After
the two boondoggle adventures I recently hiked (see: 205 Boondoggle I
and then 206 Boondoggle II), I swore off bushwhacking for a while. Today I’ve decided to hike up to Sugar Tree
Knob in Richland Creek Wilderness, although there isn’t an actual ‘trail’ the
route follows some old roads most of the way.
So I’m hoping for ‘clear sailing’ there and back, I’ll keep my
fingers crossed.
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pedestal point
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The
parking area off NC 5050 aka Moore Road is nice and big with room for ten cars
easily, this is outside the wilderness on the west side of the road. I head up the road just a little before
striking out into the woods in a northeast direction, already off-trail that
didn’t take long, but this isn’t very far.
In about 1000 feet is the old road (FR 1203C), where I land just east of
a dirt berm, and less than 100 feet is a little pond. |
little pond
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Here
at the small pond just north is some scattered rusty junk and the road just
disappears, well that’s not a good sign. But there seems to be a meandering trail,
I keep going expecting the road to re-emerge soon, which it does. For the next 400 yards the road fades into a
trail a few times, near the end of this spotty area is a big long
bramble of greenbrier and ivy where an actual trail detour bypasses the road. |
| the old road is usually obvious... |
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but not always
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After
the big bramble the road remains well defined and obvious making for easy going
the next third of a mile, where there is an intersection. Another old road heads northeast and so do I,
about fifty feet after the turn-off is the unmarked boundary entering Richland
Creek Wilderness. About 300 yards more
is another junction where a trail leave the road heading north, I stay on the
road which remains flat and easy to follow. |
up the hill to Sutton Knob
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The
road continues northeast and stays mostly level for the next half mile or more,
along the way detouring around a fallen tree only once, then I notice a game
camera strapped to a tree south of the road.
Further and also south of the trail is a low thong tree that makes a
nice bench and then where the road swings to the left, a long incline
appears. I head up hill to the top of
Sutton Knob, climbing about 120 feet in the next third of a mile. |
| on the way down off Sutton Knob |
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distant view of Big Middle Ridge
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Before
reaching the summit of Sutton Knob the road fizzles-out again and remains spotty
for the rest of the way, almost a mile.
I keep heading east as best I can, picking my way through the wide open
woods, this is no doubt a bushwhack, but the terrain is pretty easy other than
the elevation changes. First downhill
across a saddle called Sugar Gap, then back uphill to the top of Sugar Tree
Knob. |
approaching pedestals at the point
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Along
the way, as I begin down off Sutton Knob I pass a low tree stand where I land
back on the road only to lose it and re-find it a few more times around a
couple more fallen trees on Sugar Gap.
On the east side of Sugar Tree Knob after I head downhill some through the
rocks is a leaf-off vista looking northeast down a long straight steep
drainage with a nice view down towards Long Devil’s Fork, but I can’t see any
water down there. |
at bluffs edge
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Making
my way more to the north I soon end up on a point at the top of the
bluffs. I carefully explore back and
forth looking for a way down through the bluff to the base, but soon come to
the conclusion that to reach the bottom from here would involve
rappelling. Since I don’t have the gear
or the skill for a descent, I’ll be heading back from here. First I take a break on one of the many
rocks, with some great views and a couple nice jagged pedestals, this is a
fitting place to end up. |
rusty junk adjacent to pond
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Initially
when I was planning this hike with the assistance of Danny Hale’s book
‘TAKAHIK Wilderness Areas of Arkansas’, I noticed it’s just over a half
mile further down to Jim Bob Falls but with over 500 feet of elevation
change. So thankfully, the lack
of a doable bluffline break at the ‘pedestals point’ saved me from
myself and I wisely turned around and headed back. Today’s round trip adventure was 5.4 miles
with 725 feet of elevation gain, which included some easy bushwhacking. |
back at the parking area
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Sugar Tree Knob: Statistics Chart 208 Getting here isn’t hard but does involve dirt/gravel
roads. From Lurton at the SR 7 Spur,
take SR 123 northeast about 1.5 miles to NC 5070 aka Herbert Hampton Road. NC 5070 is paved for about the first mile,
continue east then north for a total of almost 4 miles to the 3-way ‘Y’
intersection. Head south on Moore Road aka NC 5050 about 1.1 miles to the good
sized grassy parking area on the right.
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