On The Buffalo

A few weeks back, we camped up by the Buffalo River with some family. We stayed at the JB Trading Co. by Compton, which offers a bougie camping experience with platform tents or even tiny homes. It's also conveniently located to the Buffalo, with Ponca and Boxley just about 20 minutes away.

So on Saturday afternoon, I took my nephews for a tour of some of the Greatest Hits of Boxley Valley. It was also a good excuse to take the infrared camera out again and get a few more pictures of the beautifully picturesque valley. The first stop was the area by the trailhead for the Buffalo River Trail. There you'll find this old barn, which was built in the 1920s.





Nearby is this little structure, which might have once been an old root cellar?



We made a short detour up Cave Mountain to check out the view from Hedge's Pouroff. The waterfall wasn't running, but the view from the edge of the bluff (which is guarded by this ancient cedar tree) was still worth the drive.



We headed back into the valley and made a quick stop at the old Boxley Baptist Church (built 1899).



Nearby is this dirt road, which runs by an old barn and onto some private property.



For a little comparison, this is the same view on a foggy day in color...



Boxley Valley has maybe the highest concentration of old barns in the state. It's tempting to stop at every single one to take pictures.





Tucked away in the woods, almost completely hidden from view, is this old springhouse:



For another comparison, here's a shot of the same springhouse with a waterfall running beside it (taken right after a heavy rain):



This row of trees were growing next to a cemetery that contains the oldest marked grave in the Valley (1848), which is also the final resting place for many of the original settlers of the Valley.



At the end of the Valley sits the old Villines homestead, which was built between the 1850s and the 1940s. The oldest building is the two-pen log house, which is believed to have been constructed in 1854.



There are signs on the house asking people to not enter the fragile interior, so this was taken while peeking through the open door. You can see an old (and not very comfy-looking) bed, along with squares of light coming through the window. On the wall are bits of newspaper, which was used as insulation back in the olden days.



Down the hill from the home was the old barn:



Nearby was this old barn, which was also built in the 1850s. It was originally a home, but was converted into a barn sometime in the 20th century.



And one last shot. We headed over to the Steele Creek access on the river. The light and shadows along the river didn't look great with the infrared camera. But I did manage to at least get this shot of the smooth and scuplted river rocks along the shore:

Two Parks

I hope anyone who reads this blog hasn't grown tired of infrared pictures yet, because here are a few more! These two shots were taken at two different parks around Central Arkansas. The first was at the Park On The River in Maumelle. This place is aptly named, because it is indeed a park right along the Arkansas River.



The second picture was also taken at another wisely-named park - Two Rivers Park. That park is sandwiched between the Little Maumelle River and the Arkansas River, just outside of Little Rock. It also contains this neat stretch of trees:

Guy

About 800 people live in the town of Guy, which sits near Cadron Creek in northern Faulkner County. I tried to do a little research on the town, but could never find anything that said why the town was named Guy (I assume there must have been a place called Gal nearby).

The town is memorable to me because one time I got pulled over for speeding there. But besides attracting a reputation as a "speed trap," there are some neat old buildings around Guy.



Just north of town is this old dogtrot cabin. I'm not sure the age, but it does seem to look fairly old. It was on private property and was marked "No Trespassing," so these were shot from the street.

St. Boniface

Tucked neatly away in Perry County is one of the prettiest churches in Arkansas - the St. Boniface Church.



The first church here was built in 1901, but it burned only a few years later in January of 1906. All of the church was destroyed, except for the hand-carved high altar that was saved from the flames. The current church was built within just a few months and opened in September of 1906.





And just on the edge of the church property is this dirt road, that heads through this tunnel of trees into some private property. I snapped this quick photo before heading back to the car to drive back toward Conway.

Houston

There are a few differences between the Houston in Arkansas and the Houston in Texas. For one, the population is a wee bit different (by about 2.3 million people or so). Also, the traffic in the Texas version is much much worse than the Arkansas one. One landmark in Arkansas' Houston is the old Houston Methodist Episcopal Church.



The church was built in 1912, and seems like it still might be used occasionally for weddings or funerals.