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Hike Down Edgemon Creek, Tributary of Beech Creek, Tributary of the Buffalo River
10/18/14
It was a mid October morning. My belly was full after breakfast at the South Park Restaurant in Clarksville. That's in Arkansas, boy. My outdoor transport unit pulled into the Hawksbill Crag parking area around 5:00 a.m. Three or four cars were already there. Each one received a fully loaded skunk...each in its own individual tote sack...burlap...so as not to trap the smell, ya know. Having attended to the vehicles, my feet now plodded down County Road 5, that's Cave Mountain Road. It was dark...real dark. Many creatures gathered in the ditches as I traveled southward. None approached me on this particular morning...they knew better. After a couple of miles and a right turn, the even darker forest enveloped my ass...well...not just that, but all of me. Before long, a slender meandering sliver of a stream was before me. It trickled to and fro...as creeks have a way of doing. This creek is known as...Edgemon Creek.
The weather was good...51° and mostly clear. A waning croissant of a moon hovered above and did not light the creatures following me. Soon a bedrock stretch was revealed and lit by my Black Diamond Storm headlamp...160 lumens of shear white light. My forward progress was paused here in wait for dawn. After the sun began to illuminate the area, I followed the creek downstream. Some interesting segments were encountered, some not. Then I went home. The max temp was 60° at 12:00 as the packed parking was in my mirror. An estimated 60 cars...sad. The total hike was 5.6 miles. No hunters or humans were encountered until the road was in view...then the madness ensued. Throngs of crag happy hikers loitered and massed and trickled into the the forest. I mowed down a few as my hot rod fishtailed down the dusty road.
