Hiking
10/29/2006

Kings Bluff Trail / Cedar Falls (Arkansas)

Photo / Guidebook & Maps (Arkansas Hiking Trails)

Set the alarm at 6:30 am in the morning and had a nice warm breakfast before driving around looking for photo opportunities. I felt some trouble of getting good shots, epecially didn't know how to isolate interesting subjects out of woods. So I went back to the Falling Waters Falls and stayed there for about half an hour. It was quite different to shoot this water falls under the straight sunlight. Although at the time the light was not that harsh, but it yielded a different mood than yesterday.

On the way back, made a quick stop at the Pedestal Rock Trial / King Bluff Trail. The trailheads of both these two trails begin at the same place. The Pedestral Rock Trail is about 2.9 miles and the Kings Bluff Trail is about 1.9 miles. Decided to take the KBT because it has a water falls and I am not a big fan of big rocks. The trail was so easy that I am sure I can do a round trip in 25 minutes. The water flow was dripping low. As a mater of fact, i was quite disappointed, although the trail would be a good hiking place for families.

Made it all the way back to the south of I-40 and headed to Petit Jean State Park. Color was still developing down there, with about 70% of color. Feeling confident that i can take a hike to Cedar Falls in 40 minutes and get back before sunset, I went down onto the trail to see this most visited water falls in the state. It was a 2.2 miles round trip. The entrance of the trail is located right behind the Mather Lodge parking lot. I did not find any sign pointing to the trailhead, which is unusual for such a popular place. Right next to the trailhead, there is a overlook point that provides a great vista of the mountains. Soon I realized that I underestimated the difficulty of the trail. It is quite steep to get back up to the hill. On the way down, i saw lots of people were trying to catch their breath after some serious climbing. Deep inside the valley, the color was not very intersting and the water falls, again, was running low. With my mind set for the sunset at the trailhead, I ran back onto the top of the mountain as fast as I could. I made it in 17 minutes and believe I can do better if I had a good sleep yesterday night after the hiking. Oh, well, the sunset was not spectacular either. Stayed there for about half an hour and did not get any good shots. Just rested a little while and had some snacks. Then jumped into the car and got back to the house at 9 o'clock in the evening. And that, concluded my two-day hiking. It was a great trip and could have been better if we had both the water and color at the Twin Falls. But I know I ought to appreciate what I had seen. After all, Tim Ernst waited 31 years for that to happen !!!
 
10/28/2006

Twin Falls / Richland Falls / Falling Water Falls (Arkansas)

Photo / Guidebook & Maps (Buffalo River Hiking Trails)

Planned this trip two weeks ago right after the Shores Lake hiking. Although my friends changed their minds in the last minute, I was so determined to see the fall colors that I decided to go no matter what. With only me by myself, the hiking turned into a photo field trip because now I can stop anywhere at any time to set up the tripod.

On 10/24/2006, I read the journal written by Tim Ernst and knew that Twin Falls, one of the least accessed falls in arkansas, was "running full tilt during the peak of fall color", something he called "only happens once in a generation". I knew I wasn't going to let that slipped away from my fingertips. Got up at 4:30 in the morning on Saturday and hit the road at 5:10 with the hope to get to the falls before the sun comes out. The hiking trail (not official trial) begins at Richland Creek Campground. It was quite easy to get to the campground. From Little Rock, take I-40W, then the scenic highway 7 north. Turn onto highway 16 East at Pelsor and drive 14 miles passing Ben Hur community. Make a left turn onto Forrest Road #1205 at the sign "Falling Waters Church". Pay attention here because if you are travelling east on hwy16, the sign says only the church. But on the other side of the post, it says "Falling Waters Church" with "Richland Creek Campground" right under it. It is nuts! Other than that, everything was easy. The FR#1205 will take you all the way to the campground ( about 11 miles). From the entrance of FR#1205, at about 4 miles you will see the Falling Waters Fall on your right, a very pretty view. At about 6 mile mark, you will see a big ranch on your right. It's a private property. I thought it was the campsite after seeing many cars, trucks, and tents. Sure enough I pulled inside and found myself being watched and greeted by everbody who I thought are hikers! The owner of the place was nice though, he showed me the right direction (to get out of his ranch ;-) and some tips on how to get to the Twin Falls. Anyway, from the ranch, it's another 5 miles to the campground. There is a fork at about 1 mile from the ranch, stay on the #1205 (the road on the left leads to the church).

Ok, now about the falls and colors ... The Falling Waters Falls was definitely running high at the time I got there. I spent about one hour or so at that place taking photos because I knew at the moment I won't be able to get to the Twin Falls before sunrise. Besides, the Falling Water Falls is a great spot offering great photo opportunity for anybody. The light changed almost every minute. While searching for the best angle, I stepped into the water and wet my shoes and left leg. Fortunatley, the place I fell was not deep and my camera was ok!!! Just when I was about to drive to the campground, I met John Young, a photojournalist at THV tv station (channel 11). We got along very well and decided to form a photo/hiking team right there. I was sure that a hiking companion can't be a bad idea for 4.6 miles round trip in the Richland Wildness Area with no official trail. It turned out to be a lot more fun with someone as happy as John is. And even better, we both like to take time to set up the tripods! Yes, you can find friends almost anywhere!

The hiking to the Twin Falls was easier than I thought. There were places that are difficult but overall the trail was quite good. The one that we chose (on the south side of the Richland creek), you will have to wade the water twice, one at the Falling Waters Creek, the other Richland Creek. The crossing can be tricky. I do see people fall in water and cut their hands. I would also suggest bring an extra pair of shoes (waders is even better) if you can.

To be honest, I think that I got there a little bit too late. The color wasn't really that great any more. The leaves are gone. The wind or rain knocked them all off. The falls were running low and one of the twins was probably at the point of drying up. But we managed to find one or two good angles to take a few shots. As they say, it's better than nothing! On our way back, we stopped by the Richland Falls, which is a 120 feet wide falls. It is a fantastic view. We spent about another one hour or so there just trying to shoot from different angles while working with the light.

John and I returned the campground just shortly before the dark. We decided to camp there that night because it was too dark to drive to other camping place. Also, the color of the woods at the campground seemed to be pleasant with more red/yellow dogwoods and mapple trees. Thought would be nice to drive around in the morning and maybe find some place to take more pictures. And I have to say that the Richland Creek campground is one of the best that I have been to. Each camping site is big (could easy fit 3 or 4 cars), quite, and pretty, surrounded by colorful trees. We set up a fire. After hiking all day, the dinner tastes great. Jack, another guy we met on the trail went over to our campsite and chat quite a while. We learned that he drove all the way from Oklahoma and had been camping out all week by himself. Unfortunately, he dropped his Canon 5D in the water yesterday. Poor guy! I did got a useful information from Jack about this place I was planning to go to. He told me that the color at Steel Creek (portion of Buffalo River Trail) was not that great. After seeing how the color looks like in Ozark Mountains, I decided to change my original plan for tomorrow. Instead of hiking the BRT, I will swing by this Kings Bluff Trail and then head back sourth as soon as possible to the Petit Jean State Park to see if the color there is better. Sounds like a great plan!
 
10/13/2006 - 10/14/2006

Shores Lake/White Rock Trail (Arkansas)

Photo

Three buddies, Owen, Ryan, and I went on this fantastic hiking journey last Friday. It was a trip full of joy and "exotic" experiences that I don't think I will ever be able to get in the city.

This trail is two and half hours north west from the Little Rock and claims to be one of the best spots in Arkansas to watch the sunset. I'd say it is true indeed. We left on Friday morning and stopped at the Devil's Den, another good spot for hiking and the trail there is fairly easy (we later found that we did not finish the whole trail and missed a few interesting places on the way).

We camped at the Shores Lake Campground at Friday night. With a nice fire set up on the fire pit, we grilled lots of Brats and sirloin tips. They really taste good, expecially with the cold beers. And of course, margarita and 1800 Reposado tequila make it even better. The whole wild camping story would not be complete if we had not encountered some of our fellow *happy* campers. Since we had so much good time together, we generously offered them sausages and drinks. But they seemed to be only interested in alcohol instead of sausages. As a matter of fact, they said they hate sausages ....

I have to say the whole hiking trip on Shores Lake Trail did not start off very smoothly. The trailhead begins right at the back of the campground. Yet for some reason it is not readily being seen and, yes, we drove around the whole place to look for it. With some help from a nice old lady, we finally found it is only about 2 minutes away from where we camped last night!!!

The excitement of finally setting our feet on the trail did not last too long. Unfortunately we chose to hike on east trail which is longer, harder, and more confusing than the west one. With that said, we got lost in about 5 minutes after we started. Not knowing where to go and not willing to go back to the trailhead, we decided to follow the creekbed with the hope to be able to relocate the trail somewhere. Little did we know, while we were rambling about how bad the trail signs are, we were right under the close watch from a deer hunting couples with loaded muzzle guns. It was hunting season! Although they were wearing bright orange vests, we did not see either one of them until the wife whistled us. Aparantly we are very lucky that they can tell the difference between deer and three stooges!

With some vague directions from those hunters, we finally got back onto the west trail. At that moment, we had hiked for about one and half hours in the wildness of nowhere. From that moment on, everything became easy....kind of....The trail signs are easy to follow but the >45 degree steep inclines are ... FUN ... not to mention the fact that each one of us was probably carrying more than 50 lbs stuff in our backpack. But, we made it, in four and half hours. Another hiker from Texas Balor University whom we met on our way up agreed that we won the hiking award of the day. He was quite surprised to see us at the White Rock campground because his group hiked to the top in two days. I am also quite sure that we were the only ones who made it to the top in one day that day.

Although we won the hiking trophy, we were not rewarded with a camping site at the campground. It was all full. That pretty much ended our two day hiking plan earlier that night. With no place to stay, we decided to get our car at the Shores Lake Trailhead and drove back to Little Rock that night.

Just to summarize, this two day hiking trip is definitely the best that I have ever been to. The trail was challenging but sheer fun all the way. The camping was cold but awesome and wild. The view on the White Rock overlook is gorgeous. Although the color of fall foliage is just beginning to change, we still enjoyed it a lot because we hiked all the way up there. The only thing that I wish I had done was to get a map of the trail and prepared a little more so we did not have to hike off the trail under the gunpoint of deer hunters!

Even though this is not a field trip for taking photos, I somehow managed to snap a few just for the fun of it. See Photo