A Day Out With Friends
Crossing Ben's Branch - Gene Rush WMA
The month of February had many fine days with highs twenty-five or more degrees above normal. It has been a spectacular month for getting out and enjoying the warm days, blue skies with white puffy clouds, and breath in a little fresh air. We took an all day road trip with a friend who was visiting, that led nowhere in particular or to places we like to visit over and over.
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We took off and headed over to Yardelle Springs to see the actual spring. Although I have driven past it many times I have never stopped. There is parking very close and you can walk right up to it. The day we visited it was running pretty strong after some overnight rains. A pipe comes out from the base, I assume so folks can draw water from the spring during dry times. It was hard to estimate how much water was flowing so I shot a very short video. Most of the major rivers and creeks here in the mountains have some springs which feed them year round. I was quite amazed at the amount of water being sent down the creek. Back in the truck we headed into the Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area. This is another piece of land under the management of the Arkansas
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Game and Fish Commission. it is over 17,000 acres of land and offers a wide variety of activities for the residents of Arkansas. Part of the time we were paralleling Ben;s Branch creek. It is a pleasant drive and as we worked our way along we suddenly thought we saw beaver activity. We pulled over and went to investigate. crossing a small wet area we discovered a large pond and beaver lodge.
Once we left the WMA we sorta made our way to the now vanishing community of Bass, then back out to Carver via the back roads and then over to Mt Shiloh and the Boxley Area, stopping for lunch along the way. So many of the small communities are slowing disappearing with only a few buildings standing.
We passed a group of cyclists out for either an excursion or training exercise or both! The mountains can certainly give you a workout. We stopped by the Old church at Shiloh, established in 1803 and to look at an old cabin.
After leaving the church we headed down the mountain and over to Steel Creek. I never get tired of looking at the stunning bluffs, and I was curious to see how many folks were there camping and using this campground. It is very popular with campers and horseback riding folks. Turns out there were quite a few.
Before heading back home we drove past the Boxley Mill and we could see the swan swimming around in the middle of his pond. We pulled over and to our delight he swam over to us for a visit. He came quite close and we fed him a few nibbles of bread and some seeds. The swan was not afraid of us and he did have an identity collar on. I have stopped to view the swan on many occasions but this is the closest I have gotten.
It was a glorious day! I got the chance to spend some time with close friends I had not seen for a while. The weather was as good as it gets for February, here in the Ozark Mountains. I sure hope each of you gets the chance to visit our area. When you do, make sure and stop to check out all the little things that most folks just pass by, you will be surprised at what you see and learn!