Saturday 5/14
Our new site
Today was pancake day! Always a good day. That got us off to a slow start. We took a drive over to see the Hola Bend National Wildlife Refuge. Great place, with an eight mile auto tour loop, a little walk called the "levee trail" although I didn't see much of a levee. Possibly there was more of one back in the day.
The refuge encompasses a bend in the Arkansas River which was once farmland and rich bottomland. There are huge swaths that are now under cultivation for the wildlife, but were no doubt once planted to cotton or corn or whatever it was they grew back in those days. In the 1900s, 67 families farmed there. But, according to the sign, a huge flood came down in 1927 and dumped deep layers of sand all over the farms, driving out most of the farmers. In 1957, the river was rerouted and the bend cut off, leaving a big circle of land surrounded (mostly) by backwater from the river.
Supposedly this is the northern boundary of the American alligator and a few of them nest here. but we didn't see any. All we saw was a deer. Plus six Mississippi Kites, a red-tail hawk, two Canada geese, indigo buntings galore. And we heard dickcissel, white-eyed vireo and a few other common birds. I hear quite a few bird calls that I didn't recognize at all, but no luck with them.
Great place all the same. I would have loved to hike the whole 8-mile loop.
But on we went to Lake Dardanelle State park. It was alleged to have a large aquatic exhibit in the Visitor Center. And it did...but I've seen larger. This one was nothing to sneer at, but not especially big. I didn't see where they had any of the fish in the large tanks identified with a plaque or any labels or such, but in Arkansas I guess that's not needed. Since everyone fishes, I'm sure most visitors could identify the catfish, carp and other species in the tanks.
It was a nice place, but rather small. In fact, the entire park seemed rather small. But the workers were enthusiastic and very friendly, so we can't fault them for size.
We checked out the campsites for future reference. Not favorable. It's very clean, clear, and well situated, but the sites are way too close together for a state park. Not like a private park, but not the spacious setting we've come to expect from state-operated facilities.
When we returned to camp there were still many hours of daylight in the sky (and hours before suppertime, which is more important), so I decided to take the bike trail as far as it would go. This is an freshly paved asphalt trail that runs alongside the highway to the west-ish direction. Not directly alongside the highway--there's a strip of trees that separate them and make it lovely, quiet and private. The only problem was the fresh asphalt--it stunk! But it wasn't sticky, so we put up with the stink and hiked along.
Before long I really wished I'd worn jogging shoes instead of sandals. It would have been even better for a jog. But on and on we went, over hill and over dale, seeing almost no people at all. It was about five in the evening by then and we did eventually see a single bicyclist, a lone man who looked like he was exhausted and regretting his ambition.
The hills were easy for walking but I could see them being challenging for a cyclist. After what seemed like a very long while--my plan was to walk for an hour and thirty minutes--I began mentioning to Molly that it might be time to turn back. But suddenly I saw a sign--junction with Cedar Falls Overlook 300 yards. I know how far that is intellectually, but how far would it seem on an unknown side trail? I had to find out.
Plus, when Ed and I had driven to the Cedar Falls Overlook the second day, it had seemed very high up in the hills. I'd been going uphill, gradually, but was I really at the correct elevation or would the trail go straight upwards? Plus, was this side trail going to take me to the actual overlook, or just to a trail that went to the overlook? I had to know, so we took it.
The answers to my questions were easy--300 yards is indeed very short, just about three times the length of my driveway. The trail was almost perfectly level, so we were already at the correct elevation. And the trail really did end up at the overlook, right at the parking lot. We were there.
But so were about fifty other people. There were eight or twelve cars in the parking lot and people all over. Taking Molly on the little boardwalk out to see the falls again when I'd already seen it once was pointless. So we returned to the crossover trail and then to the stinky trail.
By then it was forty-five minutes out. We'd been walking briskly almost the entire time, with only a brief stop so Molly could bark her fool head off at the statue of the CCC worker in the park. She did not like that guy. So we headed back, and soon we were passed by quite a few bicyclists, fast and slow and in between. After seeing only one guy other than all the fatties in automobiles, it was nice to see people enjoying the recreation opportunities!
I have no idea how far the trail continued. Maybe to the end of the park or at least to the very high overlook that we'd driven to after the falls. I should check....
I couldn't find a trail map, but it runs on the left (south & east) side of the road from upper right to lower left.
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