Buffalo National River

Lane Bend on the Buffalo National River.  Jo and I took a short afternoon hike along the Buffalo River Trail down river from Grinder's Ferry.  Walked a couple of miles then turned around and returned.  Sunshine would have been nice, but just getting out and walking for a while was good.

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Buffalo National River

Buffalo National River

Jo and I decided to take advantage of a mild January day by heading up to the Buffalo National River.  What we had in mind was a hike from the Highway 65 bridge over towards Gilbert.  Maybe we'd hike the whole route, then turn around and hike back.  Maybe we'd only hike part ways and turn around whenever we started feeling tired.

As it turned out, Jo and I did not hike very far at all -- only a couple of miles total.  When we came to the first unmarked fork in the trail, we chose wrong.  We looped back to where we started instead of heading on toward Gilbert.

Instead of hiking we drove down to to Shineye, a swimming beach popular with locals because it's not as crowded as the swimming areas at Tyler Bend or Buffalo Point.   On this winter day, we had the entire area all to ourselves.

Bucket was the only one wanting to go for a swim.  Jo and Rusty thought the lower fifties were still way to chilly for swimming and wanted to keep their feet dry.

And the river flows on.

Buffalo National River

Another Broadwater Hollow Pool

Another pool with reflections, and evidence there is sometimes a lot more water in this creek.
(Broadwater Hollow ... Buffalo National River ... New Year's Day hike)

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Another Broadwater Hollow Pool

Rippled Pool

Rippled reflections in one of the pools along the trail we hiked.
(Broadwater Hollow ... Buffalo National River ... New Year's Day Hike)

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Rippled Pool

Falls in Broadwater Hollow

Falls near the trail head which is accessed by driving down (and I do mean DOWN) about two miles of dirt road. Most of that road is strictly one-lane. There's no way two vehicles could pass, especially if one of them is the cargo van I was driving. Fortunately, we met no traffic. (Photo by Jo.)


(New Year's Day hike in Broadwater Hollow, Buffalo National River.)

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Falls in Broadwater Hollow

Skywatch: Hemmed In Hollow Falls

Nothing but blue sky (and a few pigeons) above Hemmed In Hollow Falls on New Year's Day 2009. Hemmed In Hollow is located in the Ponca Wilderness Area of the Buffalo National River near Compton, AR. At 209 ft. (63 m), the falls is said to be the highest between the Rockies and the Appalachian Mountains, an assertion akin to claiming a height advantage in a room full of midgets since the middle of the U. S. is noted for its flatness and not its soaring peaks.

Since giving up partying on New Year's Eve, Jo and I adopted the tradition of hiking on New Year's Day. This particular hike was 2.5 miles (4 km) from the trailhead down to the base of the falls and 25 miles (40 km) back up from the falls to where our van was parked.

(Editor Note: My attempt at humor has caused some confusion. Our hike was only five miles round trip, plus another mile or so because we missed a turn on the return trip. Twenty-five miles is what the return trip back over the same trail felt like because returning is all uphill, sometimes steeply uphill.)

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Skywatch: Hemmed In Hollow Falls