Dagmar

The Dagmar Wildlife Management Area sits just west of Brinkley and contains over 10,000 acres of protected swamps, bayous, forests, lakes and sloughs. It's a popular area for hunting and fishing, and for a glimpse at what most of the Delta looked like before most of the land was drained and converted to farmland. I headed out that way to see how the fall colors were looking. The first stop was at Apple Lake, which is officially called the "Apple Lake Waterfowl Rest Area" (which makes it sound like a place where there are duck bathrooms and places for them to buy snacks).



This is around the area where the Ivory-Bill Woodpecker was supposedly spotted back in 2004. And sure enough, I did hear some sort of woodpecker making some noise deep in the woods. But instead of looking for the woodpecker, however, I was more worried about snakes. Despite it being November it was warm and muggy, and I was sure that snakes were lurking under all of the fallen leaves and along the water.



The Dagmar WMA is filled with thousands upon thousands of cypress and tupelo trees, with some being over 1,200 years old. These two massive bald cypress trees, with their forest of knees, were growing along Bayou DeView.





And despite it being November, there were still mosquitoes out and about. They quickly attacked while I was trying to get a few pictures of these cypress trees along Bayou DeView.





Then I walked back to the car and headed over to Hickson Lake.



It is a really beautiful area, the still waters capture great reflections of the trees. And it looks especially pretty when there are some fall colors.





It was starting to get dark, which meant I had to use longer exposure times for the pictures. You can tell this was a long exposure (30 seconds) from the streaks left in the water from some fallen leaves.



And one last shot before it was time to head home:

Brinkley

Brinkley is both the largest town in Monroe County and the largest city along I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis. It was established in 1872 as a railroad town and was originally called "Lick Skillet" (shame they didn't keep that name). It soon became a major transportation and agricultural hub for the area. The railroad still passes through town today, passing right by the old historic core of the city. These old silos sit near the tracks:



Also near the tracks is this old bar/club, that has now been abandoned for many years. Painted on both sides is the warning: "NO-DRINKING-ON-OUT-SIDE-ThAT-ThE-LAW-YOU-CAN-BE-ARRESTED-BY-POLICE." I think this might be the most photographed building in Brinkley (or at least tied with the big bridal gown store), because of how charming that little painted warning is.





Crossing over the railroad tracks takes you to the old section of the city, with buildings dating back to the 1800s. Sadly most of them look abandoned, and many are in a significant state of disrepair.



Painted on the side of this building is a massive ghost sign for Kis-Me Gum. The gum was the first fruit-flavored gum, and had the slogan "Far Better Than A Kiss."



Nextdoor is the old Monroe County Bank Building, which was built in 1889 and almost destroyed by a tornado in 1909. The building housed the town's first major bank, and also an opera house on the top floor. But it is abandoned now, with ivy and vines growing wild on the back wall.







And just down the block, right by the train tracks, is this old building that once housed the Langley's Food Warehouse. It was apparently a discount grocery store, and before that the building was used as a bakery. From what I can find, there was a fire and the building has been empty and crumbling away ever since.









And on the side of the building is this old ghost sign for the grocery store, the paint faded and worn.





I got back in the car and started to head out of town, but made one more stop at another old building. Parked beside it was this car, covered with a thick layer of dust and rust.



The year on the license plate shows 1997.



And that was enough pictures of old buildings for the day, it was time to head off to find some fall colors. More on that on the next post...

Back To The Delta

One of my least favorite drives in the state is I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis, and I will always opt to take Hwy. 70 over the crowded freeway. And as an added benefit, there are always some side roads with a few things to photograph.





The fall colors were starting to come along out there, which was nice to see after the long dry summer.



Except that it didn't feel like fall yet. It was warm and muggy outside, definitely not what you'd expect for November.



From there I headed further east, towards Brinkley. More from there on the next post....

Boxley Valley

After breakfast at the Ozark Cafe, we took the kids around to show them some places around Jasper. We stopped at the river access points at Hasty and Carver, and then went on to Sam's Throne. The fall colors at Sam's Throne were almost nonexistent; the trees were still almost all green. But since we had a six-year-old who was obsessed with elk, we headed over to Ponca to visit the Elk Education Center. The little museum is run by the state Game and Fish Commission and has exhibits on the elk and other local wildlife. It is not, sadly, a school for elk to attend where they have an elk teacher (which was what Elliott assumed it was). 

 Afterwards we drove through Boxley Valley, and the kids ran around one of the old barns there.



We went back to Boxley that evening, trying to see if the elk were out. We passed by a bunch of cars parked alongside the road (some legally parked, others not), with some people sitting out by their cars in foldable chairs. But the elk must have been camera shy because they did not grace the waiting throngs with their presence. We drove on through the valley, keeping an eye out. We didn't see any elk, but it did give me a chance to take a few pictures of some barns.



But Elliott still wanted to see the elk, so we both got up before sunrise and headed off in the dark towards Boxley Valley. There were already cars lined up alongside the road when we got to the valley. But of course, the elk had other plans. We drove on, heading deeper into the valley that had a nice amount of fog in it. I used the lack of elk as an excuse to stop and take a few pictures as the sun began to rise over the mountains.





I stopped again to get some pictures of this field, which had some cows instead of elk. I set the camera up on the tripod, and used the LCD screen on the back of the camera to zoom in on the cows to set the focus. It was good timing, since the cow I was zoomed in on decided this was the perfect time to start pooping.



There was some nice color in the sky from the sunrise, which lit up the sky above the old Boxley Baptist Church (built 1899).



And then we drove on and finally found some elk, grazing in a field near the old church.



Elliott was very excited to finally get to see the elk, after all this time:



After a while the elk began to move to the far side of the field where you couldn't really see them that well, so we headed off to get a few pictures in the valley. 



We drove by the old steam-powered sawmill, which is slowly collapsing upon itself. I stopped to get a few pictures, since it might not be standing for too much longer.



And then one last shot from Boxley, of the old schoolhouse/cabin near Lost Valley.

Back To The Buffalo

So this little blog just celebrated its twentieth anniversary, with the very first post being about a trip to the Buffalo River. So I guess it's fitting that this next post would be about another trip to the Buffalo. So here goes: Last weekend we made a family trip up to the river, in the hopes of catching some fall color. I wasn't sure what to expect. It has been so hot and dry this summer that I was worried we wouldn't have any fall colors at all.

And it is definitely a weird year for colors. Some trees had already turned a dull brown, the leaves looking dry and wilted. In some places the trees are still green and haven't changed at all. But there were a few places, especially along the river, that had some decent color. We drove up in the mountains, and then drove through Boxley Valley to see if the elk were out (Elliott has become obsessed with the elk and was desperate to see them). Of course we didn't see any, but we did stop by the low-water bridge at Ponca and looked around.



We then headed over to Jasper where we had a place for the weekend, and got a good dinner from the Jasper Pizza Company. The next morning I woke up before sunrise, and drove through the darkness towards the Steel Creek access along the river. It was still dark when I arrived, the river and the campground were quiet. A thick fog had developed overnight, adding to the sense of stillness. I set up the camera along the river, waiting for the early light to start fading in.



The river was really low, which wasn't surprising since we've hardly had any rain all summer.





The fog drifted and moved along the river, and along the tops of the mountains.



The sun was rising, but it hadn't managed to break through the thick fog yet.



And the view from a different part of the river, where Steele Creek meets up with the Buffalo (or where it would normally if the creek wasn't completely dry).





The sun was finally able to break through the fog as I was heading out. I stopped for a quick few pictures (and only a few, a truck appeared on the road behind me so I jumped back in my car). After that it was time to get some breakfast at the Ozark Cafe.