From Soft Roading to Mud Bogging......Kinda, Sorta, Maybe

  The weather cooperated last week  and I decided to venture south to Arkansas. Three plus hour drive and I was in the Ozark National Forest. If that isn't "Sasquatch  Country" I don't know what is. The leaves haven't started any serious turning of Fall colors yet, but it was still a nice drive. I arrived in the area I had been researching mid afternoon,  found a small lake and a nice site...  parked myself there for two nights. First day and evening was overcast so no opportunity for a sunset or sunrise shot. No sunrise the second day, but a pretty nice sunset with what looked like some storm clouds moving in....of course I had to grab my camera and shoot a few pics. My idle time was spent hiking some easy trails, reading some books on the local area and cooking a few meals. 

Next morning again was overcast.....decided to venture to another location near some rivers to include the Buffalo National River. Had  bacon and eggs,  took my time packing up, cleaning up checking locations. The weather wasn't sure what it wanted to do....overcast and a few drops of rain. I decided to travel 100 or so miles somewhat north and west. South of Jasper, Ark. 

Not a bad view  .......

........from the camper

What a drive that turned out to be. Arkansas has a road definition system  that is different from anything I'm use to. Their definition of a "County" Road ...is in line to what I'm use to seeing as a single track trail...I was tested on my skill level or lack there of....Bottom line I was lucky not to get stuck and having to send a SOS message from my Garmin mini in-Reach.  A lot of water on the trail, rutted trails, deep muddy trails, numerous river crossings....The bottom line I averaged, at least according to my calculations, 2-7 miles per hour. No cell service. I used my in-Reach to send messages to my Bride. I did stop a number of times to see how deep the water was and how soft the trail  was....But I found a pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow, at least it seemed like that for me! 

Nothing like Country Driving...haha

Better parts of the trail

  

What a Vista. The photo's don't do it justice. The water was deep Aqua....I wanted to take a dip but knew how cold it most be. I believe that it is Spring fed stream.

Entering Shangri La

I did a little walk around/hike to get a feel of my surroundings, no sign of any human activity, the trail  oh excuse me "county" road  😇 looks about the same shape as where I just came from. So time for a sandwich I had made before leaving the last camp......close enough to five O'clock for a adult refreshment. All I knew is this was going to be a great stay.

But things don't always go the way of plans. Though it was overcast most of the day,  storms never were on my radar scope.  The longer I was there the more ominous the clouds layer got  and the  wind picked up. With no cell service I had no way of knowing what the current weather situation was looking like. I did not want to leave so I thought I would stay for a little while longer to see if this system blows over...or gets worse. 

My slice of paradise 

  However I knew that if it started raining  or worse storming that I could have a real problem getting out... not only with the deep muddy ruts, but also that the water crossing may become impassable due to water levels rising  and faster current.  I decided to error on the side of "chicken" and look forward to another visit in the near future.

The perfect "getaway" camping spot

As I was making my exit, it started raining The good news is the heavy rain didn't hit until I was back on pavement. Three plus hours  and I was pulling into the driveway, with outstretched arms of my lovely bride. Most of the drive back was with T-storms, and strong winds. 

Ahhh, back on pavement and civilization :))

 I will be back to that shangri la site very soon!....So stay toned...Horst sends