Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

    O ver two years ago when we were here last, the area was ‘thick’ with sportsman for spring turkey season, the air was pretty ‘thick’ too (hot and humid).  On top of that, Pine Ridge had a tornado rip across the top just a couple months earlier.  It was a mess with downed trees everywhere, we decided to move on to ‘plan B’ but knew we’d be back.  T oday we are, and the weatherman  promises cool temps and low humidity, though the clean-up from the tornado seems incomplete .  We park off Pine Ridge Road in a big open area with plenty of room for lots of cars. little tumbling stream      We start out west on a logging road with lots of storm damage and debris, watching for anything resembling a trail, without any luck.  After only 100 yards or so we leave the logging road angling our way down into the drainage on the south side of the road, it’s  wide-open  forest once we get through the downed trees near the top.  At the bottom is a pretty little stream tumbling downhill over little f

       We generally plan our adventures to happen Monday thru Friday, to avoid weekend crowds.   This works well although some popular destinations are crowded any time.   This is  contingent  of course on the weather since we don’t want to get caught in the rain somewhere.   In the winter I check the forecast for warm, sunny days to go hiking.   The rest of the time looking for cool days with maybe some cloud cover, leaving the hot days of summer for swimming.   Today is forecast to be the ‘coolest’ day of the week with temps only in the low ‘70s, but it’s Sunday, we’ll see... Duck Shelter      Saturday night is ‘movie night’ at our house, last night we watched the first of the ‘Lord of the Ring’ trilogy, and coincidently just last week I heard of a waterfall named ‘Middle Earth Twin Falls’ which is close to another fall I have been wanting to see for a long time ‘Valley of the Blind Falls’.   So, there you go, we have our destination!   While the ‘when’ to go may take a little plann

     A couple weeks ago while on a ‘country drive’ (see: 88 A Country Drive )  we stopped at a few parking possibilities along Parker Ridge Road, including one at a  campsite under a big old oak tree just north of a 90° turn, this is where we park today.   We choose Hurricane Knob today for two reasons, first it’s mostly on old roads with little elevation change, and second,  I haven't read or heard anything about Hurricane Knob, so a high potential for ‘the sense of discovery’ since we have no idea what to expect. daffodils and tulips coming up but no signs of a house      From our parking spot we cross the road, climb over a dirt berm and head east down the old road.   This road is easy to follow, a good trail most of the way, although we have to detour around the occasional greenbrier patch.   Maybe, I haven't seen anything written about this hike is its lack of interesting sights along the road, we keep looking off in the woods for any evidence of old homesites, we do notic

     About six months ago on our first visit to Owens and Ricketts Mountains we were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful blufflines and fantastic rock formations all over these two mountains, we decided  then that we must return as we barely touched the area, for that adventure see: ( 71 Owens and Ricketts Mt.) .   Today we’re going back to see more of Owens Mountain. rugged east side      Even though we use the same route west out of Mount Judea as last trip, I wind up missing two turns and waste a lot of time backtracking to Cowell Road, w hich itself is in much worse shape today than it was last fall.   Eventually we make it to Owens Mountain Road (FR 1204C).   Under two miles up Owens Mountain Road we park at a small clearing on the south side of a little cemetery .    We start here at Tennison Cemetery with only a few gravesites, most are young members of the ‘Tenison’ family. spring flowers        ‘Owens Point’ is known to rock climbing enthusiasts as ‘The Tombstone'.  Be