The Natural State, Arkansas

     When I drove into western Arkansas from Oklahoma, my goal was to paddle its scenic waterways. But to my dismay, it rained and thundered along with a few Tornado Watches.

     The day after the storm, I checked out the Big Piney Creek which is a national scenic waterway.

The campground's boat access looked calm enough to float . . .

But a short walk downstream showed the high-water dangers . . . . 

This little guy near the river loved the rain storm . . . .

And this local fisherman enjoyed the weather, too.

     But I was frustrated with the weather. So I left the campground in search of a new area further north. I figured even the famed Buffalo National River would be as un-navigable as the Big Piney Creek due to all the rains. I stopped by an access in Pruitt, Arkansas to check out the Buffalo River, and saw these folks.

     From this point downstream, they told me the river was navigable. In fact, all the recent rains had made this usually too-low river now high enough to enjoy. All the paddlers were coming out of the woodwork to enjoy the rarity of a navigable Buffalo River. So instead of cursing the weather, I was now thankful for the rains. The next morning at 10 AM, a shuttle service had me and my ski on the river.

     The scenery includes beautiful rock outcroppings.

Not everyone stayed dry on the river.

This group of paddlers is from Saint Louis, Missouri.

     There were eight men in this group which I called "Sherman's Gang". I shared shade with this gang at a snack break along the banks of the river. Wondering what brought this diverse age group of men together, I discovered Rich and Sherman (retired, age 71) had rounded-up their former co-workers at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Since they were all kayakers, they planned a one-week adventure for them all to coincide with peak conditions of the Buffalo River. They paddled several sections of the Buffalo River, hiked up to the famed Hemmed-in Hollow Falls, to the Glory Hole, to Lost Valley, and to other trails. And their grand finale for the week was a baseball game at Springfield, Missouri before returning home to disgruntled wives. 

Sherman had even built a kayak rack on his truck for six kayaks.

The peak river conditions brought women out of the woodwork, too.

Sherman's Gang had enthused me to stay in the area to hike the trails they had hiked. 

     But, due to all the paddlers coming out of the woodwork, there was no available campsite that weekend. I tried sneaking into this horse-camp, claiming I had forgotten to bring my horse Topaz.

     But the Park Ranger didn't buy that story and told me to leave. The folks in this fancy rig begged the Park Ranger to let me move into their camp.

     Despite all my feminine wiles, the Park Ranger still kicked me out. Not easily deterred, I drove next door to the "full, no vacancy" tent-only campground with a sign stating "No RVs". I'm a Van, not an RV. I found a solo camper and asked him if I could park at his tent-site, since the maximum number per tent-site is six people and two vehicles.  That's his tent and white van in the middle; La Lair is to the left.

     But surprise, surprise, he informed me his tent is a decoy! He was a solo, retired van camper like me! So, David and I laughed about his empty decoy tent for three nights, and buddied-up on hiking adventures for two days.

     At Sherman's suggestion, I hiked Lost Valley with David which is a beautiful area of rock outcroppings and forest. And we also hiked the five-mile round trip trail to Hemmed-In Hollow Falls.  David was brave enough to stand under the falls which "dances" around in the wind as it falls 209 feet.

One dangerous tree almost swallowed me!

     I love Arkansas! I will definitely come back to "The Natural State" this fall on my way back home to Texas.