Mt. Nebo hike

On Sunday we went hiking at Mt. Nebo State Park, outside of Russellville, about an hour from Conway. To get to the top of the mountain, where all the hiking is, you have to drive up a series of increasingly steep switchbacks that make you glad you are not towing a trailer! (Reminded me of the Lucille Ball movie - The Long, Long Trailer, where they drive up the Rockies or something and Lucy is inside trying to cook dinner, while everything slides and flies about around her). We saw more wildlife just driving up to the park than we have on any other hike: several flocks of wild turkeys, deer, and a roadrunner! I didn't get any pictures, because we were on a steep road, but hey, we still saw them.
It was a cold morning - that white stuff is ice that has dripped from the side of a rock onto a branch - colder on the top than it was in Conway. But it was sunny and clear, and we had great views.
This one is from the visitor center, looking out towards Lake Dardanelle, part of the Arkansas River. We took the Rim hike that gave us a 360 degree view (as we hiked, I mean, not all at once). One end of the moutain is Sunrise Point, and the other is Sunset Point. Handgliders are rumored to use the former as a launching point. Benjamin and I were sort of mystified by this, because although it was a great place to launch, there didn't appear to be many places to land in the immediate valley.

As with the other hiking destinations we have visited so far, Mt. Nebo had a lot of interesting rock formations along the trail. This is looking up the side of the bluff from the trail. In other places, the rocks were rounder and softer looking.

This picture is for my mom - she loves stone cottages. Mt. Nebo was a resort destination back in the 1890s, and you can still rent cottages up there. I am formulating a plan whereby we and some of our friends rent one for a few days during the summer - get out of the heat and spend some time just absorbing the scenery. Sounds great to me.
Here is one of the larger rocks we passed along the trail. Pretty big huh? The mountain is a relic of the time two tectonic plates crashed together (eons ago), and it has been weathering ever since. Wouldn't want that to fall on me!

I am off to Sedona for the next 4 days. Hopefully, I will return with many pictures of the red rocks.