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East Fork of the Little Buffalo
Hike above the East Fork of the Little Buffalo and Lee Hollow
8/24/17
Good god man!...62° and water flowing in small creeks at the latter part of August?! This is unheard of...well, I have heard of it before but not often. Breakfast was at Denny's in Russellville aforehand. The dense and punishing shrubbery was entered at 5:10 a.m. with sunrise expected at 6:09. Many spider webs were encountered and destroyed with pleasure along my path through the forest. By 6:00 the bluff line came into dim view. The view was dim due to darkness on fog action. The fog did not subside until on or around 8:00, as measured by the ChronoMaster 5000 strapped to my left wrist. Upon liftage, a brilliant sun was revealed...and blinded me it did with superior luminosity. I say superior because it is brighter than anything...or so I've been led to believe.
Many a bluff's edge was explored and uncounted vistas were gazed upon with adoration. Numerous creeklets flowed with the freshest water deposited in this region by yesterday's precipitation. The East Fork below could be heard...as if...with a goodly flow. The woods were brimming with verdancy. This summer has had plentiful rainfall with resultant lushness. Lunch was had at Jim Bob Lee Memorial Falls. A moment-o-silence was had for poor Jim Bob who met his death here in 1843. He was eaten alive by a gang of angry badgers, which were plentiful in the Ozarks prior to 1900. They were sadly hunted to extinction after Jim Bob's untimely demise. The locals vowed "never again, dammit!". To this day...no deaths related to badger activity have been recorded. But...who has been been keeping the books? Who indeed. Some say that badgers have. Will we ever know? I am but a visitor to these valleys and have an open mind to this theory.
After pausing atop the sun dappled falls with assorted grasses and woody stemmed low growing plants, I moved away in an uphill and west-northwesterly direction until my point or origin was in sight. It was there that this 2.3 mile hike ended. No molestation by ticks or other bothersome creatures was encountered, save for the 2607 spider webs that found solace in my facial area. At 11:30 it was 75°. This day could only be described as...refreshing.
