Bluff Spring Journal
April 2011
April 8, 2011
After lots of meetings today it was off to the cabin for a weekend getaway. Anita is not actually having to work this weekend (I know-get out the defibrillator paddles and shock me back into conciousness). My bride works way too hard. I admire her ability to sit down and work several hours on one project. Me, I get about an hour into something and it's time to find something else to do or my brain starts to wander and I usually end up making mistakes. See... that first sentence took ten seconds to write and I was already off subject onto something more interesting. Anyway... back to the cabin trip. We stopped at our usual place for some bakery items and then headed onto our weekend. After arriving we got everything out of the SUV and decided to see if there were any wildflowers blooming near Hammerschmidt Falls. The dogs had a great time finding a lot of new things to smell. Too bad I can't train them to sniff out wildflowers. We did find a few wildflowers. Bird's Foot Violet, Blue Phlox and a few Shooting Stars that were just beginning to bloom.
Bird's Foot Violet
Blue Phlox
April 9th
Upon returning to the cabin last night we determined that something was wrong with the water heater. Pilot light was on but the burner would not come on. After a little sluething I determined that the vent blower motor had given up the ghost. Bummer. After calling the 800 number on the water heater I got confirmation that indeed that was what was wrong. Hmmm, cold showers! Not going to happen. We weren't about to let a small problem like no hot water dampen our spirits so we headed out for a hike along the Buffalo River between Ponca and Steel Creek. I was hoping that some of my old wildflower friends had awakened from their long winter's nap. Sure enough a few of them were out and showing off their best stuff.
Wild Iris
Trillium
Trillium
Anita, Annie, Me and Sid
We had a great time along the Buffalo. I'm glad spring has finally happend in the Ozarks.
On the way back we stopped off along a bench that has been good for Dutchman's Breeches in the past. We weren't disappointed and were treated to these whimsical flowers.
Dutchman's Breeches
April 15
Start of the CSNP (Central States Nature Photoraphers) weekend. Several folks from the Arkansas Photographers Network are also joining us for the weekend. But first I have to meet a plumber at the cabin to install our water heater exhaust fan. And... he turned out to be a really nice guy. He had actually grown up here on Mt. Sherman and had hunted all the land down the valley along Carlton Creek. It took him about 30 minutes and would have taken me over an hour. That is after I had figured out how to do it.
Right after the plumber left I got a call from Tom Kennon saying he was on his way from Ft. Smith and would I be interested in hiking into Bowers Hollow to photograph a waterfall. Hey, all you have to do is say 'waterfall' and I'm in. We were joined by Gale Rainwater whom we met in Ponca and then proceeded on to the trail head. This waterfall is off of FR 1410 and 1410B and is 2.6 miles past the Hawksbill Crag trail head. You might be tempted to follow the road in your vehicle as far as you can but be wary of the mother of all mud holes that has swallowed a number of vehicles. People say that this is a 4.0 roundtrip hike but if you count (and we did) going around all the ice storm damage and then hiking down the hollow to get to the bottom of the waterfall (and we did) it's about 6.2 miles. It wasn't a hard hike but it kept your attention.
Here's a photo of what we found. It's about 55 feet high.
Bowers Hollow Falls
After spending as much time as we could we headed back out to the car. We often asked that eternal question, "How come it is always a longer hike out than the hike in?" But... we had some good cooking to look forward to at the Ozark Cafe and that thought alone kept us going. We got to the Ozark Cafe at 8:45 pm. Want to guess when they close? Yeppers, 8:30 pm. Oh well, a sandwich at the new Subway tasted really good. We then headed on over to Fairview Campground which is 28 miles south of Jasper on Hwy 7. The crew was waiting for us with a rip roaring fire and some home made brownies thanks to Bryan Simpon's wife. And after chewing the brownies and the fat with the crew for a while we retired to sleep. I slept in the SUV since it was dark and I really didn't want to put up my Mutha Hubba tent in the dark. It's not hard to put up but the wind was howling and basically I was just plain tired.
5:30 am up and at'em. Jan Harrison had graciously offered to ferry us into Rock Creek with his Polaris 4WD. It's about a four mile roundtrip through some steep country so we let him twist our arms into going on the Polaris. Man was I glad we did. There is a logging road but it was really rough and steep. I'd never been to Rock Creek but plan to go back.
Rock Creek
Wood Betony on Rock Creek
After a morning of shooting we headed back to the campground to sit around the fire and take naps. The light is lousy during the middle of the day so there isn't much better to do than eat and nap. I'm getting to be a pro at both. We did do a little scouting along Falling Waters Creek for the evening shoot. The road along Falling Waters Creek is closed just above Six Fingers Falls. They are making slow but good progress. When you see the side of the mountain that fell off and rumbled across the road it's easy to see why it is taking a long time. Although it was a year or so before they started work. With a few spots marked on the GPS we headed back to Fairview Campground and napped again till time to go shoot.
We spent a couple of hours shooting along the creek and I got a couple of keepers.
Fire Pink and Winter Vetch (I think)
As dark approached we headed back to the campground to feast on a pork loin that Matt Kennedy had cooked up for us. You just can't beat food around a campfire. It alway's tastes better. After a another couple of brownies we headed off to bed. 5:30 am was going to come early and we had a sunrise to shoot.
April 16th
Sunrise was nice but no defining clouds were present so I just enjoyed the view. One of the guys, Zack Andrews, did get a nice photo with a flower in the foreground.
After saying our goodbyes it was off to shoot Roark Creek wildflowers for me. There weren't really a lot out but I did get this Indian Paintbrush.
Indian Paintbrush
April 27, 2011
Geez, what's with all the rain? All I can do is dash out with my camera during the few rain free hours that happen by. Luckily Sue Schuble wasn't occupied this morning. She is also about to choke someone about the rain. My lovely wife is on suicide watch for Sue. She knows how Sue gets if she has too many days without sunshine. As I was saying Sue was free so we scampered on down to Busiek State Park to go wildflower hunting. Here are a few we captured before it started (want to guess?) raining.
False Indigo
Hyacinth (doesn't look much like the ones you buy at the green houses)
Spiderwort
Larkspur
Of course it started raining. I had taken along an umbrella (one of my must haves in the pack) and we each took turns holding it over the last few flowers that were posing for our photographs.
April 28, 2011
My lovely bride has left me and flown off to a foreign land called Washington, D.C. The dogs are depressed want her to hurry home.
Sid and Annie waiting for their mommy to come home.
Got a call from a good friend who knew I was hunting for a Lady Slipper. So, I threw everything in the SUV and headed out. Thank goodness for good friends and clouds.
Lady Slipper
Lady Slipper
Lady Slipper
Caught a small back yard visitor today. My guess is a woodpecker. Can't tell you how much it frustrates me to take bird pictures. They're too &^$@ small and too &$$# quick.
Missouri Botanical Garden
We usually like to drop by the gardens whenever we're in St. Louis. I usually have to deal with harsh sun and wind and today was no exception. I can't imagine the untold hours staff and volunteers spend to keep these gardens in such beautiful shape.
Orchid
Orchid
Orchid
Orchid
Iris
Here was another beauty I found among the flowers. Too bad I got that gnarly looking guy in the frame with her.
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