Richland Falls-You Are MINE!
October 25, 2009
Twin Falls of Richland Creek in the Fall
After my defeat by the Twin Falls of Richland last week I was determined to battle them again and be victorious. With my hiking buddy Larry Patrick (who goes VERY prepared I would say) along I set out about 130AM to the Harrison, AR area. I needed to stop at a local photographer’s house and pick up my camera, backpack, and tripod. I had left them in his Jeep last week during the rescue. Then it on to Lurton and the turnoff onto the back roads. The last few miles of the trip are along a very lonely dirt road with only about 4 or 5 houses on it. Just long stretches of Ozarks hills and woods.
We leave the parking area about a mile above Hill Cemetery about 7AM. Temperature is now 34 degrees but before long I am very comfortable in a wicking t-shirt and a nylon long sleeve shirt. My fleece is packed away in case I stop long enough to get cold. No chance of that happening as it takes us about 4 hours to drop down to just above the falls. The old logging road is easier to see now that quite a few people have come thru in the last couple of weeks and the rescuers even cut some trees and limbs away from the path in their efforts to evacuate Ed Cooley(see my previous post) last Friday morning. A very steep drop down I might add with lots of slick areas and rocks just ready to roll down the hill. This time in addition to my GPS and compass I have a custom-printed topo map from the good folks at mytopo.com. they are based in Montana but they can ship it quick and print exactly the area you want. My map has parts of 6 different quads on it. So they can save you money if you need that service.
These falls must be seen to be appreciated. They are about 25 feet high and each fall is about 15-20 feet across. The water level in Richland Creek was low enough that at all areas I could see I could wade across with the deepest parts being maybe 2 feet deep. The flow at higher water levels must be epic for the Ozarks! The fall color had peaked in this area last week so there was very little red even visible. Mainly yellows and browns now.
The lighting was poor for photography as we had bluebird skies and a bit of wind. Nevertheless I was determined to make some images and so I set off. The creek bottom is very slick and it was very soon that my feet went out from under me and I hit the ground hard. The camera was spared but my elbow took a big hit. I had an impact cut that bled for quite some time requiring a big band-aid and a wrap from my first aid kit. My shirt was not cut but the elbow area filled with blood pretty quickly. I am sure the baby aspirin that I take daily had some bearing on the bleeding. After about an hour we started the trek back up the hill. This bit was 20 minutes of the hardest physical activity in my life. Loaded down with a backpack, tripod, and fanny pack made it tough. And not to mention the rocks, wet and slippery conditions, and my already tired state from the hike in. We persevered and made it back up to the logging road without a mishap. This trip will spur me to get a lighter backpack and to put less stuff in it. I want to be prepared but I find that I rarely use many things that I carry. Time to trim the list!
This area must be insect heaven. Spiders and their webs were everywhere. Even more unusual was the number of “walking sticks”. From dark to light brown, green, and even one with a bit of blue, they were everywhere. At one point I carefully pulled three different ones off me and set them carefully down on the ground where they immediately vanished. From the amount of rock in the area I would also venture a guess that during warmer conditions this area would also be snake heaven. I can say with confidence I will NEVER take this route in during a hot time unless there is another rescue going on in the area. I will try hiking in from the Richland Creek campground next time.
We happened upon two groups of people on the way out. The first was a large group of U of Arkansas students who backpacked in and set up camp just above the last big side drainage into Long Devils Fork. They were well-prepared for the conditions. The next group was not. Larry and I encountered a couple in their sixties about 230PM who were dressed in very nice casual clothes with no packs of any type and no supplies visible. They wanted to know if they were on the trail to the waterfall. I wanted to lie to them and tell them no but I replied that it was but I suggest you not try and make the trip. It is very physical and they would not get there before dark. They followed us out very slowly but as we were only about 200 yards from Hill Cemetary they were out fairly quickly. As Larry and I walked up the mile long road to our car they stopped and offered us a ride in their 4WD Expedition and we gladly accepted. I pulled out my Tim Ernst Arkansas Waterfall Guidebook and steered them to another waterfall in the area that I knew they could get to with ease with the time they had left in the day.
From here it was 25 minutes on the dirt roads and another 20 minutes into Jasper, AR and the Ozark Cafe. After Larry and I power late-lunched we declared this to be some of the best home-style cafe grub anywhere. The near standing-room crowd echoed out thoughts. We passed on the great home-made cobbler for dessert as we knew the 4 hour drive home would be murder with that on board. You need to check them out-OzarkCafe.com. they also have a great pizza place right next door with wonderful homemade crusts and sauces for the pizza.
About 930PM I rolled in the door and heard a whisper from upstairs. It was my bed saying”Come on in Bob-sleepin is fine.” And indeed it was. When I awoke this morning I smiled at my previous day and the majesty of those falls that only a few people have seen.
Until next time….
