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Upper Cossatot River
Slippery hike on the Upper Cossatot River and down Brushy Creek
7/8/17
Imagine a river so wild...so magical...so......well, you'd have to go somewhere else for that, but this one's pretty nice. Now...imagine eating at Waffle House in Hot Springs. Imagine being charged 12% sales tax on your meal. Then imagine telling the Hot Springs Department of Tourism to kiss your ass since you will not be returning. Then imagine the elation felt as you exit the city that just treated you like scum. I would never imagine this but some diners might.
The Brushy Creek Recreation Area on the Upper Cossatot River was entered around 5:30 a.m. with a temp of 75° and increasingly clouding skies. The sun arrived at 6:04 with little evidence of its presence. The river had just enough water to fill the banks but not make it too challenging to navigate with my feet. This fine river is interspersed with unique rock formations that spring right up from beneath the surface. Gravel and small rocks fill the remainder of the river bed. The flow was followed upstream until The Tightness was encountered. This is where the Cossatot and Brushy Creek nearly collide. The Tightness is what prevents this occurrence from occurring. Observe the map below to fully appreciate this.
At this point the dividing ridge was traversed and the journey downstream on Brushy Creek was undertaken. The creeks share certain common characteristics but each has its own personality. The wet hike was thoroughly enjoyed and ended back at the picnic area around 10:50 with 80°. Total distance rang in at 3.5 nautical miles. Rain began immediately as my clean clothes were donned, just as I had planned it.
