Forests of Arkansas

 It was getting cold. The fall was around the corner and I had a few days in my hand so I could leave the busy city behind and hit the road again. I was missing mountains and I was looking for somewhere I haven't been there before. I also had a company this time. Twyla was coming with me and this was her first long trip with me so I decided to make it lighter, so I was happy to see Arkansas is the randomly chosen destination. This is the new habit to chose the destination with dice. When you travel for a long time, you start looking for new excitements. One of the disadvantages of the information era is the information! Most of the time you can have a solid and predictable plan for your trip and that can spoil the adventurous nature of the experience so I find new ways to surprise myself.  

I packed up my stuff in White Dwarf and we headed to Mississippi. I tried to be light but unlike hiking, camping can get heavy very fast because we don't notice the weight we don't carry on our back. Soon it started raining and it got heavier when I entered Mississippi. My first stop was Delta National Forest. I was planing for an overnight camping, but it never goes as you planned and I got my big surprise much earlier than I expected. It was raining all day. Farther I moved in Mississippi, the rain was getting heavier. It was near sunset and I was short in time so I kept driving. The sunset was amazing as most sunsets are in the south. The horizon was covered with the haze and colors were so surreal.

It was dark when I turned to the gravel road just 10 miles away from my campsite. First 8 miles were easy to drive. Near last two miles the road turned to mud and with all those rains it was very difficult to keep White Dwarf under control. Soon I lost the control and I was near the edge of the road (if we can call it a road anyway). It was dark and raining, so I decided don't do anything until the next morning. With a very limited view I could hurt more than help. So I camped in a not very leveled position, and I knew the White Dwarf may gradually slip into the channel under it's weight but I have learned (hopefully) my lesson from previous similar situations.

I was thinking about different ways I should make my way out, all night. The next morning I examined the situation and it was as bad as I imagined. Even Twyla was like "this is not good dude!" but it seemed she likes wandering around in the mud. I definitely didn't like it and within a few seconds everything was covered in mud.

 

 Digging and other traditional methods didn't work and more I tried, more I got into the channel. I used the wooden step I built for Twaly as a platform so the tires could have more friction but it tore the 1/5 thick hardwood in pieces and finally I was right at the center of the channel.

I realized the best way to get out is rather unconventional. The channel was deep but the vegetation could help with the friction I desperately needed and the close end of the channel was accessible although it was very steep but my initial assessment told me White Dwarf is high enough and we can make it. So after multiple trial and error I made my way out by backing up in the channel.

And we started the long process of cleaning up all those mud after I reached the gravel road again. I was full of joy but tired and I had blisters all over my hands after so much digging, but happy ending required a celebratory picture with Twyla (seen a little confused with this first adventure) and muddy White Dwarf (I was proud of).

and soon we were on a road again heading toward Ouachita national forest in Arkansas. I drove most of the day on back-country roads and found a perfect campground at the heart of the national forest. The road was full of Fall colors and the sunset was like a magician colored everything with warm yellow and red colors. This night I didn't need to worry about being next to a channel on an uneven surface. My loyal companion looked more relaxed and happier than the night before. She started exploring the campsite as soon as we arrived and she examined the two neighbors who were camping a few hundred yards away from us. There was occasional rain during the night but we both slept warm and enjoyed a quiet night.

Next morning we explored the beautiful campsite together. There was a nice creek running nearby and birds were warming up after a chili night, singing their song and hopping from one branch to another branch of half dead trees.

The autumn leaves were dancing in the spring and we spent a good amount of time walking around this lovely little creek.

We had a nice short hike along the creek and Twyla was very excited and running in front of me all the time.

After a nice breakfast we were on a road again.

 I stopped every now and then just to enjoy the scenery. I tried dirt roads of the forest but many of them were closed. Ouachita national forest offers many beautiful hiking and biking trails.

Ozark national forest was the next stop. After exploring high and low we ended up in a popular campsite. It was understandably very busy campsite. The view from this campsite is just fantastic. Apparently this campsite is a camping/hiking destination in this region. This is also a perfect rock climbing spot with a lot of nice vertical cliffs.

We hiked the main trail with views. Twyla was running all the time and I had to calm her down because she was too excited.

After a nice hiking I prepared to drive to Missouri. I wasn't in any rush and I spent a long time hiking, and driving around this campsite.

I knew my next destination and the campsite very well. I had camped there two times but I had a drama finding this time because someone had posted a new location and this location was wrong so I ended up somewhere else and I didn't have any network coverage to find the right location but the GPS location was cached and my trusty Garmin GPS came to rescue.

We arrived in the dark. This was a beautiful campsite but our friendly neighbor  was using not so friendly generator all night. It was a nice morning with a beautiful sunrise though.

 We had our breakfast and we enjoyed the sunrise. This is my favorite southern scene. Sunrise and dense fog rising above the lake shining through trees and reflections of the sunshine over a calm water.

We had a good time and again we spend a lot of time walking around the lake. Soon we were ready to hit the road again but this time we were heading home. It was a long drive but we both were happy with a good memory of a simple adventure that turned to a unique experience with challenges and enjoyable moments but we sure enjoyed every moment of it, all the ups and downs of the journey.

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