Another Forked Mountain Trip

Myself and a couple friends went on another outing near Forked Mountain in the Flatside Wilderness. This time we had about 5 inches of rain in 24 hours. I managed to take a few shots in the two hour break from the rain that we had. Lots of water and mud but a successful trip nonetheless. We slept dry, ate well and even managed to get in a little hiking .

Say hello to our little friend...."spikey"

Whit and Chris by the washed out road leading to our original campsite

Whit and I by the same washout

We stumbled on this geocache. Took a ball, left a lighter. That proved to be a problem....

Whit performing some very technical navigation

Some quality time with "spikey"

Nice shot of the spillway at Lake Sylvia

Lake Sylvia/Nancy Mtn Shelter Solo Pics - 3

Stream on the trail

Trail by the lakeside

Bluffs by the dam

On the way home

Ellie helps me unpack

Lake Sylvia/Nancy Mtn Shelter Solo Pics - 2

Trail by Lake Sylvia

Lake Sylvia Dam. Take all the Dam pictures you like!

Gnarly old pine!

The peak furthest back center is Forked Mtn.

Follow the green moss road...

Lake Sylvia/Nancy Mtn Shelter Solo Pics

Preggers

Great log entires!

Panorama at the shelter

Nancy Mtn Shelter

Another good log entry

Lake Sylvia/Nancy Mtn Shelter Solo

Had a quick outing to enjoy some quiet and solitude. I went out to Lake Sylvia and hiked in to the Nancy Mountain shelter just to get away for the night. The hike in was great, 75 degrees, sunny and breezy. Still enough leaves off so the canopy didn't obstruct any views. A mild night around 57 degrees with 15-20 mph winds. A pretty quiet evening only one visitor around 3:00AM. Sounded like a deer making it's way through the ravine below me. That or it was a sasquatch circling my perimeter to see if there was any food available. Saw a couple of turkeys early in the evening but no sign since. The morning was impeccable too. About 60 degrees with gusty winds and looming rain. It only managed to sprinkle a bit. Made for a nice quiet hike out of the forest. Can't wait to pack the family in for the next visit. It's a really short hike but if you take advantage of the trails around Sylvia, it packs a lot of scenery in a short distance! Photos following.....

Forked Mountain Camping Trip

Fall has been settling in and life has been kinda crazy lately so me and a couple friends headed out to the woods for a relaxing weekend. We tried to track down an old campsite we had used in high school near Forked Mountain in the Ouachita National Forest. Relaxing and enjoyable, a perfect way to enjoy Fall. Chris did claim to hear a Sasquatch during the night. Enjoy the pics...

Into the Flatside Wilderness

Forked Mountain

The desolation of a clearcut

The exposed face of Forked Mtn.

I just always liked the starkness of a dead tree

Is that rare boot lichen growing on the rock? Way to frame a shot!

Possibly the old high school camp site

Just a shot I liked

Steam coming off the creek in the morning

Our campsite, notice the nice rock face in the background

This stove cooked me meals when I was just a kid. Mmmmm bacon!

The last of the Earl Campbell Hot Links. Whose idea were those! I think this one cooked for about an hour!

I'm eating what?!

Country brides at their finest!

Another shot of the face behind camp

Like the Sears catalog pose? Or, "Welcome to Fantasy Island", or "The Sasquatch was right here!"

Nothing to post!

Sorry for any lack of updates. We haven't really had many leisure activities this month. School is in full swing, we were busy buying Melissa a new car, and my mom had some emergency surgery. It's all kept us kinda busy. We'll try and do something interesting soon!

By the way, mom's surgery came out well and we were very relived. She's resting and healing in the hospital and Melissa LOVES her new car!

More White Rock Mtn pics

The sunset was worth the trouble!

More sunset

Even more sunset

Like a cowbell, I gotta have more sunset!

Misty mountain morning

Photos from White Rock Mtn.

Hobbit Hole!

Great bluffs!

Just some cool looking moss

More moss

More rain clouds! Grrrr!

I know I shouldn't but......

Now I know better than to go backpacking in Arkansas in the middle of August. However, I needed an outdoor fix so I thought I would do a short solo trip (my wife certainly knows better). My pick was the Shores Lake/White Rock Mountain trail in the Ozarks. My plan was just to hike the west loop (six miles in and six miles out). Upon arrival the temperature was a balmy 90 degrees and the humidity was way up so I was drenched with sweat when the rain began. I put on some rain gear but the humidity was so high that it felt like it was raining inside my clothes! The rain finally stopped right around the time I made it to the falls which was approximately the half-way point. I was soaked and it was so gloomy in the valley that it was terribly oppressive. I decided to stop for a bite to eat and rest up anyway. I actually thought about setting camp and trying to dry out but I figured I would stand a better chance of getting some sun and a nice breeze on top of the mountain. So I soldiered on through the muck with soaked boots that were grinding my feet to mush. It felt like the night jungle scene in the movie Platoon. As I marched on the sun came out and started to lift my spirits even as the trail and the insects attacked them. The trail was terribly overgrown and my socks were now covered in cockleburrs and if I need to climb over another fallen tree in the next week I'm going to get sick! The worst part of it all were my companion horse flies. They just kept circling me and were even able to bite me through my clothes! The last mile and a half was a monster elevation gain right at the time I was most worn out but let me tell you it was all worth it when I reached the top! The clouds had cleared out and there was a nice breeze. I got my tent set quick and got into some dry clothes, Ahhhhhh! At the top is an old CCC camp so there were great shelters to enjoy the sunset from. I'll post some shots soon that will in no way do the view justice. I didn't get any shots of the falls on the trail because everything was so wet. On the way back my feet were so torn up from wet boots (which were still wet by the way) that I decided to take the easy way out and detoured down the fireroads.

My goofy video of our room

More Vegas, Yeah Baby!

If I'm in Paris then why are the Stars and Stripes flying?

New York!

Hoover Dam and the Mighty Colorado

Panorama from our balcony

My dam wife, I mean my wife and the dam!

Lucky toes