There's a song on my mind as I begin this blog, "Don't go Chasing Waterfalls" and to add to this, if you do, know where you are going and watch your step.
This particular weekend was another one of my "spur of the moment" adventures and this time I had cousins, my nephew and his wife and my granddaughter with me. When we started, we didn't know just how big of an adventure this would be.
My sister-in-law Susie bought me the second edition of Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls and after reading the directions, I knew just how to get there, or so I thought. Note to self...always read the directions in their entirety. We finally arrived at the Hwy 123 Falls parking area after only a few extra miles of getting lost, backtracking, and turn arounds. A big shout out to my cousin Ronnie for taking the initiative to read the directions and for getting us to our destination. According to the directions in the book, we were to cross the highway, get on a trail and go a short "trek" to the waterfall. We started out hiking on a clearing that was directly across the road from the parking area. It was an old logging road (note, the book said trail, not logging road). We could hear the creek flowing right beside us. We must have been on the right trail.....(sigh) NO! We ended up turning around after a steep climb and no waterfall, and decided to go a different route.
While hiking back to the road, we were chit chatting and wondering where in the world the trail could be. I am once again in Sunday clothes and sandals. You would have thought I learned from the last hike....but I didn't. A big tree had fallen across the trail and Rylee, being the youngest, was bouncing along in front of us. I snapped a picture of her and then asked if she would come back so I could capture a picture of the road and tree. She started walking back towards me, stopped suddenly and said, "Nonna, there's a snake!" We all stopped in our tracks. The snake was camouflaged with the colors of the forest. I did not see it until it started to slither across the road and begin to shake it's tail and rattle. It's a sound that we will never forget. If you've never heard the sound of a rattlesnake, it sounds like a wind up toy when it is unwinding. Jeepers creepers, everyone said that I was within a foot of it. Oh my goodness, here I am with sandals on again!!! When will I learn my lesson? Some of you will say never and you're probably right.
We were all mesmerized. Instead of running or getting something to kill it, we stood and watched in awe as it slithered up a hill, wrapped itself in a coil, it's defense mechanism, ready to strike. You would have thought we were city folks and had never seen a snake before; although, it was the first time any of us had seen one in the woods. Phone/cameras in hand, we were all snapping pictures, trying to get the perfect shot. Thank God for zoom! No, we didn't kill him. We were in his territory. When he realized we were not a threat, he went on about his way and we went on about ours, searching for the hidden waterfall.
Once back at the vehicle, I quickly changed into tennis shoes and off we were again, looking for the trail to the falls and we found it, just a few feet north of the logging road. It was definitely a short "trek", and was opposite the creek. Even though the water was not pouring, it was a beautiful little fall tucked into a rocky little hollow. We stood there, taking in the beautiful scenery around the bluffs, listening to the pitter patter of water falling, just taking in the beauty of the sun shining down through the cascade of water. We all left anticipating another trip back in wet season.
God created this earth for us to enjoy. I encourage you to get out and wander, you may, like us, find a neat a little hidden treasure like we did.
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
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