Eclipse Day In The Ozarks
Highway 7 South Before The Event
Some months ago I had received an invitation to watch the April 8, 2024 eclipse from my friend's home, surrounded by National Forest. I eagerly accepted and asked if I could invite a friend. He graciously said yes so I invited my old friend from Wisconsin, Tom Olsen to come down. Many of the roads that were going to be used to access the eclipse did not have shoulders, so any accident or breakdown would cause significant delays. On eclipse day we left early, about 8:30 hoping avoid any such disruptions. We got to our destination around 10:30. We saw only a few cars on the 45 mile drive. We turned and headed down the 1/2 mile dirt road drive to his house.
Partial Eclipse
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Full Sun
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Just Before Totality
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There were 8 of us for the event. We all brought camp chairs and positioned them in the best location. Fay set up a camp table, turned it into a buffet, and everyone had brought something to contribute. It was a splendid feast and no one went hungry. We all just mingled, chatted, grazed and waited for the event to begin. As the eclipse progressed we became more engrossed in watching. I thought the coolest part was when the last little bit of sun disappeared. We could actually take off our special glasses for a very short bit. The birds also fell silent for the most part, and so did we! As the moon slipped away and the sun shone again we all started moving around. One thing we all said was that we thought it would get darker than it did! Once the entire show was over we packed up the buffet and hauled it back to the house. Tom and I said our goodbyes and headed back to Harrison. We arrived home at 5:30. It was a 9 hour day and totally fun the entire time.
My friend Tom was going to leave Wednesday morning, but on Tuesday he wanted to pick up a few gifts for his goddaughter and husband, whom he was going to visit on his way home. He also expressed an affinity for dirt roads and wanted to wander a bit. I often take people to the Osage Clayworks, located in the old Stamp General Store. It's a wonderful place to get local pottery and crafts. Tom examined the goods carefully then bought two mugs by the master potter. He then wanted to watch an apprentice work and ask questions. I walked around and took pictures. I have been here many times and engaged the staff while Tom visited. I indicated that I wanted to take the old highway back and the lady said that there was a eagles nest just a few trees away as you head up to that road.
My friend Tom was going to leave Wednesday morning, but on Tuesday he wanted to pick up a few gifts for his goddaughter and husband, whom he was going to visit on his way home. He also expressed an affinity for dirt roads and wanted to wander a bit. I often take people to the Osage Clayworks, located in the old Stamp General Store. It's a wonderful place to get local pottery and crafts. Tom examined the goods carefully then bought two mugs by the master potter. He then wanted to watch an apprentice work and ask questions. I walked around and took pictures. I have been here many times and engaged the staff while Tom visited. I indicated that I wanted to take the old highway back and the lady said that there was a eagles nest just a few trees away as you head up to that road.
So we turned up the old highway and there it was! I had never seen one so close up before. I pulled off the road, sorta, and parked. As we got out of the jeep, the eagle swooped in and sat above the nest. We were so lucky to witness another spectacular event. I managed to get a few pictures but I didn't see anything in the nest. I then took the dirt road towards Hemmend-In-Hollow, but instead of turning there I went straight ahead on the old Compton to Erbie road. This was never a road for the faint of heart and often required a four wheel drive vehicle. Bill and I used it many times in the early days of the Barefoot Traveler, but the last time I was on it was 7 years ago with David. It was a dangerous road then and we said we would not use it again unless they fixed it. I had actually met the road crews that were out fixing the Erbie area two years ago, and they told me they fixed it. So I decided to give it a try. Once you get to a certain point it is straight down. You hope you don't meant any traffic coming at you. We made it down and past the Erbie church. I stopped at Cove Spring to stretch my legs and then we headed over the Cove Creek slab, and exited the Buffalo National River Park.
The Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas is an area you can spend a few days in, a few weeks in, or the rest of your life. They are full of public recreation areas available to everyone. It has camping, floating, hiking, rock climbing, nature watching and just plain relaxing. Most of it is free too!. Grab the family or friends and head out for a day in the Ozarks.