High Points and well, ticks...

Maya summits Highest Point in Arkansas

Gentle rains have been with us off and on for our first full week back on the road, but during our last night at Petit Jean State Park thunderstorms and downpours were on the menu.  After a wakeful night we slept in a little and managed a leisurely breakfast in our RV during a break in the storms.  As we left the campground, the rain started up again and soon lighting and thunder were cracking all around us.  Good thing we hadn’t planned on going that far as 30 mph was our top speed for much of our trip to Mount Magazine State Park, about 60 miles to the west and north of Petit Jean. 

 

Cameron Campground on Mt. Magazine, morning fog

 

At 2,753 feet, Mt. Magazine is the highest point in Arkansas.  That doesn’t seem very high to us after our travels in the mountain west last summer, but saying that, it is hard to pass up the high point of a state.  And with all the recent rain, our decision to move to higher ground was beginning more and more to seem like a sound one.  Many of the streams and rivers in the immediate area were at or near flood stage.  At least we wouldn’t have to worry about flash flooding at our campground near the top of the mountain.

 Indigo Bunting taken near the Visitor's Center
 

As we drove up Mt. Magazine heavy with rain clouds, we were not treated to the views that this park is known for but we did catch a few glimpses of the valleys below and of the rain-swollen Petit Jean River.  We barely had time to explore the visitor center and set up camp before the rains came again. Another night of heavy rain and thunder marred our sleep.  

Wet trail to summit of Mt. Magazine

Morning dawned cool and very foggy, but only a light sprinkling of rain.  In case the weather deteriorated further, we decided a shorter hike would be best.  The trail up Signal Hill, the summit of Mt. Magazine, was across the road from our campground and only about a 3 mile round trip hike.  So off we went.  The trees at the top of the mountain were a bit stunted in their growth as the harsh conditions of being near the summit often create.  Branches were mostly bare as spring comes later to mountain tops.  The effect was an almost ‘spooky’ hike through the fog and mist to the top of Mt. Magazine. 

 

 

In many places the trail ran with water as it only had one way to go – down and into our boots.  The rocky, sandy soil kept the trails from being too muddy and we had only 300 feet left to climb to make the summit so the hike was really not that bad.  No one else was crazy enough to be out hiking and normally we like to ‘own’ the trails, but this day it was a little creepy being out in the fog alone.  Good thing we had Maya with us. 

 

Never encouraging when the trail sign points straight down
It means a hard climb back out

 

The next day was much nicer weather and we went on a longer hike enjoying some of the best scenery on the mountain.  With mostly sunny skies, we could actually see the views too.  The Bear Hollow Trail crossed 18 creeks!  Even with the heavy rains, most of the creeks were small and easily crossed.  We did get our poles out when we got to Big Shoal Creek though.  Extra points of contact are always helpful.

One of the many beautiful creeks we crossed on the Bear Hollow Trail

Eating lunch by the creek

The upper part of Bear Hollow has never been logged and contains some of the last remaining virgin hardwood forest in Arkansas.  Because spring was just arriving on the mountain and the trees were barely in leaf, we could see not only the great views but also the forest floor with its many new flowers and ferns starting to unfurl.  The poison ivy was present too, but much smaller and less of it, so we avoided it easily.

 

Sunrise Point from the Bear Hollow Trail

 

Don't look down!

 

We were feeling pretty good about our day although there had been a tick or two that we flicked off ourselves and Maya.  So when we got back to the campground we decided to do a serious search for ticks, just in case.  For the squeamish I don’t want to go into too much detail, but we lost count of the ticks we got off Maya somewhere in the 50s.  Most of them not attached, but crawling all over the poor puppy.  I think I got 5 or so off me and David around 10, again most not attached.  Maya has tick medication on her, so they do eventually die.  Still we did not want to bring the little crawlies into our RV if at all possible.  We did miss a few though as was evidenced this morning when we did further inspections.   And I think I’ll just leave it at that.

Red-spotted Purple Swallowtails (I think)
Some of the more pleasant insects on the trail

 

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked:  2

Rain Days:    1    
Total Miles Hiked:   9.60  
Ave. Miles per Day:   4.80  
Total Elevation Gain:   1,121 
Ave. Elevation Gain per day:   561 
Tick Count:  100+