All Around The Mulberry

It's looking like another good year for fall color. So to take advantage of the colors, I headed up the Ozarks again last weekend. Jonah tagged along with me this time as we headed up to the mountains around the Mulberry River. We ended up driving down a narrow and steep dirt road, which took us past this neat old building (it was apparently a blacksmith shop).



We headed out that day because the weather forecase promised it would be nice and cloudy. And it was, at least for awhile. It even rained on us as we were driving west. But as we headed up the dirt road the sun came out, and all the clouds disappeared as if they'd been removed by an eraser. We then headed over to one of the access points on the Mulberry River, which also had some nice color on it. Luckilly there were a few shady places that allowed for some long exposure photos.



For some reason, nine year-old kids aren't that excited about driving several hours to take pictures of old buildings. So Jonah was ready to head back home. Since the light was a little harsh, I agreed and we started to head back to the car. But not before getting one last shot of the fall colors along the scenic Mulberry River.

Cass To Oark

The plan was to meet Zack at an overlook called Hanging Rock. So I headed up a very bumpy and muddy dirt road to the overlook, only to find that it was completely fogged in. So we changed plans and decided to drive the scenic road that connects the small communities of Cass and Oark.

Our first stop was at this scenic overlook, which provided this view of the Mulberry River.



We headed on, and turned down a dirt road that crossed the Mulberry on a low-water bridge. This was the view from the bridge, with some great fall color reflected in the low water of the river.



And the view of the bridge. The fall colors were so vibrant that it was hard to not constantly stop and take pictures.





The next stop was at one of the put-ins for the Mulberry, which is a popular place to canoe when there is more water in the river. No one was floating that day, but the water in the river did produce some great reflections of the fall colors.



Down the road is this old church. I wasn't able to find out how old this church is, but it does look like it's been here for awhile.



We drove further on, but then quickly made yet another stop at another put-in on the river. The water was low, but very clear.



Despite our numerous stops to take pictures, we finally made it to Oark. The tiny community is the location of the Oark General Store and Cafe, which was established in 1890 and is considered to be the oldest continuously operating store in Arkansas. It was quite busy when we were there, the line of people waiting to order food was nearly out the door. And there was a constant stream of people stopping to get gas.





Of course we had to get lunch when we were there.



Just south of Oark was this old home, which looks like it's been abandoned. I hurried to get a quick picture before we headed out to try to get more shots of the fall colors. Stay tuned here for those pictures!