Heading for the hills tomorrow

Actually tonight after work. Several friends and I will be driving to Erbie, Arkansas tonight for a 3 day backpacking trip along the Buffalo River. I've been down that way a couple times before (once about 10 years ago and then again almost 14 years ago if memory serves). It is a really beautiful area down there with lots of tall bluffs along the river and the water itself is typically very clear blue and in some places a bright turquoise. The highlight is a valley called Hemmed in Hollow that leads to a 200' waterfall. The falls themselves are only from a small feeder stream into the buffalo river, but 200' is impressive even if the water volume is small. It is sort of like a heavy rain fall when you stand at the bottom.

I am bringing the digital camera we got for Christmas from the in-laws so I will be sure to take lots of pictures (as many as built-in lithium battery allows... I just bought a 2 GB memory card so storage space should not be an issue).

This picture I recognize as being the bluff at the Steel Creek trail head. The last two trips began at this point. This weekend though we are starting at the Erbie trail head a ways down stream so we won't actually even get close to Steel Creek however this picture is a good representation of what much of the landscape looks like. These bluffs are probably around 200 feet tall or more but there is one called Big Bluff about 2 miles down stream from this point and it is a 500' cliff right up against the river!! As you can see this is a popular canoeing river during the warmer months.

Man it is only 10:30!! This is gonna be a long day... at least I have plenty to do to keep me busy after I finish this post which will hopefully speed the day right along. Well I will wrap it up here. Plan on seeing some photos next week.

HASTA!!!