Withrow Springs State Park

Donn ns I traveled to northwest Arkansas to Withrow Springs State Park for my birthday week. Withrow Springs is located north of Huntsville, Arkansas on highway 23 Spur. To the south it borders War Eagle Creek. We met John and Lynda at the park and had adjacent camp sites #21 and #22.

Ronnie and Donna in Site #22

John and Lynda in Site #21

Wednesday we went for a ride through the and ended up in Eureka Springs. We stopped for coffee at Brews.

Coffee Stop in Eureka Springs

Coffee Stop in Eureka Springs

Wednesday evening Master Chef John grilled us some salmon on his Blackstone grill.

John on the Blackstone Cooking Dinner

Being near Halloween we took our skeleton Mr. Skinny and hung him in the back window so he would dance all the way to Withrow Springs. One evening I walked behind the trailer and saw his silhouette in the back window shade.

Mr. Skinny in the Trailer Back Window

Lynda and I took a hike to find Tea Kettle Falls. The hike to the falls is a 2.9 mile hike out and back with about 290' of elevation gain. Mostly an easy well marked trail / road to Warm Fork creek, then along the creek to the falls. Tea Kettle Falls is a unique waterfall that stands 46 feet tall. It has created a vertical hole in the rock bluff and then turned horizontally, creating a small cave, before emerging through the rock face below the top of the ridge. Hence, it is called Kettle Falls. Given recent rain I was expecting to see Tea Kettle falls in all its glory. We followed Warm Fork creek to the base of Tea Kettle falls only to find a small trickle. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the birthday hike through some beautiful territory.

Yuca Plants Near the Trail Head

Warm Fork Creek

Tea Kettle Falls (Without Water)

Thursday evening we drove back to Eureka Springs for my birthday dinner at Local Flavor Cafe. We had a great dinner to finish our another trip around the sun for me.

Sitting in the campsite we enjoyed watching the wildlife. This little chipmunk was scurrying around just next to our site.

Lake Catherine State Park

Camping four days at Lake Catherine State Park September 23rd through 26th. We stayed in site #57 across the road from the lake. We have previously stayed in site #57 and like seclusion of the rock terraced wall behind.

On our way to the campground we took a route suggested by Donna's phone. Rather than stay on the major thoroughfares like Central Avenue past Oaklawn Park we were routed behind the track on Shady Grove Road. This route took us under a 11' 6" high railroad trestle. I was "pretty sure" we were less than 11' 6" and after getting home I confirmed we were 10' 10" to the top of the air conditioner. There is always some kind of adventure just getting to Lake Catherine State Park from Russellville.

First evening I made a few long exposure photos with my phone. In the first photo below you can just make out the Milky Way. 

We thought we would just try to sleep in on our first morning. However, the park management had other ideas. Directly behind site #57 they started cutting trees at 7:30 AM.

I did manage to get out and hike a few trails. The Horseshoe Mountain Trail was a wooded 2.7 mile loop just behind the campground.

RED and YELLOW Trails Diverge in the Woods

The Road Not Taken - By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The second trail I hiked was the Dam Mountain Trail. This trail is accessed from the campground and takes you high above Lake Catherine with some scenic overlooks. The trail starts after you cross over the Fall Creek Falls and proceeds up (and then up some more about a 400' elevation gain) until you reach the Lake Catherine overlook.

While at the top of the mountain I attempted to walk down to Remmel Dam. I could hear the roar of the water through the dam, but walking through the thicket became difficult. You can see from my recorded track above that I was very close to the dam.

Fungus on a Log

Dry Creek Bed

Mushrooms

Back down to Fall Creek Falls on the way to the campground.

Later in the day Donna and I decided to take a drive to Remmel Dam. I was able to hike to within a couple hundred yards of the dam, but it was about a 30 minute drive from the campground. Arriving as the dam it became apparent why I was able to hear it so well. The gates were open with a huge fountain of water being discharged. Remmel Dam was the first of the dams build by Arkansas Power and Light on the Ouachita River in 1924. I wish I could find a video I discovered in an AP&L warehouse in Pine Bluff while searching for Ritchie plant drawings. The video shows the construction of the dam using timber and gravel sourced from the area and the steam locomotive used to transport materials.

Down in the Flood Area Below the Remmel Dam

As we were packing up on our last day I noticed a snake skin hanging our of a drain in the terrace wall behind our camper. I gave it a tug to see if I could pull it out of the hole but it wouldn't come. It may have been attached to the snake in the hole so I just left it alone.

Snake Skin