Julie, Precipices, Waterfalls, Flowers, Snakes and Wild Boars - Our AR hike along the Buffalo River

It is cold, snowy and very wintery out so I decided to force myself to sit down at the computer and post my Arkansas trip photos.  I only have the ones I took so sorry if you were looking for pics of me.  I tried to catch a few of me so you will see me once in a while. 

This trip was to the Ponca Wilderness in Arkansas.

Here is the official description of the area we were in:

11,300 acres featuring scenic waterfalls, majestic bluffs, ancient caves, mountain streams, historic homesteads and rough terrain. From the Compton trailhead, a 2 1/2-mile hiking trail leads to Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls and a 4 1/2-mile equestrian/hiking trail travels down Sneed’s Creek and connects with the Hemmed-In-Hollow access. From Center Point, an old road provides a hike of four miles down to the mouth of Sneed’s Creek on the Buffalo, connecting with the other trails. From the Center Point Trail, a short spur trail provides access to the Goat Trail, a narrow ledge trail on the side of Big Bluff. The Buffalo River Trail, on the south side of the river, travels through the heart of the southern portion of the Ponca Wilderness between Steel Creek and Kyle’s Landing. A spur trail links the Buffalo River Trail to the river and the trails system on the north side.

Before I left I made up a silnylon tarp.  The forecast called for rain and since this was Julie's first trip I wanted to make sure we had the option for shelter from rain if needed.  I previously ordered parts from Ripstop By the Roll so it will look very professional when done. 

Ugh.  It is like sewing water.
Very slippery.

I also whipped up a rain skirt.
I wanted one that allowed full movement of my legs, covered my knees (that doesn't take much!) and still covered me if I have to stretch out far to get over something.  It turned out ok.  It is a little full so I may take up some of the seams.  I did waterproof them so hopefully this will work well.

Then came the packing.  Ugh, what a mess.
I keep all of my stuff in tubs but not very organized.  I have a list I use which saves me every time.
I haven't forgotten anything yet.  Yet.....

Yep.  Time for new earplugs.

Did you know a Clear Eyes bottle works great to hold soap?
It does.

I'm excited to use my National Parks Passport!
Thank you Ryan for telling me about this.
I checked out locations where I could get it stamped.

Passport time!  I stopped at the Harry S. Truman National Historical Site visitors center.

If you've never done this before, this is what the stamping station looks like.  I was very happy that they had FIVE of the Missouri stamps I was looking to get.  

I met this friendly park ranger, Alex who surprisingly is from Lincoln and graduated from UNL. She was VERY happy to finally be hired as a full-time employee.  

And here is his home.
Took this as I drove by.  Didn't have time to stop and there wasn't really any apparent place to park.

Then I drove down to the Wilson Creek National Battlefield.
I did not know there was a battle fought here during the civil war. 

I arrived just before they closed so I didn't actually see the battlefield area but I did stop in the visitor center to get my passport book stamped.  The guys working here were not really friendly.  They just wanted to go home.

They had these all along the sidewalk noting events leading up to the battle at this location and then afterwards.

After I arrived at Julie's I checked the predicted rainfall for the upcoming period I planned to stay.
It was pretty depressing!  So I decided I'd come home after our little trip to the Buffalo River area.

All packed up and ready to go.
This was taken on their deck.  Nice view of the lake.

First we did a couple of day hikes.
The first trip was to Eden Falls. 

The falls were very pretty.  

Gotta love all the work people did back in the day.

A family of maybe Mennonites (?) enjoying a family picnic.
I'm guessing this based on the clothing the gals are wearing.

We made it to the top of the 6 mile very steep, very bumpy drive to the parking area for the next day hike.
Hawksbill Crag???  I think that is what it was called.

Julie said a teenager fell off a while back.
So of course they have to post signs like this.
(You'd think it would be common sense)

The hike was not all flat.
I thought this looked cool with all the tree roots.

Walking through spring blossoms.

I love looking at rocks and how they enhance the area.

One guess as to who this reminded me of.........

If you can't see it then I'm sorry, you have no imagination.

Cactus.  In Arkansas.  In the mountains.
And only just in this little patch.  Maybe a bird brought the seeds?

I also love seeing twisted pines, conifers, whatever you want to call them.

Geeaauugghhh!!  Makes my knees weak just looking at this pic.
It is a drop off on the edge of that rock.  At least that's what she told me.
I did not verify this.

This is a pic of an insane person.
Sitting near the edge of this overhang which is the cragg we hiked to see.

This is another insane person (me) who crawled on her hands and knees to get to this spot, stood up, got her picture taken and then dropped back down and crawled back to safety.

Isn't this picturesque?
The purple flowers in the grassy area was very striking.
The Buffalo River is just at the base of the mountain.  I went on a canoe trip back in 1981.  Now there is a ton of bamboo growing along the river.  Julie said it grows over 8 feet tall!

We are at the trailhead parking lot and Julie is putting on her hiking boots.

Here we are.  The start of our adventure.
This is Julie's first backpacking trip.
The plan is for 4 days, 3 nights and about 25 miles.

All smiles at the start.
Ok, does anyone else see what I see?
I had no idea I have a green eye and a blue eye.
Bah ha ha ha!
Reflection?  Shadow?
(I really do not have 2 different colored eyes)

First challenge, hiking down this long rocky portion of the trail.
And doing it with a hefty pack on your back.
She did very well.

The trail took us down into the poison ivy jungle.
With no leaves on the trees you could see just how much poison ivy there is around.
There is a LOT.

We ended up hiking further than intended to our campsite.
The sites we came across were already taken.
The closest site was taken by a group of young men who were very nice and a little loud as the evening went on but not annoying.  Our little site was smack dab in the middle of an old homestead.  We could see where they foundation of a building (probably the house) was, where the stone pathway went from the house down a few steps to the road.  There appeared to be stone pillars on either side of the steps at one time.
And there were daffodils planted all around the foundation.
And a lot of poison ivy vines.
I had to duck when I got in and out of my tent every time so I didn't hit one.

This appeared to be an old root cellar.
It was fun to explore around and try to guess what used to be there.
We figured it was someone fairly young who had a lot of energy and was probably married.  His wife must have planted the daffodils.  I don't think a guy would do that.  It was just all so well laid out we figured it must have been a home.
A home with quite a hike to get water.
We found a long section of stone fencing.  We figured he must have had livestock and we wondered if they had cleared out the woods for a garden or farming.  If they did it all grew back.

It was nice not to have to search for firewood.
It was already gathered and placed by the fire pit.
Thank you someone!

The temperature was perfect.
Warm enough and not humid.

Some of the daffodils were blooming.
Definitely an older style.  I wanted to take some home but didn't.

This was the info from my phone.  I forgot to turn on my hiking app.
This included all the day hikes we did.

The next morning we packed up and headed back the way we came to get onto this trail.
It is the Big Bluff / "Goat" trail.
(The "Goat" name became apparent to us later on down the trail)
The trails could all be identified by the colored trail markers.
This trail had white markers.
The trail started out easily enough......

As we got closer we started seeing the "bluff" rocks.
Beautiful and amazing when you think of how much water it took to make it look like this.

Oooooo!
Beautiful rock formation and twisty pines!

Can you see the river??

The trail started to get "more interesting".

We came upon more "ups" and "downs".

Isn't this cool?!
People were climbing through the hole.  The trail had options.  That was one option.
We couldn't fit with our packs so we walked around on the right side like the guy in black.

Ok.  We are now officially on the bluff.
It has become another precipice hike.
My knees are weak and the back of my legs feel like there is water running down the nerves.
It took all I had to continue on.
I am surprised the photos aren't blurry.  I was shaking.

Scary.
Buffalo River down below.
Precipice just to the right.
You would fall straight down hundreds of feet.

Another cool twisty pine.
And this is as far as I could get to get a pic.
I was holding my phone out in front of me.
With my eyes closed.
Then scampered back to the safety of the bluff wall which didn't make me feel safe.

The drop off is getting to Julie.
We both walked with our hands on the rocks from here on out.

Then we got to this spot.
People were taking photos and then some were going on.
The trail does continue on to somewhere.  Not sure where because this is as far as we went.
I told Julie I physically could not go any further.
Several people around me agreed.
So we turned around and went back.

Geeeaauuugghh! 
We have to go back over this scary section.
And there were more people headed our way.
It was becoming a traffic jam.
Made me think of the traffic jam on Everest the year all those people died.
Hopefully people will wait to let us go one at a time over the precipice portions of the trail.

Julie after her big scare of getting her pack wedged on a rock.
(Yes, we should have left the packs at the start of the trail.  If I had known, I would have)
Julie thought she might fall off the cliff if she had to lean to the left to un-wedge it.
She didn't so was all smiles.

Then we came up on a family of 20.
Some had gear, others did not, others had a ton of gear.
And their gear was like car camping gear.  Not backpacking gear.
See the guy on the right?  He had some rolled up long thing strapped to his back.
We explained to him he won't be able to go much further due to the rock overhangs.
They folded it down as best they could.
We hoped they all made it ok.
(We didn't hear later of anyone falling off the bluff so they must have made it ok)

See the guy walking away?
Zoom in.
He is carrying a crapload of stuff including an axe and a cast iron skillet.
I dubbed him "Sam Gamgee" in my mind.  Never did see Frodo.
Lord only knows what is in the checkered tablecloth.
Several members of the family were carrying gallon jugs of water.
8 pounds people.  8 pounds.
I really wanted to see all these guys navigate the precipice portion of the trail and further on but didn't.
We headed on to continue our own adventure.

Julie adding perspective to the size of the rocks.

I wonder how these became all soft and rounded? 
Water and calcification?  

We came upon this trail juncture.
Julie figured out miles later we should have turned right instead of left.
But it actually worked out better for us.
If we had gone this way, we would have done a looooong hike down a mountain in the rain over wet slippery rocks.

She went left because she was distracted by this.
Grandma Henderson's cabin.
This gal lived here even after her husband died.
I think I read she was in her 80's or 90's when she finally moved out.

Definitely an old root cellar.

Me and the front porch.
There were other hikers taking a break.
The gal on the porch is from Ralston!  What a small world.

An inside shot of the house.
I was surprised to see the stove still there.

The other hikers told us it was ok to check out the upstairs.
I was cautious as I stepped on each board.
Fortunately they were all still very solid.  But without windows this place is going to rapidly deteriorate.
Mrs. Henderson moved out in the 80's.  I felt fortunate to see the inside before it collapses.
You can still see remnants of newspaper used for insulation on the walls.

I can imagine what it is like to go up and down these stairs every morning to start your day.
I'd like to think it was a cozy cabin and that she enjoyed living there.

This is the poison ivy strewn trail that leads from the house a long ways down to the creek.
Mrs. Henderson had to hike it to get water.  Every day.  Even in her later years.
Wow.
(get off your couches people)

We made it to Sneeds Creek.
This is Julie's first water crossing.

A great place to not only fill our water bottles but also have lunch.

A view down the creek.
We sat on a long rock which I would love to have in my yard.
I'd love to see what this looks like at flood stage.

Warming up but still not uncomfortable.

We wandered around to check out the area.  I turned and saw this and had to take a pic.
Fortunately neither of us saw any snakes.
There are copperheads, water moccasins and rattlesnakes around.

We came up on this place which was called something like "Rocky Shore".
Can't remember but it was cool.

The entire rock was pitted like this.
It looked like a lunar landscape.

Someone had a campfire.
I hope they didn't camp here.
That is a dry creek bed in the distance.
We were standing in the flood zone.
Not a camping zone.

We walked along the creek shore line on the lunar rock surface until we found the marker for our trail.
Note they are yellow now.
This is the Sneeds Creek trail which followed the creek.
ie - flat.
At least for a while.

The trail became a trench.
Really weird.
Maybe when it floods this fills with water?

Our next creek crossing and pretty falls.
The water is so clear and the pools are a beautiful blue green.
You can see it was a really nice day.

Our imaginations were fired up again when we came upon this car.
This is a moonshiners car.
No doubt.
At least in our minds.

Isn't this pretty?
It looked really refreshing.  It was starting to warm up.
We started to run into several groups of people who were out on the trail and enjoying the creek.

Another pretty set of falls and a blue pool.
We met a couple and the guy told us to be careful because he just killed a copperhead.
I was excited to see it but he said it floated downstream.
Darn.

No snakes here.
Just slippery rocks to cross the creek.

Then began our climb.
Up.  Up the mountain.
Very long climb.
Very.

I distracted myself by noting anything unusual.
Like this tree bark.
Looks like a cracked clay bed.

Not only did it keep going up but it was covered in sharp rocks.
You're tired and had to pay attention to where you placed your feet.
Very easy to stumble.
Fortunately we had no issues other than sore feet from the uneven surface.

Cool rock.  Wanted to take it home but didn't.
I just took a picture.

Julie walking through a canopy of spring blossoms.

And it keeps going up.
We started to notice that we were not looking up at the other mountain tops.
We were now looking across at them.

Another distraction.
Sage green moss.
Very pretty color.
Good opportunity to take a break, take a photo, catch your breath.

Then the terrain started to change.  I noticed more pine trees.
And the trees were not as tall.
And the trail was still going up but no longer super steep.
The snake killer dude told us he saw a grassy patch which would be great spot to camp.
We kept a look out for this.
No grassy patch in sight.

We came up on this.
It is a ton of wild chives.
I cut some off to add to my dinner.

Then the trail leveled out and we came upon the grassy patch.
Finally!  Our campsite.

It was warm.
But not humid.

After getting camp set up I peeled off my socks and enjoyed the air on my feet.
I also put on my funky camp shoes.  They look like something Hussein Bolt would wear.

Steps for the day.
Mileage is uncertain.

We got camp set up in the grassy tick filled area.
Note it is still a beautiful day.
Since we were on the top of a mountain we had cell reception.
Julie texted her boyfriend and he send us the weather forecast.
It was calling for rain the next day and heavy rain the next night.
We made the decision to hike back to the car in the morning after we visited the Hemmed in Hollow waterfall.

The chives I gathered for my dinner.
I chopped them up with the little scissors on my swiss pocketknife.
Those little scissors are very useful.

Julie crashed in her tent.
Actually this is my brothers tent which she borrowed to try it out.
It is very light but she decided she didn't like it.

I wandered off to explore and also to find a place to hang our food bags.
There are bears in the area and raccoons (which are more troublesome than bears)
I came upon this little guy who sat as still as a statue.
He didn't even blink.
I came back later and he was still sitting there.
Weird.

Cord in place on the only tree that I could find that would work that was not a long, long walk away.
Did I mention the trees were smaller?
I wonder how high we were.  Close to 2,000 feet??  I have no idea.
Based on the map we were near "California Point".

The caterpillar has become a chrysalis and will emerge as a butterfly.

Cooking dinner.  Chives chopped and ready.
Testing out all of my fire starter options.
Decided I prefer Bic lighters that are see through so you can see how much fuel is left.

Tonight it is chicken with mushroom and peas.  And chives.

We were camped in another interesting area.
Apparently this used to be someone's apple orchard.  A looooooooong time ago.
These stunted ancient apple trees were still fighting to stay alive and had quite a few blossoms on them.
It was really a pretty place to camp.

As the sun set we could hear a huge pack of coyotes.
Music to my ears.
No other sounds really.  And it started to get kind of chilly.

All Smellables are stored away for the night hopefully high enough.
(Nobody bothered them)

This is cool.  We stayed up to look at the stars and see the Milky Way bands.
Zoom in.  You can see Orion's Belt on the right.
I couldn't believe it.  My phone took photos of stars.

Nice morning temp.  Not cold but cool enough.

Cool enough to look really cool wearing my cool Icebreaker wool underwear.
I had a matching top too.
I was styling in that outfit, my green puffy jacket and boots when I stepped out of my tent.

It was too cloudy to see the sunrise but still a nice morning.

After breakfast we checked out the orchard.
There was moss growing all over the fruit trees.
Only the fruit trees.
Probably due to the sweeter sap.
There was fuzzy moss like this.

And lettuce looking moss like this.

Zoom in on this.
This was the prettiest moss.
Vibrant orange.

Julie suggested we gather up some of the moss to take home.
Perfect for crafts.

Julie's bag off moss in her pack.
Looks like a bag of weed.

Nearby there was this birds nest.
Safely constructed in this spindly sapling about 18 inches off the ground.

I wish my yard had pretty rocks with little wildflowers blooming.
But not chives everywhere.

Pretty golden moss.

As I wandered around the area to stake a claim on the new location for Betty's Bathroom I came upon this old campsite.
It is very old.  At least I am assuming it is because it was in the middle of a tangled mess of brush, fairly mature little trees and a jungle of poison ivy vines which were a pretty hefty size.

We left camp and I saw this off on our left side.
I scrambled over logs and under poison ivy vines to get this pic.
I didn't go up and touch the shelf fungus or whatever it's called but I know they are really hard and not soft and squishy.

A pretty tree with pink blossoms.
The only one I saw.
Not a redbud.  Not sure what it was but it was pretty.

Lots of blowdown on the trail.

Then I saw these mushrooms/fungi on our right side.

There was trash all around the fallen tree where they were.
Old beer cans with the pull tabs.  The kind of can they used to make before they came out with the flimsy aluminium ones they have now.  Also other bottles including Coke bottles which unfortunately were all broken.

Buuuuuuut.....I came across this.
A Shasta bottle.
Not broken.

It went into my pack.
It is now all cleaned up and on the shelf in our kitchen along with all the other old bottles we have collected over the years.
I weighed it and this bottle and the rock I picked up added 4 pounds.
It was worth it.

After a leisurely stroll over a flat trail we made it to the connector trail which led down to the waterfall.
Down.  Did I say it went down?
It did.  Just ask my knees.

We had several beautiful views of the river, the mountains and the spring blossoms.

We ran into this gal who is our backpack twin.
(since there were 3 of us with the same pack I guess we were pack triplets)
She went camping with her dog.
He is big enough for his own tent!

We saw a lot of this.

Julie navigating steps that were made with people who have a 55" inseam.

More spring blossoms and a weirdo.

Navigating more steps.

Redbuds and a bluff.
The bluff we are hiking to.

This nice couple was out for the weekend testing out some of their stuff.
They seemed focused on footwear.  Especially for him.  I told the gal I had a pair of Vasque boots like hers and thought they were a little too flexible on rocks.  She agreed.  He had a sturdier pair of Vasques and was glad when I told him he can get them in a wide.  They are going to Machu Pichu soon on a fully supported hiking trip.  They only have to carry a daypack and the touring company brings all the food, sets up camp and cooks for them.  Wow.  

A campsite on a precipice.
No thank you.

Continuing our hike down.
Remembering it was a looooong hike up.

Watching Julie navigate the rocky trail.

Without leaves you could see quite a ways which was nice.

I bet this is pretty when water is flowing over it.
It is pretty without water!

We are now down to creek level so getting close.

Cool looking purple flowering plants.

A small trickling waterfall.
I bet this is spectacular when there is a lot of water.

A cool little red flower.
I need a naturalist to hike with me to identify all the plants.

Another precipice portion of the trail.
This one was especially nasty.
It was covered in wet slippery leaves and slippery slime.
And it sloped towards the edge.
Careful hiking pole and foot placement was critical.
I told Julie not to make a step until her other foot and poles were securely placed.

The last rocky part of the trail before the waterfall.

This is the Hemmed in Hollow Waterfall.
You have to really zoom in to see the water.
It was more like a shower spray in the shower of your house.
But still beautiful

Photo bombing my own photo.

Betty and Julie.
Compliments of Mr. Machu Pichu.

You can climb up and get up into the little cove area behind the waterfall.
When you look out you see this.
When there is a lot of rain this is full of water.
How cool would that be?!!
I don't know if you can get up to see it or not if it is that high.

The coloration of the rocks.
Really pretty.

Julie getting water to filter and getting soaked in the process by the waterfall.

Back with me in the little cove.
Soaking wet.

It was a little chilly under there in the shade with water mist spraying on us.
At least it was for me.  Julie was probably freezing since she was soaked.
We ate our lunch, topped off our bottles and headed out.

More calcification.  Or whatever.
It is pretty regardless.

Another section where you don't want to step too far to the left.

Precipice trail.

Little Cairns.

I thought this rock looked cool.
All scratched up.

Another shroomy tree.

Eeegads!  Black mold or the start of an alien invasion?
I did not touch it.

A cute little fern frond unfurling and a sweet gum seed pod.  (I think)

Those pretty rocks are still pretty even from the other side of the trail.

The river, mountains and blossoms.
Again.

Another cool rock.
Just sitting there.

Isn't this cool?
The tree is probably the only thing keeping that attached?
I bet there are stupid people who walk out on that ledge.

Another precipice trail.
To our left is a sheer drop off down a rock bluff.

And more steps down.
We are working our way down to the river this time.

Julie's first blow down tree she has to go under.

This portion of the trail was blanketed by a coating of light blue green moss.
It was really pretty.  Very bright.
It wasn't even sunny.  I bet in the sunlight it almost sparkles.

More steps down and more shots of the weirdo photo bombing her photo of Julie.

And then the rain started.
Light at first and then with a little more Umph.
It became time to bust out the rain gear.

I decided to see how my new hiking umbrella works.
Tell you what, it is awesome.
You stay dry (as long as its not windy with rain blowing at you) and aren't hot and sweaty like you are with a rain jacket.
Note the gummy bear fanny pack matches my gummy bear duct tape on my hiking poles.
If you are wondering, the orange thing on my strap is my Spot which tells people I am ok.

Wildlife.
A deer.

This was a really pretty area with a rocky bluff on the left and a pretty creek.
There were quite a few campsites nearby.
Really nice, unless there is a flash flood.

Julie is now a confident stream crosser.

The Buffalo River.
The tree on the side shows how the dirt was washed away during floods.
Note the poison ivy jungle the trail leads into.

Then it became the bamboo jungle.
Taller than me.
I know, that isn't very tall.

Then we started to go UP.
Step carefully on these slick rocks.

Another pretty rock.
Very green.  Didn't take it home.  Just took a pic.
The rain sounded at times like frying bacon, it made everything smell fresh and clean and really made all the colors pop.
You have to look on the bright side when you are hiking in the rain.

Whew!  A yellow blaze.
We hadn't seen one in a while and this one was comforting.

More slippery rocks to step carefully over.
Very slippery.

For a short while the trail was in the water way.
Not a creek but definitely would be full of water if it rained hard.

A pretty red rock.

A cute little fern growing in the moss in the middle of the trail.
It is these things I notice when going slowly uphill.

What appears to be an entrance through a stone wall.
Pillars at one time.
I wonder what it looked like back in the day?

Break time.
It stopped raining so raincoat off!

Julie really appreciated the info on the Smartube.
But with the lack of water sources in the area we still got dehydrated.

The storm moving away from us.
We could hear thunder.
Glad it was far away.

Now the rocky climb up the mountain to the car.
Our feet were getting tired of the rocks.

A face.
Isn't this cool?!
Too big to take home.
I would have if I could.

Someone used very heavy equipment to move these large stones to the position they are in.
This is another portion where the trail is a water way.
Not sure what the big stones are for.

Julie adds perspective to show how big they are.

Ahhhhh....a smooth portion of the trail.
Bliss on our feet.

More cool fungus.
Fungii?

These little flowers were not popped up when we came down this trail.
In fact all of the bushes were just starting to leaf out.
The forest had a faint lime green mist everywhere.

Totally missed this too on the way down.
Although, the dirt is very fresh.
It's small so not sure what this is.
Maybe a cat died.

Back to the rocky trail.

Then back to a smooth trail.
That is a pic of a happy foot.

This made me smile and be annoyed.
Someone took the time to cut and remove a section of one tree that fell but didn't mess with the other tree.

These little trees still had their leaves on them which were very pale.
They almost looked silvery.  Very pretty.
Note the large poison ivy vine in the foreground.

This also caught my eye.
A leaf that looks like a dead frog.
I mean, it looked so much like one that I jerked my foot over at the last second to not step on it when I saw it.

The last climb up.
Up more rocks.

Storm clouds behind us.

Sunset and coyote music.
Headlamp time.
I do like my new headlamp.
Black Diamond Spot.

Julie had no idea where her light was so I tilted mine so we could both see where to go.

The shiny spot in the background is the sign for the trail by the parking lot.
Almost done.
We only hiked about 30 minutes in dusk/darkness.

Julie successfully completed her first backpacking trip!
3 days, 25 miles and several mountains.
Great job!!

The car in the parking lot.
All alone now.
Nice to see.

It rained all night long.  A LOT of rain.
It woke me up it rained so hard.
It was raining the next day so we went to the quilt stores.

It ended up raining quite a bit after I left.
Lots of flooding.
Glad I did come home.

Official Apple Watch data for Day 1.

Day 2

Day 3

I headed home early the following morning and unfortunately didn't beat the rain.
Hate driving in the dark and in the rain.
Once it let up I saw this go by when I was at a gas station.
Such differences in cultures.
The drive home was uneventful.
Sure will be glad when it warms up!

Once the videos are loaded I hopefully can post the one of the wild boars.
We saw a family, pack, tribe, herd, whatever you call it of several adults and about 3 boarlets.
Like piglets but since they were boars, boarlets.  Thats a young boar.  Right??
Fortunately they were on the other side of the creek.

We also saw a black snake.  Maybe a water moccasin?  Hard to tell.
Julie screamed and jumped back towards me.  Told me there was a snake on the trail.
I looked and she was right.  It was headed from one side to the other.
It was about as big as a Q-tip.