Petit Jean

The heavy rains we had at the end of October actually produced enough water to get some waterfalls up and running. Which also coincided with some great fall color in the Ozarks. I decided to take a day off from work so I could make a trip up to Petit Jean, because surely the waterfall there would be running full-tilt after all the storms. And the weather prediction was for it to be cloudy all morning, meaning ideal conditions for waterfall pictures.

But as I headed to the park, the sun started to break through the clouds. I didn't think I'd have enough time to hike to the waterfall before the sun came out, but I thought I'd instead do a different hike along the creek. But all that didn't matter. I was saddened to see that there was hardly any water in the creek. In fact it didn't even seem like they had gotten much rain there at all.

But then I made a heartbreaking discovery.

One of the most photogenic trees in Arkansas was at Petit Jean. It grew at the base of the stone dam that sits below Lake Bailey. It was perfectly placed next to a waterfall, and it was a location that I returned to many times over the years. Here are a few shots of it over the years:









But it's gone. The stone dam now seems so naked and empty. Where did the tree go???



I decided to still do a short hike, even if there wasn't much water in the creek. The fall colors, which were peaking up in the Ozarks, were subdued. Most of the trees here were still green.





I then headed over and did the short walk through the Bear Cave area, as the sun finally broke through the clouds.



And then I drove home. I still had the day off from work, which meant that I could squeeze in a nice little nap before picking up the kids from school that afternoon!