Mini Vacation

 

A couple weeks ago, during that oppressing hot stretch of July, we had an unexpected four day weekend come up and decided to take advantage of it. So we packed up the car and drove down to northwest Arkansas to spend some time on the Buffalo River. 

Being spring fed, the river was pretty low this time of the year so we had to drive down a ways to find a place where it was still barely deep enough to paddle but we were able to manage, along with hundreds of other like thinking individuals. Fortunately for us, we got an early start while most were still getting their acts together so our day wasn't terribly crowded though we saw signs of the masses behind us at the takeout point.

The early start to our day also had the advantage of avoiding the hottest part of the day. We only stopped our paddle once in late morning for a bite of our lunch that we had brought along across from the above bluff. There may have been a brief swim session as well until the masses started floating down from upstream in their boats and then we opted to get back into our boats and finish the trip. It was a nice way to spend a day not sitting in our house hoping the air conditioner doesn't break down.

The following day, we aimed for something less ambitious and just went down to a local swimming hole. As I said earlier, the river is spring fed so quite refreshing this time of year despite the heat. As luck would have it, just as we came out of the trees on the riverbank we saw a horse packer cooling off three horses in the same water hole and of course one was defecating into it. If that weren't bad enough, there were at least a dozen people immediately downstream of the crapping horse.

Needless to say, we opted to go to the upstream side of the pool and into the shade of a nearby vertical cliff. There we were able to spend several hours staying cool. The owner of the horses was smart enough to realize their tactical error and quickly left with the horses in tow. 

Above you can see a rapids on the upper end of the bluff underneath which we swam. During higher springtime water, this can be a challenging rapids for inexperienced paddlers but on this day, it was just an amusing place to spend an afternoon.

Here is a picture I took looking upstream of the rapids towards the previous bend in the river. During the winter months, I have often hiked on a trail above the river that goes above that shear band of rocks you see in the distance. It is a short hike of just a few miles and the highest point of the entire trek is skirting above that face of rock. However due to the heat and ticks, I was content not hiking up the mountainside to get around that obstacle.

Finally hunger for a supper still cooking in a crockpot back at the cabin caused us to start packing up our things and heading back through the trees to the parking lot where our car was and head home, but not without one look directly up from our hole at the protecting projection of rock that so nicely kept the direct sun off of us while we swam.

The next day we would make the drive home and back to our air conditioned dungeon, but a bit more refreshed.