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Hike on the Ozark Highlands Trail to The Narrows (Nars) on the Buffalo River
9/4/15
Richland Creek Valley. Its beauty slowly diminishes the closer it gets to the Buffalo River, but is still worthy of visitation in that vicinity. After breakfast at Denny's in Russellville my arrival was made at Richland Creek around 5:30 on the North Richland Road (Searcy 14). By dark of night the creek was crossed without incident. The air was moderately muggy with a temp of 68°. My path proceeded down this road which is also utilized by the Ozark Highlands Trail. At one point it was realized that my main goal had been bypassed due to just not paying attention. This area was new to me so a little backtracking was required. I mounted The Narrows bluff from the north and did revel in its wondrous spectacle. This sliver of a bluff is like a wall dividing the Buffalo Valley from Richland Valley. The sun had just risen and oh, the splendor I did behold! A small herd of elk was spied far across the valley near Richland Creek and under telescopic magnification were revealed to be feminine.
After much taking in of the geological oddity my exit was down the slope that probably usually provides access on the south end of the bluff. The next stop was the Buffalo River at the access point of Woolum. This Indian word means "wool..?..um...." which was a Native American's response when asked if the wool was real, but actually was not. The river had a decent flow but was probably not suitable for canoeing, so I did not do that. After crossing Richland Creek some crappy trails were followed back to the south and my car was in view by 11:00. The temp had only risen to 80° so my overall comfort was maintained throughout the hike. Total distance came in at 10.3 miles. Many tick larvae were removed from my body habitus. These are the hugely annoying pinpoint sized bastards that are so prevalent in late summer. I was wishing for a large ticks but none were found crawling on my ass. The drive back took me through Snowball and then down Hwy 65 through Marshall and so on.
