Water Land & Sky

The Great Outdoors: part four 

     People unfamiliar with the Ozarks may ask ‘what is there to see while hiking in the Ozarks?’  This is when a picture really is worth a million words, but even then, a picture can’t begin to do justice to the abundant beauty waiting out there to be experienced by the hiker.  To answer the question, there are tons of things to see in the Ozarks of Arkansas, definitely something for everyone.

    Water is probably the major attraction of the region, rivers and streams change with the seasons of course.  High water in spring will bring out the kayakers and canoeists while making river and stream crossings by hikers dangerous if not impossible.  As the temperatures rise in summer and the currents slow the swimming holes on rivers and larger creeks become the destination for many trying to beat the heat.

    Autumn is by far the best time for hiking if river and stream crossings are involved, the water is usually low, and the water temps are still warm making crossings enjoyable.  We simply change shoes on the bank and wade across.  But as winter approaches and the water gets cold, crossings wearing water shoes become less than comfortable, this is when we switch to our slip-on creek waders.  The downside of creek waders is they aren’t hip waders, if you step in a little hole the water’s coming in over the top.  So pick your path carefully, when we hiked a section of the OHT a while back, right at the start of the hike we crossed Buck Branch at the old road crossing (see: 84 Chancel to Sexton Cemetery).  Water came in over the top of our eleven-inch waders resulting in wet feet all day, we should have just drove the truck across Buck Branch. 

barefoot river crossing into Erbie

     So as the temperatures reach our ‘comfort range’ hiking season really kicks in and we start looking at other water features like waterfalls, cascades and springs.  We still carry our waders in the pack for the occasional wet crossing but most of the time the streams will be small enough up in the hollows where you find most of the falling water features, that we’re able to just rock hop across.

    Speaking of waterfalls, there is what’s known as ‘the waterfall chasers' conundrum’ first is elevation change.  Seeing waterfalls involves a lot of strenuous climbing, it comes with the territory, after all you’re probably not going to find many beautiful waterfalls in the flat lands.  So come prepared for some rough conditions.  The second part of the conundrum involves water flow, an extreme example would be hiking down from Compton to Hemmed-In Hollow Falls in the dry season, with little or no flow over the falls, you’ll experience more water flowing off your forehead and back on the grueling hike back up to Compton Trailhead.

    Best time to go to a waterfall would be right after a heavy rain...duh.  There are some exceptions of course, some falls are fed by springs that flow year-round and a fall from the mouth of a cave will probably have water flow long after the creeks have dried up.  But even if the creek is dried up the streambed and the hollow itself are still going to make for a beautiful hike.

    For many hikers, waterfalls are and always will be the single most sought out feature in the Ozarks, even the little ones are beautiful.  The sight is awesome, and the sound soothing, we always seem to stop and take some time soaking up the ambiance of every waterfall we visit.  If you’re up for some challenging hiking pick any hollow right after a good rain, you’ll be rewarded with a high ‘sense of discovery’ when you find one undocumented waterfall after another.  Just remember the steeper the hollow the better the chance of finding waterfalls and the higher the risk of getting injured...hmm, the waterfall chasers' conundrum indeed.

Cincinatti Freedom Falls
 

    Okay it hasn’t rained in quite a while, and the weather is going to be ‘perfect’ so let’s hike somewhere.  Most waterfalls are probably dry, but that’s okay the Ozarks are mountains after all, and most are quite steep and rugged.  Sheer drops are common, out west we call them ‘cliffs’ but here in the Ozarks ‘bluffs’ is the commonly used term, and blufflines are naturally popular with all types of climbers but also a great place to hike.

    Hiking along the base of a bluffline you’re bound to find some caves, and bluff shelters in abundance. Often in the head of a tight canyon will be a grotto some with a waterfall flowing off the top.  Beautiful stuff all along the bluff but hiking along a bluff can be treacherous with constant elevation changes involving climbing up and down sharp rocks and thick undergrowth.  But then others will be super easy, almost flat and wide open with no undergrowth to speak of.

    A good example of the latter:  We were hiking up to the base of Bowers Hollow Falls, after going down through a bluffline break from up top we made the mistake of heading straight down to the creek which is very rough going.  With what I call ankle breakers that are lots of loose sharp rocks some big others small mostly hidden in the dry leaves, we weren’t getting anywhere fast.  After maybe 15 minutes to proceed only 100 feet, we thought out loud ‘along the bluff can’t be this bad’.  Scrambling up to the base of the bluffline we found smooth and easy hiking along a beautiful bluff, definitely the way to go.  After visiting the falls, we kept close to the bluff all the way back to the break, easy peasy all the way (see: 87 Bowers Hollow Falls).

    Speaking of breaks, a bluffline break is just that: a ‘break’ in the bluffline where the hiker can safely get from top to bottom and back.  Although climbers may laugh, some breaks are pretty steep and a rope may come in handy, others are nice gentle easy slopes like the one referred to above used to get down into Bowers Hollow.   Bluffline breaks can also be just a narrow crevice, these are known as bear cracks, and I just love them.

    Bear cracks are just too much fun, up or down I can’t seem to pass one up, I am compelled to check it out.  I don’t know where the name came from, but I love that too.  Bear cracks can be wide, but most are pretty narrow, one that I consider ‘wide’ is along the BRT between Ponca and Steele Creek it’s wide enough to fit a car (see: 68 BRT/ORT Ponca-Steele Creek).  A narrow bear crack that comes to mind is at Cave Creek Bluffs west of Avery Falls that we used to get down to the bluffline base, obviously we had to squeeze through the tight crevice but the real hazard we encountered was to avoid getting a foot wedged in (see: 72 Cave Creek Bluffs).

Cave Creek Bluffs bear crack

    While the beauty of a sheer rock wall at the base of any bluff is reward enough the real attraction is caves, shelters and grottos.  Now you may ask ‘what’s the difference, aren’t they all the same thing?’  Some rock climbers we met while hiking at Owens Mountain told me ‘It’s only a cave if: first of all, it is deeper than the width of the opening, and second a light is required to see.

    Well, I don’t know that a couple rock climbers from Oklahoma are necessarily authorities on caves, but it sounded plausible to me.   They went on to inform me that a shelter cave isn’t a cave at all, it’s a dry shelter created by a roof collapse.  I really don’t know, but I’ll call it a cave if it is deeper than the opening width (or height), and if it’s wider than deep and stays relatively dry inside then it’s a shelter.  A shelter at the head of a canyon or drainage is a grotto.

    So, with all that going for the base of the bluffline why would anyone hike along the top?  Well, there’s the view, the vista, the overlook and the overview.  ‘What’s the difference?   Aren’t they all the same thing?’  Yes, same thing no difference that I’m aware of, but with all these blufflines there sure are a lot of fantastic vistas out there.  One of my personal favorites is the Big Creek valley from Owens Point with its 270° panoramic view (see: Ch. 89 Owens Point, Tenison Cemetery).  Any vista point is especially spectacular during the peak of fall color, but don’t overlook winter overlooks either, with ‘leaves off’ come hidden rock formations, creek and distant waterfalls that just aren’t seen the rest of the year.

    With all that beauty associated with ‘water, land and sky’ the average outdoor enthusiast will never tire of hiking the Ozarks but wait there’s still more.  One thing that never fails to fascinate us during a hike is discovering the ruins of old homesites and farms, or a long-abandoned cemetery, or an old rusty car along the trail.  We never pass up one of these ‘glimpse into history’ sites, some are nothing more than piles of rock rubble or some scattered tin roofing, but some especially in the Buffalo National River are well preserved such as Collier Homestead, Parker/Hickman Homestead and the Rush Historic District.

    Whenever hiking on an old road I’m constantly peering into the woods searching for an old stone fireplace and chimney, and it seems every ‘old road’ out there has a rock wall built long ago by a pioneer farmer clearing a field.  Something else that is more abundant than you may think, and a very interesting piece of history is the illegal stills that sprung up everywhere back in the early twentieth century.  You’ll find evidence of these whiskey works hidden away in steep almost inaccessible hooch hollas, usually under a shelter or grotto and near a reliable source of water.

view from Owens Point

    I mentioned ‘fall colors’ earlier when discussing bluff top vistas, and the fantastic splash of color associated with fall is reason enough to get out there for a relaxing hike in the Ozarks in autumn.  Spring is no less fantastic with the splash of color coming from the abundance of wildflowers everywhere.  Wildflowers certainly are beautiful, we tend to ‘move’ a lot slower in the spring than in the fall when hiking, I think I’ve figured out why.  It’s because in the spring Kat seems to stop at every flower we pass to take its picture, I told her once that she is a ‘macro photography fanatic’ she corrected me saying ‘no I just love wildflowers.’

    Then there’s the wildlife, of course you won’t sneak up on much wildlife while hiking other than a few lazy snakes sunning themselves on the trail.  But if you’re quiet you will surprise lots of deer, when hiking into the little box canyon at Cincinnati Freedom Falls recently two deer rocketed past us just a few feet off the trail, I think we were as surprised as they were (see: 92 Little Cow Creek).  Once we startled a bear cooling off in Richland Creek but only caught a glimpse of him high tailing it up the opposite bank (see: 55 Richland Falls).  Seeing a bear is rare, squirrels are pretty common, but the most abundant wildlife out there I’m sorry to say is bugs...ugh (a good reason to hike in the winter).  For more on the flora and fauna of the Ozarks read The Great Outdoors: part seven (Stay Safe).