I’m going back to Slippery Hollow over two years later, and this time I’m going alone since Kat had things at
home she wanted to do. On the short
drive to Slippery Hollow, I wondered when the last time was that I went hiking by myself. Possibly way back in
August of 1986, when I hiked solo on an overnight trip to a small alpine lake in
the Trinity Wilderness of northern California.
Wow, I guess this is way overdue.
Pulling in the parking area of Slippery Hollow (Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission), I notice some ‘parking’ improvements since our last visit. From the small parking lot, I head northeast past the locked gate on an old road first to that old
homesite we found almost three years ago. It appears to be a small house or
maybe it was a shack, but nothing is left of the walls, now just a green
shingle roof sitting on the ground. I
return to the old road then leave that at the top of the first drainage I
come to.
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low rugged bluff
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Descending into the little
hollow is pretty steep but I angle my way down to keep the grade manageable. This hollow is the south tributary of Boozer Hollow, heading north along the
creek the descent is a little steep, so I take my time and watch my step, I
realize I’m actually being more cautious than I ‘normally’ am. I suppose this is because I don’t have a hiking partner to send for help in the
event of an accident, good move be careful and stay safe. To my right after maybe 200 yards is a ragged broken low bluff above the creek which now has a little
water. Mostly just little pools but I
can hear the faint trickle of moving water.
The creek turns to the east a little and a small cascade, this
whole scene would look gorgeous with more water and greenery. Maybe 100 feet past the cascade is a small
rocky sinkhole right before both creek banks become pretty steep, I climb up on the bank.
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in Boozer Hollow
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Still following the
creek now up on the north bank I soon stumble onto an old road, the hiking
gets a whole lot easier. About 100 feet before reaching the main branch of Boozer Hollow there’s a nice waterfall around 10 feet tall and probably 8 feet
wide. Just past the falls the old road
swings around to the west and briefly heads upstream on Boozer Hollow before
crossing the creek which flows through a large steel culvert.
Then the road heads up hill to a locked
gate, beyond there the road looks used
and even maintained, this is all very
interesting but my ‘plans’ are to follow Boozer Hollow downstream
, so I turn around and head
east down Boozer Hollow. Naturally the creek is
getting bigger as I go downstream,
the grade has leveled out
considerably and about 200 yards after the culvert I cross a border that informs me that I’m in the ‘natural area’
and no motorized vehicles allowed. |
an upper section of Big Music Creek
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Another 200 yards is the confluence of Boozer Hollow into Big Music Creek, the old road is getting harder to find, now mostly washed away. On Big Music Creek I
don’t hear music,
but I do hear distant voices, I’m not alone, other hikers are approaching from back up Big Music, but before they catch up to me,
I find a nice little waterfall just over 200 yards
downstream from the confluence.
Then another waterfall 150 feet further, and under 100 yards
from the second yet, another little waterfall. All three of these little falls are very nice and of course with a more water will be fantastic, I decide to call them Big Music
Triplets since all three are similar at about 10 feet tall. Downstream I'm feeling pretty good
about my ‘waterfall discoveries’ a little over 100 yards is another waterfall, this one a little
taller 12-15 feet and has some added personality.
Not a straight drop but more of a ‘stairstep’
fall or steep cascade I’ll call this one Big Music Cascade to distinguish it
from its smaller siblings
upstream. Getting to the base of Big
Music Cascade pass by on the north bank then make my way down a
slope then make my way back upstream on the rocks trying to keep my feet dry in the
process.
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first Big Music Triplet
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Here at the base of the
falls the voices I’ve been hearing catch up to me, it turns out
these guys are Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission employees and are out doing
a little reconnaissance work for a
prescribed burn that is scheduled to happen soon. ‘So,
they
pay you guys to go hiking around in the wood?’ I ask smiling, they
respond with a chuckle ‘yeah it’s a tough job but someone has to do it.’ We talk a little about the rough bushwhacking
conditions along the creek before they
continue downstream as do I, albeit at a slower pace. Past Big Music Cascade the canyon gets a
little tighter with a low bluffline of exposed shallow undercuts. The low rocky bluffs
don’t last long, entering a flat bottomland area I come to the next
confluence and turn south heading up this un-named hollow. Could this be ‘Slippery Hollow’ which the
natural area is named? It does after
all go right through the center of the park, I find another old road up on the west
bank. This road is overgrown but still easier hiking than down on the creek.
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lower Big Music Triplet
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Below a
long steep cascade, on the ‘main’ creek is another very pretty cascade, past this
point the road climbs high above the creek and turns up into the next
little feeder stream, where the road has all but evaporated becoming very
overgrown almost impossible to follow. I decide to
abandon the road, down below on the feeder stream is a pretty little
waterfall covered in moss this one about 8 feet tall.
Something I have noticed
about all the waterfalls today, is that while none are very tall, all
of them are almost as wide as they are tall. Looking past the fall to the south (upstream on the main creek) looks
pretty rough with undergrowth, dead wood and rocks. I backtrack up the
steep rocky hillside to some chair sized
rocks and take a break. While resting I decide it will be pretty easy to
climb out of the hollow and on up to the top of the ridge from here, at
least it appears that way on the map. |
dental work
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Steep but not
very far to the top I zig-zag my way up through the rocks to make the grade easier, soon I come out
on top at a nice rock patio. On the
rock patio is actually about halfway
to the top but from here following the ridge the slope
is much gentler
and the woods are pretty clean. Along the way,
I find a lower jawbone with a complete set of teeth and maybe 100 yards
further a little white stone ‘dish’ with two pennies in it, hmm
interesting. On top of the ridge, I
find the old road back to the parking area. Along this road which is about 3/4 of a mile to the parking lot. A dump scattered on the ridge along both sides of the road. While junk spread
out in the woods isn’t what you want to see while hiking it does keep thing
interesting trying to identify the stuff.
I’m soon back at the car and the end of my Slippery Hollow adventure,
today I hiked just over 3 miles with 580 feet of elevation gain and had a
great time doing it, so I'll be back soon, for that adventure (including a map) see: (109 Marble Falls Spring). Boozer and Big Music Loop: Statistics Chart 109
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take a penny, leave a penny
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