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

Lake Catherine State Park

November 19, 2016. Off work for the Thanksgiving week Donna and I took a three night trip to Lake Catherine State Park. Lake Catherine is located in Hot Springs county in the Ouachita mountains. After a November week with 80+ degree highs fall finally arrived. Daytime temperatures had dropped to 50's with lows below freezing. Below are pictures Donna took on Highway 9 south of Williams Junction as we first got into the national forest.

 

Being a retired Entergy employee the history of the Ouachita River and its dams has always been interesting to me. The 1940 acre Lake Catherine was formed in 1924 when Arkansas Power and Light (now Entergy Arkansas) constructed Remmel Dam on the Ouachita River for hydroelectric power production.

Sunday we stayed in the campground and took a hiking tour around the entire campground. 

From the lake front camping area you can see Entergy's Lake Catherine Powerplant.  Lake Catherine Powerplant is a four unit oil and natural gas fired plant first constructed in 1950.

Lake Catherine Powerplant

Monday we took a drive into Hot Springs for lunch and some shopping. On the return trip we stopped at Entergy Park at Carpenter Dam. Upstream on the Ouachita River from Lake Catherine is Entergy's Carpenter Dam built by Arkansas Power and Light in 1931.

In the evening it was campfire and burgers on the BBQ grill. It seemed appropriate that on our Thanksgiving weekend trip we spent so much time enjoying things that Entergy has provided us. Beyond flipping a switch and expecting that lights come on, we are starting our Entergy retirement. Our Heartland camping trailer and the GMC we use to pull it are the rewards of a 37 year career at Arkansas Nuclear One. Then there are the lakes where we have enjoyed so much time that were built by Arkansas Power and Light visionaries who understood the benefits of diverse power sources including hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear power. 

Nana and Pops Rock!