191
Rainy Morning Hike Down Upper Wolf Creek in Newton County
5/30/15
The rain continued to fall as my way was made down the old road overgrown with with weeds and encroaching trees and shrubbery. It was 6:00 a.m. and 65°. My goal was the upper reaches of Wolf Creek, a tributary to Big Creek in Newton County. Breakfast was at Denny's in Russellville at 3:15. My mind was made up to explore this creek even though the forest was dripping with rain and thick with vegetation from all the earlier spring showers. Parking was off of CR 6370, which is a well maintained gravel road. After walking for a while it was evident that ticks would not be the parasite of choice this week. Mosquitoes were plentiful and gnats took over their duty later in the morning.
The creek had ample water and numerous small rocky falls. At one point a side creek entered and completely muddied the water making it quite unappealing. Downstream a gorge area with numerous caves and falls was explored but due to the rain and forest thickness not all attractions were visited. A quick cut across the ridge led me to Cove Branch where a waterfall emerges from a large cave and then disappears underground just above the creek. By now I was completely soaked and weary of the slog through the jungle. There are numerous old roads in the area but none of the ones travelled were very clear. My way back was on one of these roads just uphill a ways from the creek. By 11:30 my car was in sight and the rain had departed. I regret not seeing all that this area has to offer, but maybe another day. It was 70° on departure with a total mileage right around 5.4.
