha River and the Missouri, sparrows dove and soared in a swarm, snacking on the bountiful insect life emerging from all around the waterway.

A little further along, the Point of Beginning of the Public Land Surveys of the Sixth Principal Meridian lingered at the corner of two fields and a dirt road leading towards the river.  It was here that someone hammered an iron monument in the ground and began systematically measuring all of Kansas and Nebraska, most of Colorado and Wyoming, and a portion of South Dakota.

Atchison promised a few amusements, though the entire town was readying for Amelia Earhart Days and digging deeper into the distraction did not seem quite as inviting as originally imagined.  Avoiding traffic enabled pause for a corner statement, and an opportunity to catalog another historic schoolhouse.

Weston stood as if no rain had ever passed. Old tobacco barns silently decay among rolling hills covered in corn.  The day had turned nicely for wandering among the bluffs and fields surrounding the Missouri River.

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Further Reading

Richardson County Courthouse

Wikipedia

Indian Cave State Park

Nebraska Games and Parks Commission

Nebraska Historical Marker: Lewis and Clark Campsite

Nebraska State Historical Society

Lincoln School

The Historical Marker Database

Schoolhouses

A Google Earth collection of visited historic school sites.

Bison and Wildflowers

Cruising southward on a whim, Prairie State Park promised bison wandering about the eastern Missouri prairie.  Hiking along Drover's Trail offered the opportunity to scout out that little fact.  While it is likely true, only one lone soul drifted across the horizon throughout the journey through the tall grass and wildflowers.  It paused a few times, seeming to examine our position, but ultimately headed for the shade of a nearby grove.

Minus that beast, there is not much else to fix eyes on in this landscape.  The prairie extends in all directions, rolling and waving over the hills, broken only by the occasional stand of trees, ditch or creek.

Other distractions appear in the foreground with varying intensity, when the greater landscape fails to consume all the attention.  While not in abundance, the wildflowers littered the prairie, adding a splash of color here and there, without overstimulating the pallet.

The only other bison acquaintance of the day assured visitors that they would see at least one of the furry critters on their visit.  The "Saunter" hosted by the park in May might be the best time to see more and a return trip is planned.  Even that could prove a bust though.  The ranger on duty said that previous scheduled stomp through the field had turned up nothing after 2 hours.  They will be seen when they want to be soon.

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Further Reading

Prairie State Park

Missouri State Parks

Beatles and Ice Cream

It turns out the little town of Walnut Ridge had quite a little interesting history.  It had a minor involvement with The Beatles back in 1964, at the height of Beatlemania.  The band only appeared in this out of the way spot twice, and performed neither time, but the situation left a lasting impression.  They would have been disappointed had they stayed longer anyway.  A real breakfast was nowhere to found that morning, making departure more pressing than that of the Fab Four.  

A few miles west in Black Rock, Renee's coffee and standard fare slowed the urge to get back down the road.  Since the jump from Pensacola had been much longer the day before, the mostly clear day offered up a bit more time to linger here and there The road did not look a lot different from the endless forest of Mississippi, but it remained better than the monotony of the interstate.

Life stands out better on these roads and it is easier to pause and consider the world that came before.  In this case, a site associated with a Confederate victory.  A junk shop and produce stand of sorts continues to hold the line here at Morgan's Mill, which is otherwise mostly abandoned and forgotten.

A little further along, the expedition paused for a morning hike after crossing the state line into Missouri.  Grand Gulf State Park had been on the project list for a couple of years.  This was the first opportunity to have a look around.  Temperatures had not gone too far out of hand, and having recently suffered the humidity of Mississippi, the morning seemed mostly pleasant.  The trailhead warned of 40 minutes to cover the Natural Bridge Trail.  The density of the foliage blocked most things from view, and danger of tick infestation discouraged attempting to modify the situation, reducing that time to about 20 minutes.

Temperatures rose considerably during the brief hour or so at the park.  Slipping back into air conditioned transport proved immensely gratifying.  Nothing else remained of the day, except to got on the path of discovery, the preferred recreation for most of the remainder of the day.  

Back roads remained the preferred route.  The four-lane, and interstate could wait.  It would take just as much time to get to navigate to that end and leverage it from this part of Missouri. A pause here and there to admire an old pony truss bridge enabled some amusement, as well as the random road sign confirming the status of the temperature.

The trail crossed into much more familiar territory, after a good lunch at a new spot Lebanon.  Some confusion about the name of the last spot visited placed the expedition at the doorstep of The Lunch Box Cafe.  They were still 15 minutes from opening, but offered to let us come on in out of the scorching heat and enjoy a little lunch.  Appreciating the consideration and enjoying conversation with those locals, it turned out a fortunate series of events to not have remembered Clifton's West Side Cafe.

Drake Harbor in Warsaw was almost the last place to pause and further delay surrendering to the reality of the high-speed four lane return to home base.  A plan was then hatched, under the shade of an oak tree, lazily watching the Osage River drift  slowly by, to delay that return only a little more.  A final stop on the north side of Clinton seemed more interesting.  They had locally grown ice cream there.

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Further Reading

Stopover of the Beatles

Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Skirmish at Morgan's Mill

Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Grand Gulf State Park

Missouri State Parks

Delivering Happiness in a Cone

MFA Oil.com

Mississippi Embayment Art Encounter

It was difficult to leave the comfort of the shores of the Gulf behind, but it had to be done.  No time remained to linger. Eight and half hours of driving demanded attention to an early departure, with very little time afforded for distractions along the way.  Indeed, the first photographic opportunity of the day occurred over 700 km away from the point of beginning, at the Tennessee Welcome Center in Memphis.  Focus on reaching the intended destination before dark was that sincere.  The interstate proved unavoidable in this quest, but was only offered limited interest.

Perfectly aligned to schedule, dinner at the Blue City Cafe on Beale Street followed shortly thereafter.  Ribs and catfish rewarded a growing appetite that had only quieted earlier through small snacks and a couple of light meals.  With time on our side, a bit of wandering Beale Street offered a welcome.  Littering the district were a variety of guitar replicas from Gibson, each painted by a Memphis artist and signed by a Memphis celebrity, celebrating the unique art and music contributions in the city.  It is a trend across the nation these days.  The first instance of this from memory were the Kansas City cows, but there might have been some before that.  Regardless, it enabled the perfect, if only momentary, distraction from the road.

Only a short hour or so from Memphis., along the southern edge of the Ozark plateau, Walnut Ridge hosted arrangements for the evening.  Arrival worked out as planned, with enough remaining light to have a glance around the immediate vicinity. The litter of graffiti that welcomed our crew had peaked a certain level of curiosity, in spite of hours on the road.  Eventually, that and the heat that lingered in the air encouraged plush lounging about in quarters for the remainder of the evening.

The hotel has a reputation for determinations such as that.  The original purpose was to make the location famous for service and hospitality, offering hot and cold running water, steam heat, electric lights, and two water closets!  Completed in 1904, Hotel Rhea became the centerpiece of the town.  The original burned to the ground in 1914 and only small remnant stands today, but it continues to honor the original character of the establishment.

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Further Reading

I-40 Welcome Center Memphis/Shelby

TNVacation.com

The Home of the Blues - A history of Delta Blues preserved on Beale Street

jusTodd on Medium

Gibson GuitarTown Public Art Display on Beale Street

SPGFan.com

The Hotel Rhea

Walnut Ridge, Arkansas