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Sulphur Creek
Sulphur Creek, tributary of the North Fork of the Illinois Bayou bluff and creek hike
7/21/18
At 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, I check radar before heading out and to my astonishment there is massive wave of thunderstorms moving into northwest Arkansas. "Looks like it will move through" I say up in my head. The brunt of it hits me just east of Russellville and damned near blows me clean off the highway. My superior driving skills allow me to maneuver between the slow moving semis and other assorted vehicles attempting to bar my passage. Denny's provided a safe location for breakfast even though the power kept trying to go out there. After some food I moved up Hwy 7 and the storms did come and go along the way. Most had passed when I arrived at the North Fork but some drizzle continued. The temp was 75° at 5:10 as the hike was initiated.
The river was easily crossed and the bluff line traversed until a suitable vantage point was secured for sunrise action just above Sulphur Creek. The woods were quite moist with much drippage. The morning was abundantly pleasant with some lingering clouds and scattered fog. The sunrise came and went and was all mine at this location. Soon the bluff line was traced westward until it faded into the side of the ridge. Here I dropped into the valley. The creek had a light flow with interspersed pools. The rocks were, as expected, begging me to lose my footing. Much of the time the preferred path was in the forest with the spider webs.
Close to 11:00 some lunch was had at creekside. After that, it was not too far to the confluence with the North Fork of the Illinois Bayou. It was followed upstream a ways to a small waterfall where a refreshing bob in the pool below was had. Ah yes!. At 12:10 with 86° my car was in view. This short journey covered 3.8 miles and was deadly dangerous...as if, from hell.
