Roark Bluff

I asked for, and was granted, a day off from work last week. I got Friday off, which resulted in the luxury of having two 3-day weekends in a row. As my mini-vacation approached, I realized that I should do something proper with the time off (besides just being lazy and sleeping in at my apartment). I thought about embarking on another camping trip. But the downside to this idea was that it would take place in Arkansas during the summer. The temperature was running dangerously close to 100 degrees, which really isn't the ideal time to be anywhere that isn't air conditioned.

I managed to find someone else crazy enough to go camping in the summer - Zack. We agreed to meet up in Conway on Thursday afternoon, and then drove up to the Buffalo National River. The plan was to camp at Steele Creek, which is one of the prettiest places along the river. An added benefit to camping here is the proximity of the Ozark Cafe in Jasper. Whenever things got too brutally hot, we could always make the drive to the air conditioned comforts of the best restaurant in Jasper.

We drove up to the Steele Creek campground, and managed to snag a good campsite. When you go camping in the heat of the summer, one of the luxuries that you seek out is shade. The spot we claimed had a good deal of shade during the day, which made it like the Taj Mahal of campsites.

After getting everything set up at the campsite, we headed down to the river. There hasn't been much rain here this summer, and the Buffalo River was running very low. As dusk settled in over the Ozarks, we set out to take a few pictures. This is a view of the bluffs along the Buffalo River, near where Steele Creek usually flows in (it was bone dry that day).

This shot was taken while actually standing in the middle of the Buffalo River. It wasn't very deep, but I had to try to stand as still as possible in order to not ruin the reflection the water. And also I was extremely scared that I would drop my camera in the river.

This shot was also taken while standing in the middle of the river...


We both woke up early the next morning (sometime around 5am) and headed back to the river. There is a short trail that leads to an amazing overlook along Roark Bluff, about 200 feet above the river. To get there you have to cross the Buffalo River (which was an easy crossing considering the water was low), and then hike into the woods along a faint trail. The trail runs through woods, which I assumed were full of snakes.

We made it to the overlook, which sits on a narrow stretch of rock sitting high above the river. This is not a place to visit if you are scared of heights. It's also not a place to visit if you don't like blood-thirsty bugs. I plucked several ticks off of my legs while out on the bluff that morning, happily flinging them over the edge into the abyss below.

The hike through tick-infested woods was worth it, considering the amazing views you get. Roark Bluff runs for nearly three-quarters of a mile, and is the longest bluff along the Buffalo River.


It is an awesome place to go, but you have to be uber-careful. If you venture too close to the edge, one clumsy step could be fatal. This is a wider shot of the view...


And a shot from almost the same exact spot, taken last autumn:


But before the sun came out, we retreated back to our campsite. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the shade of the campsite, cooling off in the waters of the Buffalo, or basking in the air conditioned luxury of the Ozark Cafe. It was a nice and lazy day, even in the heat and humidity of an Arkansas summer.

4th of July

Independence Day is a great holiday - my office was kind enough to give me a three day weekend, and I delightfully slept in on as many days as I could. But the holiday is one where you must reflect on the effort made by our forefathers back in the 1776, who revolted against English tyranny so that today we can sleep till noon, then drink beer and shoot off explosives. USA! USA!

There is a fireworks display on the 4th of July in downtown Little Rock. So I headed downtown, and stopped to get a few pictures. This is a view of an old church, and the newer AT&T building, with it's competing steeple:


Eventually, I made it to Riverfront Park in downtown North Little Rock. There is a spot there along the river, just by the Baring Cross Bridge, that provides a nice view of the skyline. I thought it might be an interesting angle to take pictures of the fireworks too. Eventually a small brigade of photographers were there, and the cameras and tripods were strategically placed. Of course, as people walked along the River Trail by us, they asked the question that one usually hears when standing next to a camera on a tripod: "So you out taking pictures?" I'm always tempted to say, "No, actually I'm baking a cake right now."

But it finally grew dark, and the fireworks show began. The best thing about this view was that the fireworks were reflected in the buildings along the skyline. This is my favorite shot from the night:

Springfield Bridge

I had the sad and sudden realization that I hadn't made any pictures lately. Actually it had a been a few weeks since I had even picked up the camera. So I was determined to head out last night after work, and try to get a few pictures of something. I decided to pay a return visit to the old Springfield Bridge, which isn't that far of a drive from home.

I drove to Conway and met up with Zack, and we then drove north. The bridge is located near the small community of Bono, which just really consists of a church and a few homes. But it would have been the perfect opportunity to play some U2, but sadly I didn't have the Ipod, or even my Achtung Baby cd, so the opportunity was wasted. What was I thinking? Clearly, it was a lack of planning. At least the camera battery had a decent charge in it.

As we got to the bridge, I realized why I hadn't been out to take any pictures lately. It's because it's summer in Arkansas. It was about 94 degrees, with high humidity. So that meant that after a few minutes of being outside, I was already drenched in sweat. Actually saying "drenched" is putting it lightly. It was more like someone took a bucket of sweat and dumped it over my head.

And with that lovely mental image, I present instead this shot of the bridge. It is really a neat place to go and get pictures of, even in the summer heat of Arkansas.


The bridge is old - actually it's the oldest vehicular bridge in the state. It was built way back in 1874. It served traffic for over a hundred years, before being replaced by a new bridge just upstream in 1994. After that the old Springfield bridge was abandoned, and left to rust and decay.

To visit it now, you have to very carefully make your way onto the bridge. Several of the wooden planks on the deck are gone, leaving deep holes. Most of the remaining pieces of wood on the bridge deck are severely rotten, which makes trying to cross the bridge very nerve-wracking. I could easily imagine the boards I was walking over suddenly and without warning breaking apart. Which would probably send me straight down into the muddy waters of Cadron Creek below. Luckily everything held up, and we were able to explore the bridge. But it is in pretty bad shape - no telling how much longer it will last. It would be a shame if the bridge became too unstable to cross.

Here's another shot of the bridge, taken a bit farther back:


It really is a neat old bridge to visit, and it is a great location for taking pictures. Hopefully it can somehow be preserved.

On the way home, we stopped to get a few pictures of this old barn. The area around the barn was overgrown, and was surely home to countless ticks, chiggers and snakes.

Junction Bridge

I headed off to visit the Junction Bridge last week, just after a summer thunderstorm had passed over. It was still raining, but it was light rain. It wasn't enough to soak anyone foolish enough to be out taking pictures, but it did result in a few occasional drops of water on the front of the lens.

As the storm moved off to the west, you could see an occasional bolt of lightning drop down. I wasn't lucky enough to get any lightning in my pictures. Instead, I just had to settle for a few short golden streaks from the scattered lightning bugs floating around...

Tyler Bend

My birthday was last weekend. So in honor of my life slowly spiraling down the drain of being a "30-something," I wanted to do something fun. As the big day approached, I made plans with my cousin for a float trip on the Buffalo River. My Aunt and her friend joined in, and we tried to all meet up at Tyler Bend on Friday.

Since this trip involved three Cormacks, the worst of the family luck bubbled up to the surface. The weekend would turn out to be incredibly hot - with highs in the upper 90s. Perfect camping weather!

I took off work on Friday so I could get up to Tyler Bend early enough to claim a camping spot. Last time I tried to camp along the Buffalo River on this weekend, the campgrounds were all full. I managed to get up to the Buffalo before noon, and luckily there were a few vacant campsites left. But most of the good ones were taken, at least, any campsite with a decent amount of shade. I claimed one, and then languished in the hot temps. Luckily the river was nearby, and the water was cold.

My family arrived in the evening, and we got our collection of tents set up. Things cooled off considerably after the sun went down, and it actually got a bit chilly overnight.

I woke up around 5:30am on Saturday morning, and peered through the tent. A heavy fog had drifted over our campground. What to do? Go back to sleep, or try to get a few pictures? I sleepily hauled myself out of the tent and got the camera. As much as I dislike being awake this early, it was good conditions for pictures.

I walked over to the river, which was still and silent in the early morning fog. The only thing making noise were a few birds, and the crunch of my feet walking along the rocks by the river. I strolled along the river, trying to find a good spot to get a picture of the fog and the bluffs.

There was a good spot ahead. But some people who were floating the river had decided to set up camp right along the gravel bar near where I wanted to get pictures. They had literally set up camp right by their canoes, and looked to be sleeping right on the rocky shore of the river. I tried to silently sneak past them, and set up to take this picture...


Next I walked over to a nearby field, where a few hay bales were sitting amongst the fog.




I headed back to the campsite, walking along this path through the woods...


I made it back to the tent, and was able to take a nice little nap. A few hours later, we were at the canoe outfitters. After waiting for a few bus loads of people to be carted away, we were driven to the put-in for our float - Baker Ford. From there we would float for about six miles to Grinders Ferry.

I wasn't brave enough to take my camera onto the canoe. Instead I bought one of those waterproof disposable cameras (for $8 at Wal-Mart). The camera didn't take many good pictures, and it cost almost $15 for it to get developed. This didn't make me miss using film. The crappy disposable camera only had 27 exposures on it, so I ended up paying about a dollar for picture, and all the shots were grainy.

I will share one of the shots from the crappy disposable camera. This was taken shortly after we started our float, when we had stopped to swim some in the river. A strange river convoy passed by us - it was a guy, laying on a raft next to a canoe. The canoe only had a dog sitting inside it, like it was the captain of the ship. Both the dog and the guy seemed to enjoy the trip:


We took our time and lazily drifted down the river. While it was hot, I didn't seem to feel it while being on the river. Although I ended up getting an awful sunburn, it was a perfect day on the Buffalo River. I was sad when we eventually reached the end of the float (we were out of beer, anyways).

On Sunday we packed up the campsite and parted ways. I headed back home towards Little Rock, but did stop along the way to get a shot of a barn. This was taken right off of Hwy. 65, near Leslie: