AWOL Again

Yes, I have been AWOL again this week. Far from being lazy, this summer has been going full-throttle since May (which, I realize, is technically not summer, but since it was hot and Benjamin was out of school, it counts in my book) and I have just not had much time to download and organize pictures. And what would reports of my various activities be without pictures? Blah, that's what.

That said, one thing I have been busy doing is attending the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre's production of Othello. I went on Saturday with a couple of friends, then again last night with Benjamin. The actors et al. did a marvelous job - Iago was villainous and thoroughly evil, the sets perfect, and the final act especially was heartbreaking and shattering. It was so good that I have no desire to see Othello again any time soon, for it would be too wrenching. They have one more performance tonight, then it is back to As You Like It (which we will be seeing this weekend), and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Since this week is a long weekend, I should have plenty of time to process photos, so hopefully I will be back blogging at a more reasonable rate soon.

Above the Buffalo

 

Since the telling of this story has already gone on much longer than the trip itself, I am going to wrap up my review of our camping trip today. After a night in the woods, it was time to head back up to the car. And up, and up. The entire trail back was uphill to some degree or another.

Part-way up the climb we took a short side trip down Goat Trail trail to get a view of the Buffalo from above.  The guide book was full of warnings about how dangerous the trail was, and how any slip would be fatal, and how the author wouldn't and couldn't take any responsibility for any accidents, but how cool the view was and how it was definitely worth the trip.

We decided to take the risk, but to be careful and stay away from any edges (not really much of a problem, since Benjamin gets vertigo in high places, even more so when it is me near the edge). The trail was rather narrow, and there were a couple of places where the going could be considered tricky, but not too dangerous.

And the view was worth the detour. Yes, the river is down there, somewhere. There were hawks gliding around below me, but of course I didn't have my telephoto lens, and they wouldn't hover for me!

There - told you the river was down there. This is upstream from where we camped, and at 10 AM, there were already plenty of floaters visible. Supposedly, from one of the view points, a settler's cabin was visible across the river. I am always amazed at the places people homesteaded in Arkansas - now those places are almost inaccessible, only seen by hikers. Once though, people lived on hillsides, and tried to earn a living and keep themselves fed in places where the soil is thin and rocky, the trees shade out the ground, and neighbors far away.

After a short contemplative interlude, it was back to the main trail and up and out. It was a lovely hike, although my dad would have hated it - he has never liked hiking up, which is why we never went camping in the mountains when I was a kid.

Red Neck (literally) Traffic Jam

So, to re-cap where we are - we have hiked out into the wilderness, about 5 miles, to get some solitude while exploring the Buffalo River and environs. After dropping our packs at a campsite and eating a snack, Benjamin and I head off down the trail (or I guess I should say up, since the trail is decidedly uphill) towards Hemmed-In Hollow, and the area that the guide book described thusly: "This is what wilderness was meant to be. No sign or sound of man. Only the hush of the water cascading over the falls, and the cry of a red-tailed hawk above."

Obviously, Tim Ernst was not describing the falls area on Memorial Day weekend. This is the view leading up to the falls. An actual traffic jam, 5 miles into the wilderness. Full of red necks. When I say red necks, I don't mean the Jeff Foxworthy "You might be a redneck ..." kind; I mean the kind that come from floating down a river shirtless with a cooler of beer but no sunblock. I'll take my scraped-up knee over that kind of sunburn, thank you very much.

When the line finally crawled up to the falls, this was the scene. Just add in the sounds of screaming and the smell of cigarettes and it is like you are there. Sheesh! Of course, most of these people did not come in the hard way, like us. Oh no - they all floated in, beer can in hand (yes, I already mentioned the beer, but I am not kidding, everyone except the children seemed to have beer with them), took a short little stroll in their flip-flops and river shoes, and then had plenty of energy to spare for exuberance. And the falls were pretty cool, when you could look up and ignore the people.

Anyway, I suppose we should have been expecting something like the traffic, since it was Memorial Day, and in another section of the guide, Ernst says that "On most spring weekends, you'll see a lot of paddles here! In fact, it can get down right crowded." The thing is, except for Pinnacle Mountain and Cedar Falls (both short hikes to spectacular views), we have never yet been on a trail in Arkansas where we saw more than a handful of people at any time. Certainly never on a long trail like this one.