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Looper HollowHike along Looper Hollow, tributary of upper Big Piney Creek, Ozark National Forest
12/29/18
December 29th...another year passes by. My final hike of 2018 took me to a tributary of the Big Piney Creek. This is a short creek with a small watershed within Looper Hollow. After a belly filled with Denny's action, I headed north up Hwy 7 and turned left then right then left again. At 5:30 a.m. I was moving down an old road bed along a ridge. The moon was half...the skies were clear...the temp was 28°. Sunrise was scheduled for 7:17. My initial bluff was mounted with 30 minutes to spare. The sun tried to rise but clouds moved in and disabled that. This day was supposed to remain clear, but no. The bluff line was followed for a while and then the base of the same line was traced back in the other direction. Many small caves were encountered, each inhabited by some bears. Each bear was wrestled in turn and defeated.
After a time it was downward to the creek where it was followed upstream until the steep and slippery slopes became tiresome. One nice waterfall was happened upon named Squibnibbler Falls. After this was enjoyed I headed back up the treacherous hillside and within minutes, was on top again. The day remained cloudy with a high around 38°. At 1:10 the woods were exited. This short exploration logged 4.5 miles and was quite lovely.
