Lost Valley

So things have been a bit wacky lately, right? My work has been kind enough to let me start working from home, so I'm not going to be coughed on from any sick co-workers (and also not sitting in traffic in the mornings). We had plans to go to a concert in Memphis, which was of course cancelled. But I thought I might take advantage of the day I scheduled to take off work and try to get a few pictures out before things would be shut down. I decided to visit Lost Valley, which is a pretty trail and one that I hadn't been to in a few years. I assumed that since there was a pandemic, and it was a weekday, that I would have the trail to myself. But I was shocked to see a few cars in the parking lot - they were mostly from out of state (Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and even one from New Jersey). I forgot that it was Spring Break in a lot of places.

It wasn't too crowded and I tried to my best to social distance from any other hikers. It was easy to keep distance when you can make lots of stops to get pictures along the creek, which was flowing well after some recent heavy rains.





The trail at Lost Valley is short, but it is compact. It passes by several waterfalls and caves (and even a waterfall inside a cave). For the most part, the trail runs alongside Clark Creek as it passes through the collapsed remains of an old cave system. Lost Valley was once a cave, but the roof collapsed many eons ago. What remains is this small valley and one of the most popular trails in the Buffalo National River.









Although it was Spring Break, Spring was just about to start settling in at Lost Valley.



A few wildflowers were beginning to pop up amongst the fallen leaves on the ground, I think this is an Ozark trillium.



Usually when you're hiking and you pass by another hiker, you let out a polite "hey." But since most of the other hikers were from Texas, there were lots of people who said "howdy."



Further down the trail is the Natural Bridge, which isn't really a bridge but is actually the mouth of the collapsed cave. The falls drop into a small pool that is surrounded by limestone boulders and bluffs.



The creek flows below the base of Cob Cave, which is actually the base of a massive bluff shelter that got its name from century-old corn cobs that are believed to have been left by Native Americans (maybe the Osage).



At the edge of the bluff sits Eden Falls, the crown jewel of Lost Valley. The falls are about 53 feet tall.





The trail runs uphill and visits a cave, where there was a family about to go in (which I didn't head in because of social distancing and because I didn't have a flashlight). I then headed back, but did make one last stop at this small but scenic waterfall.



There was a carpet of moss around the falls, which was nice because I had been going through a bit of a mossy waterfall withdrawal after our visit to the Pacific Northwest last month.





Next to the waterfall was this leaf, which had been caught against the moss. There was a stream of water cascading off the leaf, creating a tiny waterfall (I did not place the leaf there!).



And one last shot, a bit of close-up shot of the leaf. This was a bit tricky because water from the falls was splashing against the camera lens.