03/01/01 Spring always begins for me on the first day of March, but it feels a bit more like winter out there this morning! The temp is right around freezing, with heavy cloud cover and lots of mist and fog down in the valley. My hot tub is on the blink, so instead of taking a good long soak at daylight, I fired up the computer and answered e-mail instead. Thanks for all of the comments about my frozen behind! I kind of just threw that pic in there to see if you all really were awake. Apparently you are.

The Buffalo is running very low this morning. The triangle patch of gravel that I use as a gauge for how high the river is - and how good the waterfalls are running - is really exposed today. The river has dropped quite a bit since yesterday. But we are in a good waterfall pattern in the Ozarks right now because the ground is saturated, so anything that does fall on the ground runs off as waterfalls and is not soaked up by the ground. Plus there are always thousands of tiny seeps and springs that add to the overall flow, and they are seeping good. So there are still plenty of great waterfalls out there for you to go hike to and admire. But I need higher than average flow rates in the falls in order to get good pictures for the guidebook. Some waterfalls look best at this intermediate flow though, so I will charge out later today and see if I can get a few more pictures.

Boy, the fog really moved in and I could hardly see twenty feet as I drove off. It didn't let up until I dropped down into the White River Valley at Pettigrew. I made quick trips to Devil's Den and Natural Dam to photograph the waterfalls there. Things are really drying up in a hurry - at least for my photo standards. But springtime is coming on full speed, and I saw many thing that were beginning to bud out, including a number of daffodils. I will have to spend some time hunting around here to see if any of the "local" ones are up yet. They add so much to the early spring landscape, with their bright yellow flowers. They also usually mark where an old homestead once stood - often the only thing left to tell of the past.

I spent some time in town with our club's maintenance coordinator (s) Roy and Norma. We have this big day scheduled for March 10th - yesterday was the cutoff day to sign up. The final tally is 366 volunteers! They will be spread out across 165 miles of trail during the day. Then many will gather that evening for a big cookout. We had anticipated that it would be a popular event, and it certainly has lived up to that. It has been fun and a bit nerve-racking getting everything all set up and organized. There will no doubt be a few things go wrong, but when you work with volunteers, things just seem to be a bit more laid back and relaxed, so I know it will all be fine.

It was very late when I returned to the cabin, and after midnight before I finished answering the 27 e-mails waiting for me. It seems that no matter how late the hour is when I get back, I make it a priority to get the e-mails answered. I will keep that up as long as I can.

3/2/01 Another socked-in day here this morning - heavy, dripping fog. But at least the hot tub is working once again (thanks to a late-night repair job by me in the dark). While the phone lines were out up to the office I spent a great deal more time here at the cabin working on the computer. Now that everything is back to normal, I find that I really enjoy working here again instead of up at the office. The view is outstanding, of course, but I guess it just feels so much more at home to be in the cabin instead of the sterile office environment. I don't usually get to see Bald Eagles soaring around up there! So I may modify my working situation here a bit, and plan to write the journal from the cabin, then venture up to the office for all the rest of the business chores. Once Pam and Amber move in we will have two computers set up at the cabin - my Macintosh for me and their Windows machine for Amber's games and Pam's business.

It is later in the morning now and the fog has lifted and the sun is trying to peek through. It is very hazy out, but I can see all of my wilderness mountain friends way on out there. Often times I do feel as though they know me and want to reach out and show me their beauty. I have always been drawn to this place, like a person is drawn to another individual. I guess these mountains and I have chemistry. I'm here to tell ya that it is not wearing off.

By the way, I just posted a few new comments to the comments page. In case you have not looked at it in a while, click here to go to the page.

I'm up at the office now, and its not all that bad, plus I have this giant display screen to work on! OK, well the one at the cabin is pretty large too - 21", but the one at the office is 24" - hey, in monitors size DOES matter!

I had a nice little hike up here and surprised a hiker who was out there wandering around. I was carrying my brief case through the woods - that always makes folks take a second look. He looked a bit lost besides, so I stopped for a chat. Like many folks who I run into out here, he was indeed lost, and was trying to find Hawksbill Crag. "A friend of a friend of a friend" had told him about this short cut - always gets you into trouble. He was from Memphis, staying down in Ponca, and didn't want to go the full 1.5 miles from the normal trailhead. I admit that sometimes I will make sport of the situation, and by the time he gets back to his vehicle, he will have hiked a great deal further than planned! And he will get to see the famous Hawksbill Crag too. Of course, that is assuming that he believes this shady-looking character that he met out in the middle of the woods with a leather brief case in one hand.

The forest is very quiet this morning, and peaceful. It feels like it is waiting for something to happen - is there a big storm on the way? The leaves were mostly dry on top, but soft and moist underfoot. All of the rains have been very good to the wilderness, and to me. Except for my road - it is in terrible shape, and getting worse every day. And not just my little driveway, but the country road that leads in here from Cave Mountain road too. There is one spot out near the mailboxes that for some reason has just decided to give up on life. It has been rock solid all of these years, but now you will sink in up to the axle when you pass over it - I've had to pull out in 4WD several times this week, and that gets thick clay stuck in your wheels which makes the car run unbalanced. I really need to get out and do a bit of work with the tractor, but I fear I will make the situation worse.

I need many loads of gravel right now, but if I have it brought in the gravel truck will make the road worse - kind of a Catch 22 I guess. I've never read that book, but get the drift.

OK, back to the forest. It is silent but there are many little critters running around that are not so quiet. Squirrels, little birds, and of course Aspen. Each and every critter that I laid eyes on this morning had a smile on its face (not counting the lost hiker). I guess they know that spring is on the way too. I'm certain that animals enjoy spring as much as the rest of us do.

As I post the two waterfall images from yesterday (above) I am reminded of the name thing. There are at least THREE "Twin Falls" that will be in the new guidebook. And two of them are associated with the word "Devil", plus there will be the waterfall in Devil's Canyon. It could all get very confusing I'm sure. I will probably try to make things clearer by re-naming some falls for the book. Like, for instance I will probably call the Twin Falls at Camp Orr "Triple Falls" - there are often three falls together there so it makes sense anyway (see the picture of it at the end of the February journal). I'm not sure what I am going to call the Twin Falls at Devil's Den State Park. I'm going to call the Twin Falls of the Devil's Forks in the Richland Creek Wilderness  TWIN FALLS for sure - it is the classic TWIN if I ever saw one.

3/3,4,5/01 It is nearly midnight Monday, a bright moon is lighting up the wilderness, and the Superdog and I are just rolling in after several days on the road. I've been up and at it since just after 5 this morning, and will have to be up early again tomorrow and out working all day, so this update will be short, but I did want to let you know that I did not fall off of a bluff somewhere.

I had a wonderful book signing at the newest Ozark Adventures outdoor store in Springfield on Saturday. I pretty much loathe book signings - mostly because I usually just sit there for an hour or two without anyone coming by to talk. I absolutely love to give slide programs, and will talk for hours on end to groups of all sizes. But those book signings - just me and a table and no one to talk to. It not only seems like a waste of time, but is also quite embarrassing when no one shows up.

But this Saturday was different. First off, they have a really nice store there - large and open with my favorite toys, err tools all around. Next was a great staff. I can always tell how good an outdoor's staff is by how often I have seen them out in the woods - and I knew several of these folks from seeing them with trail tools in their hands. And finally, when the clock struck 1pm, folks begin to show up. I really didn't shut up for nearly the entire two hours I was there (well, that is counting when Pam's parents stopped by - there would have been a bit of a lull without them!). I met lots of very nice folks, even several of the Cloudland Journal family. So, OK, I hate all book signings except for this one - it was pretty good. Didn't sell a single book though. (Many folks brought in books for me to sign that they had already bought prior to today). But selling books is not always the point of book signings - the overall exposure is often more important. I will return to this Ozark Adventure store in early November armed with my slide projectors and my stereo!

Sunday was filled with a bit of shopping - we raided all of the home improvement stores in the Springfield area and bought up a pile of loppers for our upcoming OHTA trail-length maintenance day on March 10th. "I'd like to buy all of the loppers that you have please." Most of the stores had 40-50 pair in stock - my truck was filled to the gills.

Then Pam and I and the two hairy children took a nice afternoon stroll through Wilson Creek Battlefield Park. It was a quite pleasant hike. We were not in any hurry, the sun was out and warmed things up, and we headed out away from the trail and ended up right in the middle of a large un-mowed field. We plopped down on our backs and spent a bit of time just gazing up into the deep blue sky. Sometimes these quiet times are the best ever, and time just drifts on by like a downy feather on the wind.

Then Aspen came bounding up and presented us with this big fat rat he had pounced on. Poor little fellow. But like a good boy Aspen laid the rat softly down on ground and set him free. (It actually didn't really happen this way, but I like to think that it did.) Aspen and Lucy were in heaven, and romping all over the place without a care in the world. Just like my lady and I.

The alarm went off very early this morning, and I gathered my things up and sped away. I was beginning a new trail construction project today, right at the edge of Eureka Springs. It is a mile-long loop trail on private land that visits some really nice country. And some VERY steep country! I swear that I will have to be roped up in order to build part of this trail - the hillside that the trail will go across really is that steep.

I spent all morning selecting the route for the trail and hanging orange flagging tape to mark it. The land owner and I had already spent a day going over everything so I had a good idea where I wanted the trail to go. But choosing the actual route is very time consuming - should I go to this side of that tree? What is the best route to show off that bluff? Don't make it too steep now! Yikes, I won't be able to build the trail there!

Once all of the flags were in place and the route approved by the owner, I got out a new pair of loppers that I had bought for myself and went to work on the first phase of opening up the corridor. The sun was out and it was a warm afternoon. So warm in fact that I was forced to the ground a couple of times just to lay back and soak up the rays. I will have to go back over the same section that I lopped out today with a chain saw to cut out the larger limbs and trees (nothing over five or six inches in diameter though), then back over it again with a backpack blower or fire rake to clear off the leaves and organic matter from the ground, then back over it again to dig the actual tread. By the time I am done with this little loop trail, I will probably have been over each foot of it a dozen or more times - each pass fine tuning it a bit more. A good hiking trail is really a hand-crafted work of art, with its twists and turns adding to the special and specific character.

And speaking of twists and turns, man, the greenbriers were out in full force today, and they were twisting and turning me all over the place! Some of the trail corridor was very thick - quite literally a jungle of tangled brush and greenbrier. And often those thorny vines would find a way to wrap themselves around my leg while I was struggling with this or that branch, and then when I turned to move the vine would tighten its grip and pull my right on down to the ground. I had many a wrestling match today - and I am happy to report that I won most of them!

Sometimes you get into a zone when you are building trail out there all by yourself. And I was certainly in one of those zones today. Lop, lop, lop, lop, lop, lop, lop. Move rocks. Kick deadfalls. Throw cut branches and briars out of the way. Look ahead - where are you going? Look behind - where have you been. Yea, let's curve the route just a little bit this a way and then the hikers will get a really close up look at the green moss on this bluffline...Oops, another greenbrier has got me! My afternoon went sort of like that, times a hundred.

By the end of the day I was one tired and sore puppy. But I still had a stop or two ahead of me. I drove on into Fayetteville and ran a few errands, then found my way over to Roy and Norma's house for another one of the many endless meetings and strategy sessions about the upcoming big maintenance trip (Roy is in charge of it all). Four hours and a large pizza later I was finally on my way home. I soon learned that while Aspen was hanging out in the truck waiting for me to get down with the meeting - and tearing to shreds everything in my little trash can - that he had gum all over his butt, and that he had transferred this gum to the driver's seat as well.

So now it is after midnight, and the more than 100 e-mails waiting me have not been touched. I will try to rise early and get to them. But for now I plan to retire to the big square tub out on the lower deck and soak my weary bones and do a bit of moon dipping in the chilly night air.

3/6/01 It was such a short night - that turned into a very long one because I did not sleep very well - that I decided to go ahead and sleep in until just before daylight. Then I eased into the hot tub and lay there soaking up the incredible pre-dawn sky. Brilliant oranges and reds against a backdrop of blue. The sun was still a while off, but it was putting on a great show just the same.

My attention was diverted to a dark object low on the southern horizon. Too large to be a plane. I did not appear to be moving, but then it was moving. Slowly, ever so slowly. The size and shape seemed to alter as well. I squinted and strained to see what it was, but finally had to just sit back and let it approach. Several minutes later I could finally make out what it was - a very large flock of geese! And they were flying due north, right at me and the cabin. They were a magnificent sight indeed. And while they were probably a hundred or more in number, I never heard a sound. And not only was there a big "V" formation, there was an entire alphabet! As they passed slowly overhead I happened to look to my left and found Aspen, sitting right there on the deck next to me, quietly looking skyward at them, following every movement - his eyes were as bright as I had ever seen them!

That was my one true wilderness moment for the entire day. My schedule changed dramatically in a hurry, and instead of spending another day building trail, I was stuck in a large mud hole in town, trying to dig up and find a broken water line to my house there. After many hours of hard labor, no water line had been found. But I was a muddy mess for sure!

There was one funny moment. The Realtor was showing the house to a professional couple, and when he pointed down in the mud to me and told them who I was the woman made her way over to me. She commented about how much she enjoyed and admired my work. I said "why thank you mam, I do make a pretty darn nice mud hole don't I!" They didn't make an offer on the house.

After a number of other chores in town, I arrived back at the cabin at a reasonable hour tonight - about 10:30. The moon is out there shining brightly and calling me out for a hike, but I must finish this journal and get to bed. I'm leaving out of here around 4:30am tomorrow and will be touring several trails down in the Ouachita Mountains all day - to take a look at the massive ice damage they had. The forest service has begun a huge project to get the roads and trails open again - most trails have been closed there since the storms in December.

One bit of bad news about my future young bride. She found out today that the pain in her back was not me at all, but rather a serious problem with one of her disks. She was ordered to remain flat on her back for the next two weeks or risk possible surgery. Few things are as hard on Pam as being knocked out of the game of life for two weeks. She has a very good support system around her though and I know things will get done and she will be fine, but I just can't imagine how tough it will be for her. While the very fact that she might be reading e-mail means that she is NOT flat on her back, I will list her e-mail address here just in case any of you would like to drop her a note (prdedmon@juno.com). This young lady most certainly is the evening star that twilight has been waiting for (and me).

The hour is growing late, and my glass of Cloudland Sasafras Liquer is near dry, so I will drift on upstairs and allow the glow of moonlight to pattern my dreams.

3/7/01 Soaking in the hot tub at 4am is kind of nice - really wakes you up! It was light out, but the moon was hiding behind a layer of clouds. They are calling for ice and snow today, but since it was already nearly 40 degrees at 4am, I doubted that it would ever happen (it was sunny with a high of 66). They have not been too accurate with the weather lately.

Terry Fredrick and I spent the day down in the Ouachitas - driving and hiking and driving and hiking. We wanted to take a look at the ice storm damage on the various trails - especially the Ouachita Trail. The forest service is about to spend a ton of money to get the corridors opened up. Right now all of the hiking trails down there are closed because of the massive damage. The job is way too large for volunteers, so they will be contracting out a lot of it. And rightly so, because there is so much work to do. Heck, they don't even have many of the ROADS cleared and open yet.

It is great to see how serious the forest service is about getting the trails open again. To give you some idea of this, they are only giving contractors ONE WEEK to prepare and submit bids for the trail work (you normally get at least a month, and often two or three months), then the work has to be complete within TWO WEEKS in some areas - TWO WEEKS! They normally give you at least six months to a year. That means that anyone who gets a bid will have to drop everything and do nothing but the trail work until it is completed.

The ice damage was not as bad as I had heard it was though, and that is good. Still, if you are planning to hike in the Ouachitas this spring, you need to change your plans!

It was way after dark when I returned to the cabin. I was escorted the last mile by several bats. It is always great to see these little fellows, although I do have mixed feelings about seeing them in early March. I love to see them because they eat tons of bugs. I have mixed feelings about seeing them in early March because there enough bugs out in the air to feed the bats! It would appear that the cold winter and ice and snow that we have had this year will not do much to curb the exploding bug population. I've been picking ticks off of Aspen ever since the ice melted, and seems like even more than in past years. They tell me that we need to be below freezing for a high each day for at least two weeks in a row to do any good - we never hit that long of a stretch of cold weather. Personally, I would like to see it down below zero for two weeks in a row - that would send a clear message to the bugs!

3/8/01 Something woke me at 4am today. I never figured out what it was, but I could not go back to sleep so I got up and headed for the hot tub. The 3/4 moon was lighting up the entire wilderness. It was so low in the sky that there were long shadows. Something about the moon - it is always a good and soothing friend, and of course, a contributing factor to the romantic life. And speaking of the moon, soothing friend and romance, Pam wants everyone to know that she really appreciates all of the e-mails that have been sent to her. It is tough for her to type while on her back though, so she is not able to send along a speedy response.

It was very quiet out this morning. I don't recall even hearing the low rush of the river below. The water levels are getting down quite a bit, and it is time for a week or two of rain. I must say that the driveway is in much better shape here though - dry enough for me to get out and play on the tractor, although I simply don't have the time. I absolutely LOVE springtime in the Ozarks, yet I am usually so busy that I don't get the time to simply stop and enjoy. Time to get out the violins.

I see that my lunar friend is about to dip into the western forest, so I had best get my bathrobe off and haul my fanny out there and say a proper so long for the morning. Besides, the sun is going to be up in a couple of hours and I need to get working!

Just before the moon disappeared into the trees, it took on a very nice deep orange glow. As I sat up against a tree and watched, actually holding my breath because I did not want to disturb the moment with heavy breathing, there was a moment when I felt completely at peace with the world and in tune with nature. In this hectic, motor driven world that we live in these moments come less and less. But today it was mine, and the moon was my friend, and nothing could take me away. And then, the moon was no more. It went to another part of the universe to play for a while. And I was left all alone. It was then that I began to hear the quiet rush of the Buffalo River far below. I wonder - was I so preoccupied with the moon that I did not hear the river before, or was the river, as I, so taken with the moment that it actually stopped running, or at least making noise? If a river ran and no one was paying attention, would it make a sound?

An hour later the sun appeared and lit up a wilderness filled with smoke. Looked like someone was burning down the forest. Actually there was a large fire, but this one was lit by little ping-pong balls filled with gasoline that had been dropped from a helicopter. The forest service was doing a very large (5,000 acres plus) controlled burn over near Hwy. 7, and all the smoke was drifting over this way. They do this to help keep the forest floor clear of deadfalls and such that would eventually build up and result in a really bad wildfire. Native Americans used controlled burns a great deal too, only mostly to keep meadows open. Fire has always been a useful tool on the landscape.

The rest of my day was filled with water and lots of mud. Terry and I spent many long hours attempting to locate my broken waterline at the house in Fayetteville. We had to dig down more than three feet in places to get to the pipe, and much of the digging was done right along and through the little creek next to the house. I got to build several dams and re-channel the creek so that we could dig. That took me back to my childhood, when I used to spend hours and hours out in the rain playing in the mud and building dams - I was headed for a life with the Corps of Engineers.

We never found the leak. It was getting dark and just as we walked back up the hill one last time to turn off the water at the meter, Terry discovered that the neighbor's driveway was covered with water (this leak was putting out about 10,000 gallons of water a day - that is why it is turned off at the meter unless we are working on it). EUREKA! This had to be the leak. We had been digging at the opposite end of the line.

So we frantically dug and dug into the mud, but it was too late in the day and we had to give up. I was covered with mud and quite tired. Looked like another big day playing in the mud tomorrow!

For once I got home before 10pm (9:30), and after a quick shower got to work on some of my real business chores. But while I was buried in the mounting paperwork, my old friend high in the sky kept calling me to come visit. So near midnight I left the papers and walked out into the night.

It was bright enough for a hike anyplace that I wanted to go, but my tired and aching body refused to wander much. I took up a spot at the base of the large pine tree down in the meadow below the cabin - I had a front row seat to the lunar show.

I got out an owl call that I recently acquired and played with it for a while, hoping to call in a barred owl from out there somewhere. "Who cooks for me, who cooks for youuuuuuuuuuuuuu."  The sounds rang out across the empty wilderness. Then silence. I sat there in awe of the power of the moon and the vastness of the wilderness, mesmerized by it all.

The next thing I knew a warm and wet feeling was on my face. I had fallen into a deep sleep, my head resting on a rock in the meadow, and the Superdog was licking me. "Get up, get up, the owl is calling back!" At least that is what I thought I heard him say. But there was no owl, and I realized that I was too exhausted to even remain awake long enough to greet one if it came flying up, so I picked myself up and headed for the bed.

3/9/01 I slept in this morning - until I was awakened by light around 6am. The glow in the east was coming from this band of really intense orange clouds - nearly too bright to even look at. That got me up in an instant, just so that I could focus and enjoy the stunning view. Then it was off into the hot tub to plan my work day.

The orange quickly faded to white, then an hour later the sun popped up and revealed a wilderness free from the smoke of yesterday. I am here at the computer in the cabin now, with the sun looking over my shoulder checking for misspellings. Aspen just came over and softly laid his paws in my lap and looked up into my eyes with the most incredible look - "Come on day, enough of this computer junk, let's go out and HIKE!!!" Well, I don't have time to hike today, but there is a small chore that I just have to do this morning with the tractor, so that will be my one bit of recreation today (now that the road is dried out a bit, I have to go dig a dip in the new road to channel off some water and keep it from running down the middle of the road). Then it will be back into town for more digging in the yard, plus a batch of chores to get ready for the big trail maintenance day tomorrow.

Well, the tractor chore turned into a near disaster when both wheels on the right side came off of the ground and the tractor headed for a rollover. I tried to jump out but was stopped by my seat belt (it has a roll bar). Fortunately, it did not roll all the way over and I was able to get it straightened back up again by utilizing the bucket in the front. There were a few tense moments though! I have a pretty healthy respect for this tractor, and am very careful about where I take it. This event happened today when the left side of the tractor sank into a couple feet of mud.

The rest of my day was a little less exciting, but did include more mud. I finally got my water line at the house in Fayetteville dug up and the lead fixed. And for the first time in a long while, I made it back to the cabin before pitch dark. Still didn't get to go hiking though - had to get all ready for the bid day tomorrow in the woods.

3/10/01 I was up and packed and out the door before first light, and headed to Ozone Campground to collect volunteers for a day of trail work. Just as the bright sunshine lit up a little forest across the road from the campground, I was staring into a TV camera and trying to look perky while doing an interview. We had a great bunch of folks show up to work on the trail - most of them attending to chores on other parts of the 165-mile long trail. My group of nine headed on over to build a new section of trail that will bypass a mile of log road.

It was a splendid day to be in the woods, and especially for trail work because the temps were cool but not cold. We already had half of the trail work done by lunch time. The afternoon work went a little slower, and by the time we reached the end of our section we all were pretty worn out. The name of the event was "Lop 'Til You Drop" and we did our best to live up to that.

Back at Ozone we had a huge cookout and fed nearly 200 people. The forest service had done a controlled burn the day before - and it burned right up into the campground (pretty dumb mistake on their part) - there were still live flames and everything right there next to the tent sites. So the entire area looked quite charred, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the happy volunteers.

After the big dinner I headed north to go see my poor Mrs. Cloudland. It was pretty late when I arrived at her house - a very long day for me but nothing compared to the pain that Pam had been in all day. She has been doing a great job of staying on her back and in bed all week - which is a lot of work in itself - but the pain has been getting worse and the doctors say there is nothing they can do for her - it will just take time. An unhappy camper for sure.

3/12/01 I was up once again and hard at it well before daylight. There is so much work to catch up on, and the more I am gone the more it piles up. But one of these days I do plan to get all caught up, at least for a day or two.

Terry F. arrived and we went back to work installing the log siding on the workshop. It was a wonderful day outside - mostly cloudy and mild temps, but the sun broke through a time or two, and eventually came out and blew away all of the clouds. It was tough to concentrate sometimes when the river below was calling up to me, and the movement of hawks or buzzards out of the corner of my eye would distract me from the job at hand. By dark we stood triumphant next to a workshop that looked more like a log cabin than a little frame shed. Terry suggested that we put a set of bunkbeds in there and call it the guest cabin (Judy, TERRY said this, not me!). There is still a great deal of work to do to get the workshop finished, but it is nice to see it coming right on along.

I have to tell you about Aspen. When we are working on a project like this, he gets bored quickly (because no one is paying attention to him) and has to find something to occupy his time. I saw him over at the edge of the drive playing with some live critter that was between his paws. When I approached he took whatever it was into his mouth, then just sat there looking up at me with this "I'm not doing anything" look. I couldn't figure out what he had, but a few seconds later whatever it was began to squirm inside his mouth and Aspen got very nervous. Aspen is a bird dog, and they have very soft mouths so that they don't tear up the fragile skin of game birds when they retrieve them. So Aspen will often take a live critter into his mouth, play with it for a little while, then allow it to escape without harm. But today he was clearly annoyed because I wanted to see what he had and he did not want for me to see it. A few seconds later he could not hold it any longer and he spit up a squirming black beetle!

It was dark before we finished and put away all of the tools. Later, after a shower and big plate of chili mac, I wandered outside for a few minutes. The night sky was dark and the stars were out in all their brilliance. The Big Dipper was standing straight up on end, and Orion moving ever so slowly to the west. I spent a few minutes watching some live pictures from the space station - first TV that I had seen here in a good long while. Then saw a number of shooting stars while soaking later in the hot tub. This is indeed a wonderful world that we inhabit.

Tomorrow I will be up and out early once again, and will spend the day in the woods building new hiking trail. I have not seen any wildflowers up here yet, but expect to find some trout lilies any day now - I hear they are blooming in a number of other places. SPRING is on the way!!! Rain, rain, we need more rain.

It is late now, and I was just about to shut down the computer when I noticed something over my left shoulder. It was the moon, wearing a burnt-orange skin, lifting up into the eastern sky. The phase of the moon is getting smaller now, and to me it often looks funny when it is low on the horizon like it is now. The missing part is on the wrong side or something. On the other hand, it is sort of laying back and taking a nap there in the sky, which makes a lot of sense because I am tired and need some sleep! Thank you Mr. Moon for the hint...

3/13/01 A full day in the woods today. The sun and blue sky were high overhead, and the temp was up into the 60's. Lots of wind, which helped out a bit with my main chore for the day. A powerful blower on my back provided a  225 mph wind to dig deep and scatter the thick carpet of dead and decaying leaves, pine needles, sticks and other assorted "duff" on the forest floor. Blowing off everything down to bare dirt helps out a great deal to see what the trail tread is going to be composed of, and where the actual route will be placed on the hillside.

And I do mean HILLside! Good grief, the route for this trail goes across a very steep and wicked hillside. I quite literally had to hold on much of the time while I was kicking up the duff for the blower to work with. Several times I lost it, and went tumbling down. In fact, one time my momentum got up and I kept right on going - rolling and sliding and tumbling. I think the little jet engine that was with me helped propel me out of control. I felt like a fool, and looked like one too. Good thing I was way back in the woods and no one could see!

Hey, if a fool falls down the hillside in the forest and there is no one there to watch, is he still a fool? Yep.

Most of the time I have to make several swipes with the high-powered blower to dislodge the duff. The leaves and stuff will come up and be blown away in layers. Sometimes you uncover things sleeping down in there, like bugs and salamanders and even snakes. Found two snakes today - both worm snakes. It all happens so fast there is no way to do anything about it - the leaves are peeled away to revel the snake, and then he takes flight as well. And in between there is a tiny look of terror in his eyes! Some of the salamanders will stick around for a split second longer, but they too go on a first class flight.

After I got the entire trail blown off, I finished lopping the short section that I had started last week. Then it was time for some REAL trail work - sidehilling. This is the really tough part of trail building. But I have a system that has been perfected over the last twenty years of digging trail. And that is basically what sidehilling is - digging into the hillside to level out the trail tread surface. I use a "cutter-mattox" to dig a trough along the top edge of the trail route, then come back with a "McLeod" to cut in and shape the tread, then repeat the process until there is enough of the hillside cut out and leveled. It had been a while since I had dug out a trail like this one - across steep hillside - but the old magic was still there and it felt great.

The work was very tough though - you really have to put everything into each swing of the mattox and McLeod. And roots are always getting in the way, and you have to stop often to cut them out. Swing. Dig. Swing Dig. Cut. Cut. Swing. Dig. Swing Dig. Trail building sort of goes like that.

After two hours of steady but back-breaking work, I collapsed on the hillside. I had finished digging out the first part of the trail - yippie! The next thing is to walk back and forth along the new route - which I do every few minutes anyway to see how things are going and to stomp the loose dirt down. Building new hiking trail involves lots of walking back and forth, often times actually shaping the final tread with your feet. Yep, a trail is actually a hand-and-foot made work of art.

Even though I was exhausted, the little piece of trail "walked" pretty good, and passed my inspection. Now to step it off and see how far I had gotten. 40 feet. Two hours of hard labor and 40 feet of new trail. Not all trail work is this tough or slow going, but a great deal of this particular trail will be. I will be one tired puppy when it is all finished, and in pretty good shape!

It was after dark when I arrived back at the cabin. Three large piles of gravel had arrived before me. I have been waiting for three months to use the new tractor to spread gravel, so before I even went into the cabin, I jumped on board and fired up the tractor, then spent the next hour spreading it into the new carport and around the old one. It was kind of weird working out there in the dark. Yes, the tractor does have headlights, but the front end loader blocks them most of the time.

One thing that I found out right away is that I do not know how to run a tractor, especially the front end loader. Oh I know how to work the controls OK, but I just don't have the hang of using the bucket efficiently. That will come with time and practice. Or I'll just get Pam to do it - she seems to be a lot better at this tractor business than I!

Speaking of Pam, I know a lot of you have been asking about her. Her progress has been very slow, if any. She spends her days flat on her back and in a great deal of pain - still. "Hold on for another week" the doctor tells her. I don't know how she is holding up - it is a difficult time for her for sure. And while she is able to get the e-mails that many of you have been sending her every couple of days, it is just too painful for her to remain sitting up in the computer chair long enough to respond. Please know that she appreciates your thoughts a GREAT DEAL! Before long she will be up and back to normal though, and driving that orange tractor all over the place.

3/14/01 The sun is making a very slow appearance this morning. It tried to break through the low cloud bank in the east several times - first creating an incredible blaze orange scene - then yellow. There is a very black cloud in front of it now, but it looks like the sun will break through at last here in a few minutes. Supposed to rain later today - yea! I had planned on hitting the trail early for another day of work, but duty calls and I will be stuck here with a ton of paper work for the first part of the day anyway.

I have not seen a single flower of any kind out here at Cloudland. Of course, it is tougher to see them in the dark! There were a few popping up at the trail site yesterday, so I bet there are some here too. I will make it a priority to take the time and go find one today, and take its picture to post in the journal. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and put something really important on the top of your list.

But first, there was a bit of tractor work to do. One load of gravel arrived early and had to be spread out. Then a second. A third. And finally, a fourth. I really need about 50 truck loads of gravel on my poor road, but what I got today will help out a lot.

The sun did not stick around too long, and soon a light rain began to fall. It seemed that when I was working on the tractor, the rain was steady, but when I was inside looking out, there was hardly any rain at all. I got soaked a time or two, but it felt great!

The scene down in the wilderness changed all day. Many clouds and fog banks were born, mingled with each other, then were blown away. Lots of fog now and then too.  And the temp was a little bit chilly - a good day to be inside next to the fireplace.

But I still had a mission to do. In between loads of gravel I set out to find the first wildflower. And I knew exactly were to look. Each and every year that I have been out here the first flowers have been in the same spot. But just for fun I wandered around in the forest a while before I reached this spot - just to see if I could find any others. Nope. After nearly a mile of walking I didn't see a single wildflower. I wondered if the were even any up yet. But then I arrived at my private little wildflower heaven, and found not one, but DOZENS of trout lilies covering the hillside. And they only grow in this one little area - guess the soil and light conditions are just right.

I got down on my hands and knees and inspected several of them. I could tell there had been many tiny struggles before the delicate flowers broke up through the matted leaves. All of them were still bent over, hiding from the harsh winds that were whistling through the trees. This one guy found a great little wind block at the base of an oak tree, protected from the elements, at least when they came from the north.

Trout lilies or Dogtooth Spar - often the first wildflowers of spring

HELLO SPRINGTIME!!! The chilly wind that made it up under my shirt was saying we still had a bit of winter left, but seeing these little wildflowers  always warms me up inside.

It is just before dark now, and I am snug and dry inside the cabin. The rain is coming down and there are many cloud formations dancing down in the valley. We have only had less than a half inch of rain all day, but if it will keep this up all night and tomorrow, we might have a few waterfalls yet. I am beginning to think that there will not be enough time for me to complete the photos of all the waterfalls that I need for my guidebook this spring, so I may have to delay the publication of it until next year. I'm still hoping for a lot more rain in March and April!

It is late now, and I just got out of the hot tub. But I had to report about a couple of things before hitting the sack. First, I sold my house in town today! At least, we all came to terms with a final price and it was accepted. And like many things in life, I must say that all of the hype about the real estate market in NW Arkansas turned out to be a bunch of BS. "You'll sell your house in a week, and get every penny that you are asking!" "Oh, your house is worth much more than that!" "PLEASE sell me your house when you move!" (I've been hearing that last one for twenty years now.) So, OK, my house in town is pretty neat and located in a very unique location right in the middle of town (you have to walk across a long and high covered bridge over a creek to get into the living room, wooded lot all around, three story with tall ceilings, and a hot tub out on the back deck). Well, it was on the market for seven months, was shown over 100 times by 17 or 18 different realtors, and I only got TWO offers - one was just a joke that we did not even respond to, and this final one - went back and forth with offer and counter-offer seven times before I wore out and gave in - and the final price was $40,000 less than the original list price. Even though my property supposedly is worth so much more now than when I first bought it - the taxes quadrupled while I lived there - I ended up selling the property at a loss. So much for the great NW Arkansas real estate market.

The rain has continued here tonight - still a total of less than a half inch for the day though. There was a chill and a lot of wind in the air as I slipped into the bubbling brew on the back deck a little while ago for a long soak. That steaming water felt so nice on my weary and aching bones.  And then something very strange and alarming happened. I opened my eyes and peered into the darkness and saw two tall, white objects coming right at me at a high rate of speed. The life nearly drained right out of me. I came out of the tub in a flash - don't know where I was headed, but it was just a reaction. I swear I thought that I was staring at a pair of ghosts, and they were coming to get me!

But the terror quickly turned into laughter when I realized that my ghosts were nothing more than fog being blow into a pair of light shafts emitted by the cabin. When there is nothing for the light to shine on, there is darkness. But when you add something in that empty and dark space - something like fog - then the light will illuminate whatever it is. Scared the heck out of me for sure!

3/15/01 A very early start today. In fact, I think it was still night when I left the cabin, heading towards some distant trailhead. It was misting a little, and the countryside seemed pretty saturated. After an hour drive I was ready to hit the trail and go find some waterfalls. Boots on. Pack strapped on. Shorts, rain gear, hat, water bottle. Nice overcast skies and it was getting light. OK, everything was just right. I reached over to pick up my tripod and had this vision of that very same tripod sitting on top of a cooler in the carport. Yep, I forgot the darn thing. Can't take pictures without it. So I threw everything back into the truck, collected a very excited dog that thought he was free at last, and turned around and drove right back home.

A few hours later I was back at the same trailhead - this time with tripod in hand - happily headed into the woods. It was really damp out, but the small creeks I passed by were not running all that well. I kept telling myself that even if the waterfalls I was headed for were not flowing well, it would still be a great day in the woods.

But I discovered the two waterfalls I was after were running pretty well after all. In fact, they looked very nice. I set up my tripod and spent about thirty minutes shooting a picture of the first one - a nice double-decker falls. Then it was off to the next waterfall, which was just around the corner. As I was setting up my camera it began to rain. Fortunately my little remote control for the camera worked great and I was able to calmly take up a position at the base of the falls and fire away several shots before really getting drenched.

I quickly packed up the camera and hunted for a way to the top of the falls - I had to take a GPS reading which would not work down in the narrow canyon that I was in, and had to measure both falls from the top. I found a way up, but the hillside was very steep. Aspen was bounding up and down wherever he pleased, and I swear I heard him laugh a time or two as I struggled to stay upright.

A few minutes later I reached the top of the first falls, then the second one. My little measuring setup has been working out pretty nice. I have this mesh bag attached to the end of a 100 foot tape - I put a couple of stones in the bad to weight it down, then toss it over the side of the waterfall and allow it to drop until it hits something solid. After messing with it for a minute, I secure the tape and get over to one side where I can look down and see where the bad is - hopefully at the base of the waterfall. If it has landed somewhere else, I make the necessary adjustments, then take a reading of the height of the waterfall. This way I get an accurate measurement every time.

The next step is to get a fix on the GPS - sometimes a daunting task. No matter how long I let the GPS sit and settle, or how good a view it has of the sky, I find that the reading is never really all that accurate. Oh I know that all of you GPS guys will swear that YOURS is dead on every time, but then the weather man says the same thing every day. What I do is take the reading, then eventually upload the coordinates into a computer and see where it falls on a topo map. By the very nature of waterfalls, they are always located in a stream, so it is really pretty easy to figure out exactly where the waterfall is located - using the GPS info as a guide. Then I will place the waypoint in its proper spot on the map and record that reading. These will be the numbers that will be included in the guidebook. You will either be able to punch them into your GPS unit to help guide you there, or plot it all out on a map. Of course, you really won't need any of that to find the waterfalls because there will not only be a map for each in the book, but also detailed directions for anyone without a GPS to get to the waterfall. The GPS info just adds another dimension to the book.

The rain soon ended (after a few "yippies" by me because it was raining), and I headed on back up the hill towards the truck. I did not take the time to eat any breakfast, so my belly was beginning to moan a little. But I knew there was a powerbar and a bag of chocolate-covered raisins waiting for me at the top of the hill. I stretched out my stride - which felt pretty good - and was munching on a belated breakfast in no time.

My next stop was an easy one - Haw Creek Falls. Got to drive right on up to that one. But the sun was popping out and I had to wait for twenty minutes for a good, dark cloud to come over. The creek was running pretty good, and the water was nearly half way across this wide slab of rock. This is not a tall waterfall, but since it is so easy to get to, I thought I had better include it in the guide.

Then I remembered a waterfall in a little canyon nearby, so I loaded up my gear and took off into the woods. A carpet of Dutchman's Breeches wildflowers got in my way - I'd never seen so many of them  in one place before! In case you have not seen them, they are one of the most unusual-shaped flowers of them all. And they have this delicate color. I did my best not to step on any of them as I passed.

It had been many years since I had ventured up into this little canyon, and I had forgot how beautiful it was. Bright green moss-covered boulders were everywhere! And giant sycamore trees growing out of the lush streambed. And trout lilies, more breeches, trillium, bloodroot - goodness, there were hundreds of tiny wildflower plants there. And the stream itself was flowing well and making a lot of noise. And one little waterfall after another.

It was tough going though - no trail, and a lot of scrambling up and over boulders and slick rocks. The walls of this canyon were quite steep. Up and up and up. Then, finally, a great waterfall! It was taller then I had remembered. Come to think of it, I had though this one was at the back end of a narrow boxed-in canyon. Hum, first forgetting the tripod, and now the waterfall?

One thing for sure - no matter how many waterfalls I come across - or visit over and over again - I never tire of the feeling that you get when you first see the waterfall. These are genuine natural works of art - jewels of water and stone. They make my heart go pitter-pat. I just LOVE waterfalls!!!

The sun was trying to come out and spoil my moment, but I was patient and eventually got a good dark cloud to come by. I love blue skies. But sometimes I HATE blue skies! You really need that soft diffused light that overcast skies bring.

This was such a wonderful creek, and canyon, and day, that I decided to continue exploring upstream. Plus I had to get to the top of the waterfall for the measurement, which was a tough climb up a very steep hillside. After I got all the number that I needed, I wandered on upstream, and found myself walking right into this narrow box canyon. The walls actually came together, and there was nothing left but the creek. And right at the end of the canyon - the waterfall that I had been missing! The head of the falls had a chunk of sandstone right in the middle of the flow, and there was a large dead tree hanging right down beside the waterfall - the tree did not look too good in the picture. This tree had been there for many years, because I had remembered it being there the last time I was there - back in the 80's sometime.

After a few pictures it was down the canyon and back to the truck. But first I had to stop and marvel at this incredible "field" of trout lilies. None of them were in bloom yet, but you should have seen the numbers of them! Hundreds. Probably thousands of them. What an incredible explosion of color will take place here soon!

The next stop was a hike along the Ozark Highlands Trail, from Lick Creek up the trail to a couple of nice waterfalls right along the trail. The first one was impressive - touted as the tallest waterfall along the entire trail. It looked very nice, and the shale canyon that protected it was pretty neat too. But when I made my way to the top I had to take the measurement twice - it was only 27 feet tall! Actually, that is a nice-size waterfall, but somehow the number should have been larger for being the tallest along the trail. Of course, that is RIGHT ON the trail - the ones that are off a ways don't count.

Aspen is in this photo

I had planned to hike on back down the trail and make a quick stop at Slot Rock, but something drove me off of the trail and into the deep woods. I wandered on along the level bench to the north, and eventually came to another good-sized drainage. Oh yea, now I remember - there was a TALL waterfall in there somewhere!

It was an ordeal to say the least climbing up to this big falls. The hillsides were nearly vertical, and there was not much to grab a hold of. But I made it to a good vantage point without any major spills. Man, now this was a tall waterfall! (I had measured it a few years ago - 67 feet.) But the water flow was a bit weak - that happens a lot when you are looking at really tall falls - the height makes the flow appear less than it really is. No matter, it was an impressive sight anyway, and I spent a while tripping the shutter and racing off to get into the picture (I was standing too far away for the remote control to work).

The tall but skinny fall (HEY, "Skinny Falls" is a good name!)

Once I finished with the pictures, I packed everything up and began my slide on down the hillside. But I heard and then saw another waterfall up and to the left. It was not nearly as tall as the other one, but it was wide, and I wanted to go see what it looked like. While it was only 19 feet high, it was a nice waterfall and certainly worthy of a picture of two. On neat thing about this one that I really enjoyed was that I was able to run back behind it through a tunnel of water and stone - and not get wet! Well, almost not get wet.

As I packed up my gear once again I heard yet another waterfall. Then I saw it up above - it was feeding the lower falls, but appeared to be much taller. Hum, there was a pretty good-sized bluff in the way between us, and beside, I was getting tired and still had Slot Rock to photograph. But something about this hidden waterfall up there drew me in, and before long I was searching along the bluffline to see if I could find a way up. A few minutes later I saw the Super Dog standing on top of said bluff - he found a way for me!

It was a tricky little climb, but I really wanted to get to this waterfall. And the effort was well worth it - a wonderful, and impressive waterfall, hidden away from view and probably seldom ever visited. It measured out at 43 feet, which is very nice indeed. Something about that waterfall - I just don't know. I will have to come back again and spend more time there.

Discovery Falls (this name may change)

Then a feeling swept through me - darkness was approaching. Oops, I was a way from the truck, and still had a big climb down below me. So I packed my gear up and slid on down the hillside. It was a delightful hike down, and for the first time in a while I was able to negotiate some tricky steps without my ankle bothering me too much. It still hurts quite a bit, but I AM able now to make some of those steps.

I was walking along the stream that the three waterfalls had created, and I heard what I thought was a jet engine. The sound got louder as I walked, then changed pitch, then disappeared altogether. There was no waterfall nearby that I could see. But it turned out that the little stream itself was making the big roar - just the way the water was flowing over a small rock and into another one.

It was basically dark when I arrived at Slot Rock. I found this little oasis many moons ago. The creek (Lick Creek now) has cut a groove or slot down into the bed rock, creating a small waterfall that dumps into one of the most wonderful swimming holes in the Ozarks. The entire place isn't as large as my cabin, but it was a magical spot anyway. A picture that I took there was published in BACKPACKER magazine way back in 1983 - showing a crew of OHTA volunteers jumping into the emerald pool.

Slot Rock - the pool is about 20 feet wide and 6-7 feet deep

I was able to fire off two photos with my digital camera before I gave up and moved on - it also had begun to rain again. Ten minutes later I could hardly see to walk - but I had arrived back at the truck! Whew, it had been a long day. But lots of great waterfalls and delightful hiking.

It is about 11pm now - a 19 hour work day for me today. I think I will shut down the computer and slide into bed. There are many more waterfalls to photograph tomorrow!

3/16/01 There were little bits of ice underfoot as I walked out across the deck in the pre-dawn light this morning. Temp was about 31, with some fog in the air. I strained to hear the river singing, but only got icy blasts of wind in my ears. Hum, must not quite be spring yet.

It was off to the highest point in Arkansas for me today - Mt. Magazine. This time I double checked to make sure my trusty tripod was with me. I met Don Simons at the temporary visitor center that has been set up at this newest state park - he is the interpreter there. Besides being the high point in the state, Mt. Magazine is a very historical place, and many great natural features.

I was actually a bit surprised to be going UP to find waterfalls today - you aren't supposed to find them on the top of mountains. But Don said he had several nice ones, so I was game.

The first stop was right along the highway. This waterfall was not very tall, but there were many of them at that same location. The really neat thing about Hardy Falls (named after the gent who designed and built the road system on the mountain in the 1930's) was all of the wonderful rock work that guarded it. There are three different rock culverts that run under the road, each pointing right at waterfalls. You can get down and walk through the culverts, and see the falls at the end. The handwork that was done by the craftsman back then is still some of the best every, and much of it remains today. It is a tribute to the great spirit our ailing country after the depression. You will find many of our state parks and national forest campgrounds were built during this time - which is why they still exist today (like the cabins at White Rock Mountain for example).

Hardy Falls from inside one of the beautiful stone culverts

Next we parked at an overlook on the other side of the mountain and hiked/slid down a very steep slope - no trail here. We passed by the base of a bluff Don called "Barn Cave." There was a small overhang where he told me the early settlers used to keep livestock - hence the name "barn." He also told of a specific snail that lived in the rocks underfoot - the species is only found on Mt. Magazine and no where else in the world. He had never seen alive specimen.

The sound of rushing water filled the air, and nearby was a beautiful cascading waterfall that tumbled right on down from the very peak of Mt. Magazine (well, the "peak" is actually a broad plateau up above, but it is the high point in Arkansas, so I am required to say peak). The water seemed really excited to have been set free by gravity, and was racing down the hillside at breakneck speed. I just love water that is in a hurry - you get to see and hear it in all its glory.

We struggled to get to the bottom of the main cascade - it was really steep and slick. "Boy, he really just flies wherever he wants to doesn't he." (Don had noticed how well Aspen got around.) I was telling Don about how I measured each waterfall because it was so difficult to determine how tall they really were. To illustrate, I asked how tall he thought the one before us was - he being someone who spends a great deal of time outdoors and probably had a good sense of scale. "About 50 feet." It measured out at 28 feet. Most of us way overestimate the height of waterfalls (myself included), which is why I bring along my trusty 100 foot tape (I've got a 250 foot one when it comes time to measure Hemmed-In Hollow, which I suspect is a bit shorter than the 200 feet everyone quotes).

You may have noticed that I am wearing the same light-colored shirt in all the waterfall pictures. There is a reason for that. But first off, it is not really the same shirt - I have an even dozen of the very same capeline shirts, and is always the first layer that I put on every day from about November through March. I think Pam is getting a little tired of seeing them! Anyway, this shirt works out great because it shows up well in black and white photos. I am only in the photos to give scale to the waterfalls, and have been a bit concerned about striking the same stupid pose for all of them. There really aren't too many different ways to pose for these pictures, oh except for the one at Shale Canyon.

I shot a few pictures of this thundering waterfall, then realized that I looked sort of odd in the picture since I was wearing my black rain pants which don't show up at all in the black and white images (the temp was holding steady at 31, but the windchill was probably closer to zero). So I removed them to revel another rather white part of my body - my legs. That completed the look (I hoped the towering goose bumps would not show up in the picture!). Don was wearing a dark brown uniform which would not show up in the photos.

This was before I took off the rain pants, w/ the Superdog flying by in the foreground

We huffed and puffed all the way back up the hillside to the road. Don stopped once or twice and commented about being a flat-lander (he is from Louisiana). "Nope, it's just the altitude" I said. After all, we were climbing on the highest mountain in Arkansas!

The next stop was at Brown Springs. The forest service had cut a fire line here a few years ago and continues to use it as the do a controlled burn in the area every two years. Don said they were going to develop the fire line in to a bike trail, which would help keep the fire line open and bare dirt. The trail was level and would through a cedar forest at the top edge of the bluff. He told me this particular area was home to a rare species - the maple leaf oak - but they all looked the same to him without their leaves on.

Aspen began to yelp, then shot off into the tall brush hot on the heels of two rabbits. "We do have a leash law here you know." Oops.

The trees all around us were covered with ice - actually "hoar frost" that had settled in from frozen fog. The wind was blowing and there were little particles of ice flying about. It was then I remembered that I still had on my shorts - yikes!

We came to a pretty good sized little creek right there on top - something you just don't expect up there. And then it went right over the edge. There was a break in the towering bluffs here, but the rock was still mostly solid where the creek went. It created a cascade of water that was easily over 100 feet tall. The hillside was nearly straight up and down here, and the brush was crowded around the rushing water so it was nearly impossible to get a good vantage point to photograph the falls. Plus the layers of rock that had been exposed by the water had a thin coating of slime on them, which made them extremely slick. I set up the tripod and got the best shot that I could, but no way any photograph would illustrate the great height or beauty of this falls.

A small part of the 100 ft+ Lick Creek Cascade

One thing about the last two waterfalls - Devil's Walking Sticks thrived there. These are individual stalks that grow up straight and beckon you to grab ahold of them to steady your climb or descent. The only problem is that they have these thorns growing out all over the place, and your hands usually come back bloody. It really does seem like the Devil himself put these out there just to aggravate us hikers!

OK, three pretty nice waterfalls right on top of the mountain. It was well worth the trip.

The rest of my day was spent driving and getting some chores done in town. It was way after dark when I arrived back at the cabin. E-mails took me long into the night, and I retired for a few hours of rest.

3/17/01 I felt sort of naked as I walked across the deck this morning. Well, I guess I really was naked since I was headed to the hot tub. But today I was doubly so because one of the most incredible sunrises was going on before me, and all of my cameras were up at the office! All I could do was lay back in the steaming bubbles and enjoy. This light show was really nice because not only was the eastern sky lit up with bands of orange, red and purple, but so were streaks of clouds that ran across the entire sky overhead - those clouds had a darker purple color to them, kind of mauve I guess. And the color lasted for quite a while - perhaps ten minutes. A normal spectacular sunrise lasts only a minute to two at best. It was a glorious beginning to a wonderful spring day in the Ozarks. Of course, the temp was in the 20's and the official start of spring was still three days away, but I had a feeling it would prove to be a classic spring day here. And I was going to get to experience at least part of here because the sun was shining and I could not take waterfall pictures, plus there was a ton of paperwork to do, including that four-letter word - TAXES! Oh yea, that is five letters. Let's hope I can count better when filling out the forms.

The sun is up now and I can see out into the wilderness for the first time in a while (haven't been here in the daylight in many days). Looks like the trees down along the river are coated with ice - just a touch of frosty white. Hum, it must be down jacket weather, if only for an hour or two this moring. Perhaps the last time this season?

3/19/01 It was a 4:30am wake-up call for me today. The temp was in the high 30's, and the air felt rather damp. There was an eerie glow in the forest as I made my way up the trail to the office - no need for a flashlight this morning - the partial moon must have been up there somewhere behind a thin layer of clouds.

After a couple of hours of work at the office I hiked on back down to the cabin to begin my work day there. I was met with a snow shower along the way - actually a pretty good one. We normally do get at least one good snow in March, but this one today was so odd because the temp was 37 degrees. It all has melted upon landing on the ground, of course.

It is a little while later now and the snow is still coming down. I can't see all the way upstream (about five miles) because of the snow shower. And now the sun is trying to peek through the clouds, which really looks odd. There is a monotone grey to the landscape, except for the trees here next to the cabin, which are silhouetted against the sun and are stark black.

Oh how I wish I could be a good black and white photographer! But I tend to see the world in color, and color is what I look for when I get behind a camera. My black and white images are not all that good. A big part of fine black and white photography (actually, the biggest part) is in the darkroom, and I'm not a good darkroom technician either (nor do I have a darkroom anymore). However, now that digital has come such along way (no need for a darkroom), perhaps I will take up black and white one of these days. Some of the waterfall photos for the guidebook look pretty good (which will all be in black and white), and they are really just documentary images.

The meadow below the cabin has a green tint to it - the grass that Pam and Amber sowed a few weeks ago is beginning to sprout. This is mainly just erosion-control grass and will die out once it gets hot this summer. We will be planting a lot of wildflower mixes as the spring goes on, plus begin a garden spot or two. These will have to be built up over the years before they become really productive. And Pam has found this neat ground cover that we may try to plant on the steep slope between the wildflower meadow and the cabin. It actually FLOWERS all winter, then remains green the rest of the time. It is short enough so that the wild sunflowers would still come up and tower over it in the summer months. No telling what we are going to end up with down there, but I bet it will be very nice, and will change as the years go on.

The snow is getting lighter now, and I can see individual flakes gently rocking back and forth as they make their way through the warm air down to the ground. The flakes sit on top of the ground for a few moments, then slowly disappear as they melt. These tiny drops of water will join with billions of others and eventually form seeps, streams, waterfalls, and rivers, ending up in the Gulf of Mexico. Or inside the stomach of an elk or black bear or eagle, or perhaps be scooped up and sent through the water filter of a thirsty hiker, or maybe even become the lifeblood for a bright yellow wildflower right here at Cloudland, providing great beauty for all the world to see. Melting into the ground is just the beginning - come on down tiny snowflakes, we welcome you!

The rest of the day was spent slaving away at the cabin with Terry F. Actually, we didn't even drive a single nail until after 3pm, so we didn't get all that much accomplished. We had wanted to build the remainder of the east deck, but ended up spending several hours just standing around and thinking about the design. We decided to change it at the last minute - instead of going around the big AC unit on the ground and the base of the 500 gallon holding tank, we decided to build the deck right on under and through both of them. And there were several different ways to do this, and we had to figure out the pros and cons of each. Towards the end of the afternoon I had to break away and make a quick trip into town to visit with my CPA, arriving back way late in the evening.

3/20/01 It was quite early when I sat down on the front porch to put on my new hiking boots. They had been outside all night, and were quite solid - actually frozen. I was getting COLD FEET!!!

At precisely the first moment of spring, I got a call from my brother - he was standing on a trail in Missouri, and wanted to wish me happy spring! I had already been up for a while, and Terry F. and I were busy with the new deck - we finally made a decision which way to do it, and so were working at a quick pace to try to make up for all of our standing around yesterday. The sun was up and it was a glorious day.

A few hours later Pam and her mom drove up - we were just putting the finishing touches on the second part of the deck. They wandered off into the woods for a short hike to visit Pam's favorite spot in the forest. This was Pam's first hike in a long while, and it was not without a great deal of pain (as was the drive into here over eight miles of bumpy roads!).

Terry and I continued to work a bit, then broke for lunch. Pam and her mom took turns sitting out in the swing on the back deck - it had warmed up quite a bit, and was good swinging weather. Judy left after lunch, and soon Pam and I packed up a few things and headed out as well, leaving Terry to work away all afternoon.

Today was not only the first day of spring, but would turn out to be the first day of the rest of my life as well. Pam and I had decided to elope, and we planned to go back to the very first spot where we first laid eyes on each other for the ceremony.

Before we got there, we stopped in at the courthouse in Eureka Springs to get a marriage license. $35 cash, drivers licenses, no blood test, no waiting - just in case you were wondering. Next we went on a  little mission. We wanted to buy a quilt - one that we bought on our wedding day and would become our standard quilt at the cabin. There are lots of quilt shops in Eureka, so it was not going to be a problem finding one. Only thing was that we needed a large one because the mattress/box springs in our bed is so THICK.

None large enough at the first quilt shop. But the helpful lady there directed us to three others close by (Pam was having a great deal of difficulty walking around, but she was a trooper and never yelled out once). The second shop had quite literally dozens and dozens and perhaps even a hundred or more large quilts. Only problem with them was that most of them were priced ABOVE $1000 - up to $2500!!! Now I don't mind paying a bit for a good hand-made quilt, but good grief!!! However, we were really looking for that perfect quilt and did not let the price deter us from the search - we spent nearly an hour in that shop going though the piles and piles of quilts. There were a couple of them that we really liked, but neither of them jumped out at us as one that we simply had to have. So we moved on.

The next shop was OK, and had a few larger quilts, but not that perfect one. So we went on to the forth and final shop on our list. It was their first day in business. As we turned the display rack both of us immediately knew we had found our quilt - it was one of those "wilderness" styles with trees and butterflies and humming birds and other wildlife and outdoor scenes on it. And this one had a large black bear right in the middle, PLUS a cloud against a blue sky. It gave us the feeling that we wanted. And Pam was ready to quit shopping!

We got back into the car and drove on over to that magical spot where our eyes first met. It was at the edge of Lake Leatherwood, which is actually inside the city limits of Eureka Springs. I had built the hiking trail around the lake several years ago, and Pam showed up for a hike that I led there last year. When I walked up to the group that was assembled at the trailhead that day, there was this very unusual feeling deep within me - a wonderful feeling that remains with me today. I knew right then and there something was going to happen in my life, and it most certainly has. And Aspen knew it too.

Anyway, we were back at that spot today for the first time since then. The sun was low and shining through the trees, there were golden waves on the lake, and Pam was cringing in the front seat of the truck - not nervous about getting married but wondering if she would be able to get out and stand up for the ceremony!

Then an old pickup truck came rumbling up and the Justice of the Peace stepped out. I had waited for this moment for 38 years - ever since I saw Marlo Thomas on TV in THAT GIRL - that is when I realized there was someone out there that could complete my life and make me the happiest kid in the world - and when I discovered girls.

We stood under a large cedar tree, gazed into each others eyes, placed the rings on each other's fingers, and got married. It happened that fast, and within a few minutes the pickup disappeared in a cloud of dust and we were left in each others arms by the side of the lake. It was a beautiful, tender, and very simple ceremony - just for the two of us (there were a couple of anxious children in the truck - Aspen and Lucy - who  really needed to get out and pee).

Mr. and Mrs. Ernst at Lake Leatherwood

The hillside across the way began to light up with "Ozarkglow," and we snapped a few pictures with the lake and hillside in the background. Then it was back into town for a wonderful dinner (I don't know if it was the fact that we married, or if the food was really THAT good, but it was splendid!). Then we turned the truck towards the most romantic hideaway that I had ever known for our wedding night - our own log cabin in the wilderness.

I know the trip was hard on Pam's back, and she felt pain with every single bump in the road (and there are hundreds of them in Cave Mountain Road!), but she kept a broad smile on the entire time. A couple of things greeted me on my arrival back at the cabin. First, there was a note from Terry saying the tractor had a flat, and he had removed the tire and taken it into town to get fixed. Oh no, our tractor is broken!

And then Pam called down to me from the loft and said "Now that we're married, here is my HONEY DO list!" The list she unrolled not only covered the entire twelve feet down from the loft, but unrolled about half way across the great room floor as well! It had been a cooperative project with her mom and co-workers. There were 137 items on the list - and that was just for starters! Of course, I must say that many of them were not only things I was quite happy to do, a lot of them were for MY BENEFIT! (like #36)

Then we broke out this beautiful blue bottle of chilled champagne and blue-stemmed glasses (engraved with our names and the date) that Pam's parents had sent down, and we toasted our new life together - very good bubbly!

By the way, we choose the first day of spring to get married for several reasons. One is that it signifies a beginning - and certainly my life has begun anew. Plus I don't have to remember an anniversary date - it will always be on the first day of spring! (that date changes)

It was indeed the most important day in my life, a day which completed me in a way that has never happened before. Now I have someone to share everything with - and to share in her life, dreams and goals. Many folks have wondered if Pam will be able to keep up with me, but I tell them, heck, I'M going to have to shape up and stay fit in order to keep up with HER!!! She is so full of life with multitudes of adventures she wants to do - I plan to continue after her for the next 50 or so years.

We will have a formal ceremony here at the cabin in June, one where family and friends will attend. It will also double as the Summer Bushwhacker Party.

3/21/01 OK, it was the dawn of a new life for me, and I got up early to get started on that Honey Do list. By daybreak I had already accomplished several of the tasks, including #2, #3, #4, #14, #36!!!, #102, & #114. The sunshine came in the window and filled the cabin with joy and energy. And our wedding rings - special made for us in Germany - looked just great in that sunshine, and on the new quilt. Life is good at Cloudland.

"The List"

Our new wilderness quilt

So far today has been one of the best ever in the wilderness - warm and sunny with a slight breeze. My young bride and I spent all morning, and now into the afternoon, taking it easy, laying around on the lower deck, in the hot tub, in the swing, with a trip or two up to the office. Pam is not used to the pace of life here, but I hope she will get used to it in a few years!

3/22/01 It was 5:20am when headlights appeared in the woods. I had slept in a bit after getting back to the cabin near midnight, but I was up and around to greet a reporter and photographer from the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper. They wanted to spend the day with me, and since my day has been starting early lately, they were here just at daybreak (they had to get up a lot earlier than me to get here).

By the time the sun topped the far ridge to the east, we had toured the cabin and were headed up to the office. I had a number of boxes of books to pack up and get ready for shipment. Then it was off on a short hike for us. I needed to make a quick trip down into Dug Hollow to visit three of the waterfalls there and get GPS location info for the guidebook. All three waterfalls were running pretty good, and we had a great hike. More rocks had been moved around and stacked up under the base of Weird Rock Waterfall. Tom Bailey (the writer) wanted for me to pick an official name for this falls - but "Weird Rock Falls" just did not do it. Later in the day we settled on "Metate Falls" since we found not one but two Indian grindstones (metates) at the base of the falls.

Next we headed towards the private trail that I am building over at Eureka Springs. First we stopped off at the new stone monument that had been installed this week at the Hawksbill Crag Trailhead. It is one of a dozen or so that are being put up - one at each wilderness area in the state (I attended the ceremony with Senator Bumpers down in the Ouachitas last fall - picture w/him in the September or October journal). They honor Senator Dale Bumpers for his efforts to establish most of these areas. I worked with him in the early 1980's on this fight, and we got a wonderful wilderness bill passed and signed into law in 1984, creating a bundle of new areas in Arkansas, plus adding acreage to the Upper Buffalo Wilderness here that had previously been established.

The stone monument at the Hawksbill Crag Trailhead - a very nice tribute to a great man

Senator Bumpers certainly did a great deal for wilderness in Arkansas, but it was really Congressman Ed Bethune that led the fight to establish all of the areas back in the early 1980's. I wish they would have added Ed's name to these monuments, but he was a lonely congressman, and not a powerful senator like Dale was. No matter - his work will live on for generations. I must say one other thing about Ed Bethune (who was a Republican, and battled his democratic colleges in Arkansas who were AGAINST the wilderness bill - John Paul Hammerschmidt was also against establishing these areas). Anyway, I was at a BBQ at Bill Clinton's house many years after I had worked with Ed on the wilderness fight (Bill's old house - the State Capitol, while he was governor), and Ed walked right up to me in the middle of the crowd, shook my hand, and said that it was great to see me - and called me by name! I know that remembering names is a necessity for a politician, but I was really impressed that he remembered me, and especially my name. He was a great congressman, and I wish he would come back and run against our dismal senator Hutchinson (Congressman ASA Hutchinson is a great guy, so we need to keep him, but his brother the senator is really bad news for Arkansas).

OK, enough political muck.

Before we arrived at the trail construction site, I detoured to the courthouse in Eureka to file our marriage license - we are now OFFICIALLY married!!!

We got to work on the trail in a hurry, and the flurry of questions from Tom ceased when I put a digging tool in his hand (his idea). Yea, yea, just another reporter getting into the act for a minute so that he could write about helping me build the trail I thought. Boy, was I wrong!!! Tom really put a great deal of effort into the work, and ended up helping me build over 100 yards of difficult trail - ALL sidehilling! Then he helped me muscle around a rather large pile or rocks to make way for the trail through a neat boulder area. We worked for several hours, and ended the day with a nice bit of completed trail. It had been a great day in the woods, but my non-stop talking left my throat quite sore. Hum, that is a first - me TIRED of talking!

The photographer was using digital equipment, and so was able to review the images before we parted company. He really liked four of the images, including one of me hiking through the woods to the office with my brief case in hand - pretty typical. I will let you know when the story comes out.

It has been GREAT to get all of your e-mail's of congrats and good wishes for me and my new bride. And while Pam is still in a great deal of pain, she was finally able to get to the computer and type for a few minutes and answer some of your notes to her - she REALLY appreciates your thoughts!

3/23/01 Seems like 4:30-5am is becoming my normal wake-up time these days, and I was out in the tub this morning then watching dark clouds swirl above. There was SOMETHING up there in the clouds making a great deal of noise, but I never could figure out what it was. Sounded like a wounded goose, or some other large bird out of tune.

Speaking of birds, there has been a lot more activity around here up in the trees this week - small birds mostly, playing all over the place. I do believe they know it is spring.

I spent the first couple of hours trying to clean up and re-arrange the office area here in the cabin. Terry F. is coming out this morning with a trailer full of custom-built cabinets (Benish Wood Products), including a twelve-foot long pantry and bookshelf that will live on the wall behind the computer here.

And while I was up on the loft deck brushing my teeth and watching the sun moving above the ridge over yonder, I noticed that the service berry tree right next to the cabin had begun to bloom - a sure sign of spring!!! There have been other "popcorn" trees blooming elsewhere, but this is the first one that I have seen this year at Cloudland. I suspect that by the end of the day it will be in full bloom, as well as many others around here - supposed to be sunny and hot today.

We spent most of the morning unloading the cabinets and installing the main one. I had designed the big one (12 x 8 feet), with a little help from Pam, and it was in four sections. The outside two sections will house our main pantry, extra dishes, and whatever other stuff we need to store close at hand, and the middle two sections will be bookshelves, with the bottom layer being cabinets to hold board games and such. It is quite impressive, although I will still need to do quite a bit of work to get all of the shelves installed and the books put in.

The other cabinets will require more work, which was put off for another day. So now the cabin is really cluttered with cabinets, shelves, and misc. items associated with building them.

The rest of the day was spent finishing up the east deck (a LOT more digging was required to put it across under the big water tank), and installing trim along the base of the workshop. It was dark by the time we got that done, then we had to load up the tractor on Terry's trailer for a trip into town to have new shoes put on.

It seems that the standard tires that come with these Kubota tractors are a piece of junk - really made for toy tractors and not for work. I had always said that, but it wasn't until Terry Tractor spent some time on our that he too realized how bad they really were. So I made a deal with the dealer and ordered a new set of tires all the way around - that will cost us $1,000. Plus, I'm getting fluid put in them, and this should really help the stability problem with this tractor. These new "commercial" tires are much wider, taller and heavier than the standard ones, and would have cost me an extra $800 if I would have had them put on when I first bought the tractor, so I guess it cost me $200 to drive on the others for 12 hours.

It was another very long day for me, and I was exhausted by the time my head hit the pillow. It is nice to be getting a few chores done around the cabin. Oh yea, several popcorn trees popped out during the day around the cabin, but it will take a bright sunshine day for them to really come out - it was cloudy much of the afternoon.

The new decks - that far one is 23 feet long and 14 feet wide.
You can see the workshop w/log siding in the background - still not finished yet, but we are making progress!

3/24/01 I slept in a bit this morning, and didn't get up until nearly 6am. A heavy layer of clouds hung low around the cabin, although I could still see out into the wilderness. As I sat in the steaming bubbles I found myself humming a song which fit pretty well the movements of the flock of crows and buzzards and other birds that were weaving in and out of the clouds above and dancing on the wind currents. I don't know the name of the song, but it goes something like "and then I went and spoiled it all by saying something stupid like I Love You." Not all that unusual that I would be humming a love song - most of my mental time these days is filled with thoughts of my new wife.

As I look around my little corner office this morning I see piles of books, new cabinets lined up across the living room, stacks of things waiting to be put somewhere, and Aspen, curled up right next to me on one of his five couches. And that huge empty wall of cabinets looming behind me, just waiting to be filled with classic novels, picture books, guide books, and dishes, beans, and board games. I am expecting a tribe of boy scouts later this morning here - I'm supposed to lead them on a hike into Dug Hollow. It's about 42 degrees and the wind is blowing, and while there is a chance of rain, I don't really think we will get any.

At precisely 8:30am the woods filled with multicolored jackets and boy scouts of all sizes. I'm not sure how many there were, but at least two or three dozen scouts showed up. After a bit of milling around (I autographed about a dozen ball caps - something I had never signed before), we headed out through the woods on a hike down into Dug Hollow.

We visited Robert's Falls, then made our way through the thick brush along the top of the bluffline to the main Dug Hollow waterfall area. These were pretty good kids - some with a great deal of backcountry experience and others with none. Young folks like these represent the future of our wild areas and our overall quality of  life in general. It will be up to them to protect what we have set aside, an continue our work to make it a better planet, for people, and for nature.

Troop 3 from Ft. Smith at Dug Hollow Waterfall, and w/Bob Chester

It was a pretty tough hike out, but before long we were strolling along an old road headed up towards Bob's cabin. Bob came out and talked with the scouts, and even signed a few autographs himself. Then we all parted company - the scouts hiked back to camp for lunch and another hike this afternoon to Hawksbill Crag, and Aspen and I back through the woods to the cabin. It was a nice morning in a splendid scenic area with some top-notch young people.

The temp had remained in the low 40's all morning with a brisk wind, which made it rather chilly out. Some of the clouds above began to thin out, and as I sit here at the computer now there is a hint or two of sunshine trying to break through. It is still quite windy, and there are about a dozen soaring birds out there riding the currents. A sharp-shinned hawk dive-bombed the cabin just a minute ago - I think he was trying to see what the heck I was doing.

3/26/01 Today was another work day at the cabin with Terry F. A brisk wind kept things a bit chilly all morning. We trimmed up more of the new shop building, and installed paneling on the east side of it - often having to hang off of something to get the job done. Then we dug six holes and filled them with concrete for the next - and perhaps the LAST - deck, which will be 50 feet long across the west end of the cabin, and connect the front and upper back decks. It took us a couple of hours to tear off the trim against the cabin to make room for the new support studs. Just when it was about time to quit for the day and eat dinner, we decided to get a new project started down in the basement - building a framework for a pair of cabinet faces that will eventually become an 8' x 8' set of cabinets. It was quite late when we finally put the tools down for the day - after 8pm. It was cold out, and the roaring fireplace felt pretty darn good.

3/27/01 I was up well before daylight - 5am-ish - and we were both measuring and cutting away by 6am. A couple of hours later we had pretty much done all that we could do with the new cabinets for now, and I must say that they looked good. I still have to make four shelves, drive in a few more nails, put on trim, plus a couple of other tidbits, and then we'll have 64 cubic feet of new storage space behind doors that we did not have yesterday! It is always quite satisfying to actually build something useful.

Then we attacked the new west deck, and got about a third of the joists installed. It was really beginning to look like a deck at last. One of the reasons for building this deck is to cover up a terrible rock wall that was built across the west end of the cabin. This wall was purely cosmetic with no structure responsibilities - and good thing too, because it has been settling on down into the dirt for nearly four years now, and looks rather ugly. So this new deck will hide all of that, plus give an additional 400 square feet of deck space, and a shady spot to lounge around on in the summer - in the shadow of the towering cabin (plus a neat spot to soak up some of the last rays of sunshine in the evening).

As afternoon closed in Terry had to make a trip to Harrison while I had a ton of things to do in Fayetteville. It was 9pm before I returned to the cabin. My recent hectic schedule has left me a bit dazed and exhausted, and knowing I was going to get up and do it all over again early tomorrow, I put off all cabin chores this evening and went and jumped into the hot tub.

This steaming pot of bubbles is always a great place to get away from the troubles of the world, no matter how large or small. And to soothe your aching bones! It is also a wonderful spa for my mind. Often I will drift away into the clouds or the stars, to some other far off place. But most of the time I use the minutes soaking there to plan my day or think about the merits of the one just past. It is a great getaway spot right here at home.

The stars that were everywhere when I first splashed in quickly were replaced with nothing but darkness - a bank of clouds had rolled in. They are calling for rain this week, although I don't really see how it can rain all that much - the air is SO dry, as well as the landscape. But I relish the thought of a prolonged thunderstorm, and rivers of raging waterfalls.

As I was crawling up the staircase to the loft to bed, I felt bad about not having written anything in the journal this week (thanks Judy). So I turned around, reached into the nearly-bare wine rack for one last bottle of merlot, and turned on the computer to type out a quick report.

There are a couple of items left to report for this day. First, as I was hiking up the hill to the office to gather up my things for the trip into town this afternoon, I came across three tiny Spring Beauty wildflowers growing together. These are the first ones of this species that I have seen this spring, and they are growing in the exact same spot as the first ones last year - must be something in that soil. They were quite full and perfect - you have to get down on your hands and knees to fully appreciate the great beauty of these tiny jewels. Anyway, they taught me a great lesson today - that one should never be in such a hurry that you walk right on by a beautiful natural wonder like these wildflowers without pausing for even a moment to appreciate them, and the terrific world that we live in. I enjoy being down on my hands and knees in the forest.

The other thing is the name of the meadow down below the cabin. For years I have been calling it "the meadow down below the cabin." There is Aspen's Meadow, the East Meadow, Faddis Meadow, and the North Meadow. But I never could come up with a name for that little meadow down below the cabin. Until today. We decided that since there used to be a family of foxes seen in the meadow, that "Fox" Meadow would be a great name. Of course, I have also seen a bear, deer, naked people, and lots of other things down there, but Fox just seems to fit.

The hour is growing late once again, and my allotment of merlot and banana chips is gone, so I will make another attempt at finding my pillow....

3/28/01 High clouds at first light this morning, with a stiff wind out of the east. While I was laid back in the bubbles with my eyes closed trying to imagine my day ahead, I began to get pelted with SNAIL! What? Yep, genuine snail was coming on down. Snail is a cross between snow and hail - compressed snow pellets. This is very common in the Rocky Mountains in summertime, but you don't see it much here in the Ozarks - especially in late March. Before long the snail shower was pretty thick, and I could not see much past Beagle Point (at 40 degrees it was not likely to stick anywhere).

Today is one of those days where my schedule will change often. Right now I am planning to spend the morning working inside the cabin, then heading out to build trail the rest of the day. But the amount of rainfall may change that.

"I hope you never fear the mountains in the distance, or settle for the path of least resistance..." Those words are coming out of the radio right now - I love that song, and am glad to hear such uplifting thoughts from today's music. We should all listen to Lee Ann's advice.

The temp remained in the upper 30's all day, never reaching the 50 degree mark they had predicted. The snail turned to light rain now and then, but not really doing much except getting the ground wet and soft. A constant wind kept things quite nasty all day. I opted to remain at the cabin and work on the increasing piles of "stuff" all over the place instead of digging in the mud at the trail site.

The scene out over Fox meadow into the wilderness was clear, with a few new clouds being born and rising up from time to time. The popcorn trees that came out several days ago were on hold, with no new ones appearing. In fact the entire forest seemed to be in limbo, just waiting for that bright sunshine and warm temps before bursting forth with the incredible green of new spring growth. Once that happens, you will be able to stand on the back deck here and witness one of the most spectacular shows in all of nature as the scene changes right before your eyes - I swear you can even hear the new leaves coming out.

But it was inside the cabin most of the day for me, with quick hikes up to the office several times. The piles of stuff in the cabin got moved around, a few things were cleaned up, and I installed an oak hand rail on the staircase leading down into the basement (after a three-hour struggle to get it at just the right angle). It was after 10pm before I finally gave in and called it a day. There was a light rain falling when I crawled into bed, and I wondered if there would be snow on the ground by morning - the temp was 34 degrees and falling.

3/29/01 A total white-out at first light, but no snow. Heavy fog though, and I can barely see the big pine tree on the far side of Fox meadow. The wind has died down and the precip stopped. It is very damp out, and feels like it could rain at any time. The total precip for yesterday was only about two tenths of an inch. The river below is singing a lively tune, but I can't see if it rose any because the fog is so thick. I suspect the dry landscape soaked most of the rain up like a sponge.

Terry arrived with the tractor and more lumber in tow. Boy, the new tires looked really good - these are what the tractor should have come with as standard in the first place. I cannot believe that Kubota and the local dealer would stoop to such a low level in the first place to try to sell such junk tires to unknowing customers like myself. Live and learn for sure, but it was a costly lesson. The tractor is now actually pretty safe to drive around here. If you buy a Kubota tractor, DO NOT let them sell you junk tires!

A light rain continued into the morning, and we spent a couple of hours working inside the cabin, installing shelves and bathroom cabinets. Then things began to dry out a bit outside, and we went back to work on the 50 foot long deck on the west side of the cabin. The last ten feet of this deck were about 10-12 feet in the air, and part of that space contained the end of another deck which we had to disassemble and get out of the way first. By nightfall we had most of the joists and outer band in place, and the old deck out of the way. Thank goodness - that was a large chore that I was not looking forward to.

But our work was not complete for the day yet. After dinner Terry tore into the kitchen faucet to try and fix an annoying alignment problem. About the time he asked me if I had the owners manual, I poured him a tall glass of wine. And by gosh I DID have all of the papers for the faucet - even after more than three years. So Terry began a long involved process of taking apart every single part. At one point the entire north countertop was covered with faucet parts - I had no idea these things were SO complicated!

An hour or two later everything was assembled once again and back into place. Now for the test - would there be any leaks? It was quite a ceremony, and no, not a single leak! But we both bent over double with laughter because when the faucet was OFF, the water was ON, and when the faucet was ON, the water was OFF! Hum, that was some bottle of wine...

3/30/01 Another very early start to the day, and we were outside hammering away well before sunrise. We finished up the sub-structure for the new deck, and installed the first row of deck board - 50 feet long.

The new 50 foot deck along the west end of the cabin

After lunch I spent a couple of hours frantically cleaning up the cabin and stowing away piles of mess out of sight - there was company coming for the weekend, and I would not even be here to greet them. I had a ton of business in town, plus had to give a presentation at a banquet later in the evening. It was really a scramble to get everything done, and while I did not have time to finish, I closed the door on a descent scene.

Aspen would not be joining me in town, so I had to lock him in the cabin. Terry was out on the tractor smoothing down Fox meadow with the box blade, and would let Aspen out once I got out of sight.

The banquet was for the Arkansas Academy of Mechanical Engineers, and I was the program. While I was sitting there enjoying the meal and waiting for my time to speak, Pam's parents and friends of theirs (Dave and Barb) and Pam all arrived back at the cabin - it would be nearly midnight before I would be able to give my new bride a warm welcome.

My two brothers were both engineers, so I knew a little of what to expect from this crowd. But I was rather stunned and impressed when they introduced four new members - and all of them were quite literally incredible folks in their fields nationally, and beyond (come to think of it, my two brothers were/are pretty incredible too!). I had no idea why I was sitting in the same room with such incredible talent. But my time came up and the show went on and I got a few laughs. One thing about my programs - after sitting there watching scenes of the most beautiful state in the country, and listening to some wonderful music, there are few complaints. Arkansas is indeed a wonder.

I was nearing exhaustion when my truck arrived back at a dark and quiet cabin. It was sort of odd entering my own home knowing that there were people there who I did not know, and others that I had not seen in a while, nor would I see until the next day. But it was great to be home, and in the arms of the lovely Mrs. Cloudland at last.

3/31/01 I heard mice downstairs. Big mice. It was just after first light. Well, I thought if the mice were already up, I had best get up myself and make a big splash in the hot tub. The mice turned out to be my new mom and dad, making coffee and starting the day. While I was sitting back in the steaming bubbles, a lady who I did not know appeared. Fortunately we both were clothed! It was Dave's wife Barb, who turned out to be as delightful as the rest of the gang.

At first it was a near total white out, but soon the fog and clouds began to burn off, and there was even a red ball of a sun visible way off over yonder through the haze.

The fog clears - looking south, up into the heart of the wilderness

Dave is the telescope guru in the bunch, and works with Pam's dad Ron in Springfield. Dave has some really incredible telescopes, even a big one that he built from scratch. He was down this weekend to view stars from Aspen's meadow, although they had mostly cloudy skies all night so didn't get to see much.

Dave is also a great cook, and before long the cabin was alive with music, conversation, and filled with the aroma of biscuits and hash and eggs.

One highlight and low point in the day was when we all headed out for a hike. All except for Pam. She was still hurting so bad that she could not hike, and had to remain behind. I felt so sorry for her because I knew she wanted to go really bad - and the look on her face confirmed this. This young lady absolutely loves the forest, and hiking. I continue to remind her that she will get to spend the rest of her life exploring the wilderness, both here and elsewhere of her choosing. But for today she curled up on the back porch swing with a down comforter and a radio to keep in touch with us.

We had a very nice hike, following the old trail along the top of the bluff. There were quite a few little wildflowers just coming up - toothwort, trout lily, violets, and pussy toes. My group was not too sure about my identification of that last one - until I pulled out the book later at lunch.

We did find a disturbing thing on the trail back from Hawksbill Crag - someone had been down it on a four-wheeler. Not only was that against the law, but the trail was torn up in the process. A clear picture began to emerge about the violators. The evening before a couple of drunk (and perhaps stoned) guys came riding up on four wheelers into Aspen's meadow - where Ron and Dave were setting up the telescopes. The two kids had been riding through the woods and trespassing on our land. After a bit of questioning they were sent on their way. It seems they had been riding all over the place, ignoring posted and wilderness signs, tossing beer cans about, and not respecting anyone's property.

It turns out they were staying at Bob's cabin, and this was not the first time they had wandered off onto other's property or messed things up. In fact we came by Bob's cabin one afternoon and one of these same guys was sitting on the front porch - drinking beer and shooting guns across the road and in the direction that we were hiking from. Bob told me later that he had problems with this kid before, and had to go around picking up all of his beer cans that he tossed about. And I also found out later that the same guy had been riding his four-wheeler through the wilderness and over to Eddy's land, who was not at all happy about the situation.

Of course, I was not happy about it either, not only about him crossing my land and tearing things up, but certainly about riding down the trail into the wilderness. I'm sorry, but I just don't have much respect or patience for anyone who has absolutely NO respect for other people's things. Let him work his entire life and buy a spot of land of his own - then he can go out there and tear it up and destroy everything as much as he pleases. But please stay off of my land, and out of the wilderness with that awful machine (four-wheelers are great when you are a  responsible rider and obey the law - but are not when you have total disregard like this guy obviously does).

I will tell you the other side of this coin in the April 1st post.

Roy and Norma arrived in the early afternoon, and almost immediately Roy commenced to splitting wood - including a few logs that I had been unable to split myself. Before long he and Ron had a large pile of firewood all neatly stacked on the front porch. Hey guys, you are welcome back anytime!

We were all sad to see Dave and Barb leave early and head back north. Even so the rest of us had a delightful afternoon, mostly hanging around the cabin and enjoying each other's company. Come to think of it, we spent a great deal of time down on the lower deck, admiring the view and soaking up the sunshine. At one point I appeared with a plate filled with boiled shrimp and sauce - I have a feeling this will become a new Cloudland tradition. It disappeared in a hurry.

The late evening light show was pretty nice - it was clear, and the setting sun turned the hills bronze, contrasting nicely against the deep blue sky. Popcorn trees had been coming out all day and soaking up the sunshine.

Long about dark a traditional Cloudland feast was underway, with grilled tuna and all the fixings. The night sky was clear with a million stars out (of course, Dave had already gone home with his big telescopes). The moon was nearly half full, and lit up the wilderness pretty good. I tried my hand at calling in a hoot owl, but no one would answer.

At the beginning of this day I was informed that I was to settle back and relax and simply enjoy the day and not work, and I do believe that mission was accomplished. Heck, someone else even did the dishes - what more could a guy ask for!

It has certainly been one wild and crazy ride this March - including the very best spring day ever in my life. But there is still so much to do and see and enjoy this spring, and many decades of springs to come. I am so lucky to finally have someone to share it all with.

April 2001 Journal