Buffalo River

Usually an alarm clock is the last thing I would want to hear at 5:30 AM on a Saturday, but at least this time it was for a good reason. We headed out in the dark and drove towards a nearby overlook that was perched on a bluff along the Buffalo River. We made a short hike through the dark woods as the predawn light grew brighter, and we soon reached the overlook. But there wasn't much of a view. From there we could definitely hear the river below, but couldn't see anything. The river was hidden under a thick shroud of fog.



Just before sunrise, the sky lit up orange as the fog moved across the valley like waves.



Finally the sun rose high enough to clear the mountains, and golden light shined down on the fog.





The fog acted like it had a mind of its own, and would grow thicker and then diminish. Sometimes the bluff we were standing on would be completely encased by fog, and then sometimes we'd get a little window through the mist and could see more of the surrounding hillsides. This is the view looking upstream, when some of the fog cleared enough where we could actually see out.







The fog was so thick that we ended up having to wait three hours before it cleared enough where we could actually see the river (I wished I had my sleeping bag so I could have napped for part of that wait). But soon enough, the fog dissipated and the river finally made an appearance.







And one last shot from the overlook, before we hiked through the woods (and the countless spider webs and ticks) towards the car.