Friday, July 24, 2026

Jasper 2026

Barn Outside Leslie, July 14th {(20260714_112924_retouch_ic_z50)
Well, it has been a LONG time (at least 8 years?) since I posted about our Jasper vacations here. I have decided to do so again, after a LONG hiatus, in large part because my normal site (PBase) doesn't play well with phones, although it does great on a PC (or Google TV etc).

So here we are, in the year 2026. In the past few years the following have changed:

  • The kids no longer go with us, they're now 17 and 19 years old
  • My good (best?) friend Kevin has joined us since 2023 (which was in AL) and his coming along is now a normal and recurring thing
  • My mother has passed
  • We now are vacationing in Marshall instead (although we may return to Jasper in 2027. UPDATE, we're staying at a place in Mountain View in 2027 {VRBO link location link}.)
  • Hopefully, my photography has gotten better (my cameras certainly have, although they've been the same since 2021, going on 5 years)
  • As of 2024, there's a new main source of points of interest, Gez Rogers (FB link) as I've basically milked the books by this point

The PBase page still remains, and is still updated, but now I'm doing this one too. After 8-odd years or so since the last posting, let's get right to it!

Introduction

This is the 1st year where the kids now no longer go with us (I had to somewhat "strong-arm" them to go last year, in part promising that it would be the final year). They're still welcome to go, I've let them know that they can bring a friend or two and largely come and go as they please vs tagging along with us, but otherwise, the assumption is they will no longer be around, as they're coming into their own and starting their own lives somewhat.

In the past, I surmised that when the children became of that age, such could mean we stopped going here altogether, but such has not been the case, perhaps buoyed by Kevin's presence adding to things. That started in 2023, when he and my mother were to join us in AL in 2023 for what I figured might be the last time we saw her in this capacity, and the last time the two of them might see each other in person, but her passing caused it to be us without her (the kids were still there, and I was looking forward to her seeing them for the first time in almost 5 years).

As has become the case in recent years, we tend to go in whatever week is my wife's birthday, July 17th. Thus, this year, the dates were July 11th-17th, although we ended up kicking off things earlier, leaving and arriving on the 10th, but also leaving early, on the night of the 16th and arriving home on the 17th.

My camera-gear, unchanged since 2021 (other than replacing the broken Sony in 2024), are the Nikon Z50 and the Sony RX100 III. I did add an extra-wide angle lens the prior year (Nikon 12-28 DX) and a telephoto (55-250 DX), however. My computer, which I bought second-hand for $80 in Overton about 5 years ago, is a HP 13-AN0031W, a Windows 10 machine with a 13" display. 

Since last year I almost lost all my photos when I mistakenly left my computer and the external hard drive behind (the cabin owners shipped it to me and everything was there), I also backed everything up to a 256G SD card and a 128G "Crayola" USB flash drive I'd bought in the past year, items I could put in the car's storage compartments.

We drove my wife's 2008 Pontiac Vibe (I'd upgraded the tires and done an oil change), although I was of a mind to drive our 2012 Scion xD. I had upgraded the stereo myself and had a playlist on a phone-based MP3 player set up ahead of time (link to songs which played on the playlist) which was the soundtrack for when Kevin was in the car (we otherwise used Pandora on the "regular" phone, my Motorola Stylus 2025, for playing Contemporary Christian).

Day 1, Fri July 10th 2026 (PBase photos)

Spots visited:

  • Ouachita River Whitewater Park (#67 Gez Rogers) link
  • Tenmile Creek at HWY-70 link
  • One Lane Bridge link
  • Sulphur Springs (#38) link

We had paid for the cabin (link) for July 11-17, and had intended on leaving sometime on the 10th and visiting other spots that were a bit out of the way (like "Big Brushy" near Mt Ida), but we instead visited spots directly on the route and arrived at the cabin on this day, around 8 p.m.

Obviously we stopped at the Hardee's and Bojangle's in Prescott ARK along the way. The car, my wife's 2008 Pontiac Vibe, had the usual gear in it for a road trip, including a crudely installed (by me) backup camera (Leekuuluu LK3) and Bluetooth stereo (XD18BT).

I had a Loncaster mount for the phone,
and a new stereo  I'd installed myself,
among other things (pink device is the
phone-based MP3 player for songs)


Besides the usual BoBerry Biscuits, I also got country ham
for having for later on

First on the list was Ouachita River Whitewater Park, a new "Gez Rogers" spot for this year (FB video link) which was right on the way.

Ouachita River {20260710_142452_ooc_z50}

It was a pretty scenic spot, and there were people splashing around, but it didn't strike me as great swim spot, but it was a nice "side-spot" as it were.

Next on the list was Tenmile Creek, also a "Gez Rogers" spot. Again, not a great swimming spot to me, even though I saw some people splashing around in it, but it did make for some good photos, this one possibly being the best of them.

Tenmile Creek (20260710_153203_ooc_z50)

Then I came across this barn (we also were near "One Lane Bridge," but none of the photos were any good to me), which I think we saw in 2024 too, last time we were in the area. After shooting a photo of it, while trying to back out, I backed right into the culvert (small ditch), and had to be pulled out (fortunately there was a guy working on the barn and he quickly got us out with his tractor).

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We then went to nearby Sulphur Springs, a "Gez Rogers" spot new as of 2024 (YouTube link). It has this one area good for swimming, and it's somewhat pretty, but somehow its prettiness doesn't translate well to photos, despite my best efforts. 

My aging (I'm 57 as of this time) really shows here. Navigating to the jumping area is now rather challenging for me, I fear loss of balance and slipping in ways I didn't when I was younger (and you're not very high, and you'd land in water anyway, but still), and with the rock area hot and my having to navigate it slowly, it really burned my feet. Still, once I hit the water, the dip was enjoyable. My wife was pretty much ready to leave right away, however.

The swim path is to the left, it's looking off in the distance
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One fact I've always found funny is that there's actually a town in Arkansas called Toad Suck. Yes, TOAD SUCK! We happen to go right by it just outside of Conway after leaving Sulphur Springs.

That's about all there is here, other than a city park in a lake

Obviously a stop at Krispy Kreme in Conway was necessary

After getting some groceries at the Harp's in Marshall (we wanted to go to the cabin and get groceries later, but the store would've been almost closed by that time), we finally settled into the cabin around 8:30 pm. We were tired.

Our cabin, at night, we were tired

Day 2, Sat July 11th 2026 (Pbase photos)
Spots Visited:

Zack Ridge is a spot the cabin owners had told us about back in 2024, and I saw a post about it at Gez Roger's site too, but we'd never been. We started in that direction last year, but the curvy roads started testing my patience. I decided we were going to finally give it a try this year.

It wasn't really that much (my wife especially was disappointed), although it's possible we perhaps were in the "Bear Creek" part of it (it's supposed to have the Buffalo River and Bear Creek blend in together, that may have been in a different spot down a differen path). Also, I had forgot my good camera (Nikon Z50) and only had my pocket camera (RX100 III), which really damped the mood.

Also, much of it was shallow, but I did find a spot near a tree which was decent, and we were there, so I did grab a few shots with my pocket Sony RX100 III.

The view to the right when you first enter


There is a deep spot near that tree
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We went to a new spot called "Stem Rock," (official Google Maps spot) one I'd found on my own in Google Maps research, it appeared to be an overlook spot. Instead it involved a decent hike, and may not have had such an overlook after all. Combined with how it was really hot that day (turned out it got to around 100'F in nearby Clinton), we were exhausted, plus Kevin was on his way, so we left. However, Google Maps reviews on it are positive, so given more energy and less tiredness, it might actually be something of a worthwhile thing, sort of "Lost Valley" replacement for Marshall.

On the way out, my wife saw this old "Oxley Community Building" and wanted to take some photos, so we stopped for a bit.

Oxley Community Building
GPS Coordinates: 35.8418,-92.45436
(20260711_135542_ooc_z50)

I later learned that there is also a pretty good diner nearby called "Oxley Store and Diner" (official Google Maps link), something which may be worthwhile to check out in future years (people seem to like it a lot, and it apparently has good breakfast food).

We then went to the river spot near the cafe in Leslie (ate a sandwich too as I recall, although we weren't all that impressed), and got a few shots of the river while we were there.

Leslie Cafe Bridge (20260711_142019_ooc_z50)


We then went to Tyler Bend (I intended to go to Collier Homestead for some hiking photos, but my wife wanted Tyler Bend), a spot which I've never much enjoyed that much in terms of the water, but you can sometimes get some pretty good photos there.

Tyler Bend (20260711_184712_ooc_z50)

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From there we returned to the cabin and I made Cherokee Casserole, something all of us like pretty well.

Day 3, Sun 07-12-2026 (PBase photos)

Spots Visited:

We spent much time with Kevin today, and as background music I played the custom playlist (link) I'd set up ahead of time via my MP3 player phone and the car's newer BT stereo I'd installed myself.

After cooking breakfast (sausage, eggs, toast with cinnamon sugar), we went to Archey Fork, a new "Gez Rogers" spot as of 2024 (YouTube video link) and a main favorite for all of us. This is a spot which fewer people seem to know about than other spots, making it less crowded, and unlike the Buffalo River, it's less rocky and thus easier to swim in without having to wear water shoes, and the spot is PLENTY deep.

(This is also a spot with good hiking trails which we need to check out in the future, maybe make it a trip all its own. Note to self: look for the "Emerald Pool" overlook spot on the 1.4 mile "Azalea Hollow" trail, I believe it is, for hiking in the future.)

The spot, best spot of the entire vacation (just a shame
the sky was so "bluh" this day)



Kevin, of course, same shirt as last year

My wife




Of Course I Had To Jump Off "The Rock"
(I Can Still Shimmy My Way Up)
(20260712_122036_1_ooc_rx100m3)



Kevin Fishing. I was going for
a special effect, didn't get it, oh well
(20260712_155153_ooc_rx100m3)


Couples Photo Of Us Just Before We Left
(20260712_132642_ooc_rx100m3)


A short video of Kevin fishing (near the zipline portion). 0:27 seconds



From here, I had intended for us to check out the nearby "Shirley" spots (#87 in Gez Rogers Map) which were new and looked like they'd possibly provide some good fishing for Kevin (and good pictures/swimming for us). On the way we first went to Subway in Clinton to grab a quick lunch (Kevin actually asked me if it was OK, of course it's OK, I'm not your parent, ha ha--good grief, have I really become that bossy in my older age? I'm so sorry if I have.) I have no photos of that, why? I take photos of just about everything. He paid for it, which was nice, but I wasn't worried about it.

The Shirley spots seemed to be a bust, the first one was just some "bluh" looking spot on the side of the road, the other came to a natural bridge, but Kevin was nervous about my driving over it. I think there may have been some decent scenery etc on the other side (the Gez Rogers FB video seemed to indicate as such), but we called it a bust and went on out of there.

On the way out (we headed towards Leslie), I came across this barn shot (I don't think I saved the coordinates), and of course took a few photos.

Me and My Barn Shots, I Swear 
(20260712_160601_rj_b_ncapture_z50)

We then went to the spot near Leslie, a favorite of Kevin's, and one we're starting to sort of like as well. We farted around wading in the water (it wasn't deep enough for me, I'm picky), my wife befriended this one "unique" couple, and I tried getting some good shots, which I did.

A main spot we hung around at for awhile
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Another wider view of the same spot (restaurant behind us)

I went walking around for some better shots, here
is one of them, somewhat behind the restaurant
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Another view behind the restaurant
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And another (20260712_172523_ooc_z50)


After settling in, I made a large-ish meal--meatballs in gravy over rice, mashed potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob.

Day 4, Mon 07-13-2026 (PBase photos)

Spots Visited:

Kevin went largely his way on this day. (I think he got something of a slow lazy-ish start whereas we got somewhat more on out of there, or maybe I'm confusing days--anyway.) We were going to go to Falling Waterfalls, a favorite of my wife due to the cold water, we ended up being lazy-ish a bit ourselves and stopping at the nearby Bear Creek Off Off Highway 65. It's a new spot as of 2024 (Gez Rogers #94, FB Video), it doesn't seem to have any good swimming, but my favorite landscapes last year were taken there, so I decided to try again.

Of course, I first had to get shots of "The Barn" (as I call it, it actually has a name in Google Maps as an official spot, I think it's called "Brad's Barn), near Highway 65.

First, though, breakfast--as usual, I cooked it (I think I only skipped one day the whole week).

Smoked sausage w/mustard, regular sausage, 
scrambled eggs, toast with cinnamon


A shot of "The Barn" off Hwy 65 (20260713_112753_rj_b_ncapture_z50)

Bear Creek Off Highway 65 (20260713_113925_rj_b_ncapture_z50)

Another (20260713_114029_rj_b_ncapture_z50)


Next up: Shine Eye, which is nearby. I wanted to do some exploring on Collier Homestead, but I couldn't get her to agree to it. Shine Eye is a nice spot, however.

Shine Eye. (20260713_122720_rj_b_ncapture_z50)

I don't recall, but I think we went back to the cabin to eat lunch (think we bought some deli food at Harp's). From there we went to Big Creek near Leslie, a spot Kevin had found last year and we liked. We missed him, he had been there earlier in the day, as it turned out. Oh well.

Big Creek Near Harriet (20260713_162817_ooc_z50)



Another (20260713_164621_ooc_z50)

It was a slow-ish day, my wife seemed more tired than normal. (Notice, there was some 4 hours between the Shine Eye shots and these.) I made German Spaghetti at the cabin, think we have some left-over seasoned green beans from Harp's with it as well, as I recall. I then snuck off to Shine Eye for a quick dip while she was sleeping on the couch, with Kevin having returned in the meanwhile.

Day 5, Tue 07-14-2026 (PBase photos)

Spots Visited:

The day started out good. I had found country ham in the Harp's, and cooked it for breakfast instead of sausage on this occasion. Mmm mmm, good.


Country ham for breakfast--mmm, mmm, good!

The day started great, but it would quickly become ugly, at least for the 1st half.

Kevin stated he would return to Archey, we were of the same mind and ahead of him at the time as I recall. (You'd thought he would ride with us, he didn't, perhaps he was going to go somewhere else after?) Good thing, I suppose--we became stuck on awful road construction on Highway 65 and let him know. 

Kevin was saying to my wife on the phone "he'll just have to be patient," and he was probably right about what he was saying, but on this occasion I just wasn't having it. We'd sat for 10-odd minutes and there was no movement, no indication of anything, and I wanted no part of it, certainly not on vacation. I wanted to get there, but not this way. I was determined to find a detour.

I found what I thought was a suitable on, going through Leslie to Shirley then to Clinton (as I recall), but Leslie also had its own construction. Then, the roads became very gravel-y, curvy, and hilly, and I wasn't having it. My mood was "lit," I was perhaps the most furious since 2017, when my best camera fell in the river and was ruined. (On that occasion, we came that close to leaving, the car was fully packed and I'd let the cabin owner know we were checking out early, but at the last minute I came to my senses and we stayed. I didn't want the kids to have a bad memory of vacation due to my temper.) Several times I was screaming to my wife "let's get the heck out of here and go home, this is no vacation at all, I could sit in road construction back at home."

Fortunately, one good thing came out of it--I got a really nice barn shot in-between Leslie and "Shirley," which I was apparently nearby during all of this.

Got This Nice Barn Shot Outside Leslie
GPS Coordinates: 35.816640,-92.420796
(20260714_112924_retouch_ic_z50)


At some point I apparently started calming down a little bit, and we went to South Maumee, a spot near the cabin (also a new Gez Rogers spot as of 2024). I'd been before and found the water shallow, but my wife seemed to want to go, it was close, and so I went to sort of apologize for getting so steamed and enraged. I was already calming down, and calmed down some more while we were here.

Notice our car in the background


I did get some pretty good scenic shots here, and my wife seemed to enjoy the water, even if it wasn't that cool (and still not deep enough for me, but I wasn't going to complain, I was trying to make it up to her and continue to get myself back in a decent mood).

Got some good scenery shots here 
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This one was pretty good 
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Of course, we had to get a couples photo. By this time I was pretty much over my hostilities.

Obligatory couples photo.
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This year, I was of a mind to check out the new (as of Gez Rogers, of course) "Crooked Creek" spots, and this route was right on the way to them (possibly a reason we went to South Maumee in the first place). 

On the way out of South Maumee, there was some nice rural scenery, and cows galore, which we both enjoyed. My wife especially seemed to want to look at them, and again as I was trying to placate her, I went along (plus I like cows too).

Hey there cow! (20260714_142619_ooc_rx100m3)

Man, look at all those cows, and that one
in the green pond. (20260714_142708_ooc_rx100m3)

After this little side-bar visit while leaving South Maumee, it's back to the "Crooked Creek" spots from here.

The 1st one, "CC Yellville," was in a city park sort of thing, and was as dull (and unfit for swimming) as you'd imagine, although I did get a good shot or two of the scenery.

Crooked Creek Yellville, Meh Spot But Pretty
(20260714_155944_retouch_ic_z50)

We were hungry and about to eat at the Mexican restaurant in Yellville we've been to before, but as the next spot, Crooked Creek-Kelly's Slab was very close, I pushed on for us to go to it. I'm glad I did, it's a really good swimming spot, pretty good scenery too, although it can be packed with young rowdy types, plus I almost misplaced by belongings (I hid them in a spot which I then found hard to find again, but eventually did).

Pretty scenery near Kelly's Slab, Although This
Isn't The Really Interesting Part

The Interesting Part, Good Swimming Here
(Crowded Earlier, I Took This When
The Crowds Had Thinned)


We then "doubled-back" to the Mexican restaurant they have in Yellville and ate a nice big meal. I had flautas and they gave me so much rice and beans I could hardly stand it.

Mexican Restaurant, GPS Coordinates: 36.22676,-92.68825


From there, we went to "Crooked Creek: Mark Oliver." It wasn't much as a cool-off spot for me, although I saw a family doing just that, but I got some good shots while I was there.

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Lastly, we went to the "Crooked Creek, Flippin' " spot near the town of, you guessed it, Flippin'. (Trivial note: upon returning from vacation, they had hired a new young girl, named Chasidy I believe, who in fact was from Flippin'.) The spot wasn't much, we were there maybe 5 minutes before leaving, and from there we called it a day.

(20260714_185113_ooc_rx100m3)


For once, I didn't cook that night. Kevin had made his own special "potato bowl" breakfast concoction, and we had that on that night. It was pretty darned good. With that, the day was over, and despite the rough period when I acted like a toddler over the road construction, it nonetheless was a day where we saw some good spots and had a good time, all things considered. I was especially pleased that we saw 4 of the new "Crooked Creek" spots (although there were 4-5 other new ones we never got around to, hopefully in 2027).

Day 6, Wed 07-15-2026 (PBase photos)

Spots Visited:

Today, we are FINALLY going to go to Falling Waterfalls, as my wife had been wanting for sometime.

Instead, to start out, we went to nearby Illinois Bayou (there are several with that name from the Gez Rogers maps, I'm referring to #2 on his list). This is a spot we first visited in 2024 via the Gez Rogers source and was one of my favorites. The water is deep and gets deep FAST, and you have a short jumping platform.

There are 2 spots at this location. The one referenced, my wife typically doesn't like it due to it being a bit difficult to access (steep entrance), instead preferring this one spot about 0.2 miles prior to it on the same road, but in this case she in fact enjoyed it when she found another path that made it easier to get to. Thus, we didn't bother with the spot 0.2 miles prior.

Me, I enjoy it a lot period, due to the water being deep, and getting deep really fast, and having a short platform for jumping in but where it's not so high. I was elated. It was raining quite a bit leading up to it, but despite that and the gravel road, we got there OK.

Me Thinking I'm Hot Stuff, No One's Around
So I Can "Dress" This Way Without Embarassment

View, Slightly To The Left
Notice the Rope Swing (Although I Never Use It)
Yes, It's Raining


View To The Right

I was OK with going to Falling Waterfalls from here, it wasn't far (maybe 15-20 min), but the wife seemed OK with this visit, and the rain had her concerned we could become stuck on the gravel road (you travel on about 3-4 miles of it to go to Falling Waterfalls, vs only a mile or so here as I recall).

I toyed with possibly going to Archey Fork from here, as there were roads indicating a route to Clinton from this area which would bypass ARK 65 (and hence the road construction), but we continued on as we were. We'd found this scenic overlook on the way back, and although the weather wasn't great, we stopped for a short bit anyway.

Not A Great Shot At All, But It Was Still
A Nice Stop Just The Same
(20260715_131018_ooc_z50)

We also briefly stopped at this old church on the way back, I got some much better shots here in 2024 (and there were horses in a nearby field next door, they weren't there today), regardless it was still a nice stop.

Old Church
GPS Coordinates: 35.78892,-92.86495

I'm not sure what we did immediately after this, although I think we got some lunch at the Harp's deli and ate it at the cabin by ourselves for awhile. The photos show a 5 hour gap between this photo and the next batch, taken at Dillard's Ferry.

We 3, with Kevin, went to Dillard's Ferry, where Kevin fished awhile, and we spent some time there ourselves. My wife had wanted to check out Rush, which wasn't far, so after a bit we left Kevin there and went to Rush ourselves while he fished at Dillard's Ferry.

Kevin "being Kevin," which is almost 
always a good thing, at Dillard's Ferry

I Got A Photo of A Floating Leaf


Scenery At Dillard's Ferry


Old Buildings At Rush

Another Old Building At Rush


Dillard's Ferry From The Bridge Up High
You Can See Kevin WAY Down There
(He Saw Us Too)

Dillard's Ferry, Where We Were
Much Of The Time


As I recall, from there we ate Hamburger Helper (generic) Chili Mac at the cabin, that was it for the day.

Day 7, Thur 07-16-2026 (PBase photos)

Spots Visited:

This ended up being our final day, as we left around 7 pm after a final visit to Archey Fork. (We had reservations until the next day, Friday, but we'd likely left early that morning anyway, plus we'd arrived a day early, Fri night vs Sat around noon, so it equaled out.)

We were of a mind to check out some of the spots we'd seen on ARK 27 between our cabin and Leslie. One called "Spring Creek" was one, but the people at Crockett's at Harriet said it was likely to be a BUSY place, so we passed. We had also learned of this spot called "Grey Springs," and it was on the way to the "Crooked Creek" spots outside of Yellville, so that became our plans.

We first started off quickly visiting Dillard's Ferry on the way, I suppose to grab some scenery shots (as the clouds I was wanting for a more "alive" sky were starting to appear). My wife didn't really much care for the spot so much, but we were there for maybe half an hour or so, grabbing some shots, before heading on.

Dillard's Ferry (20260716_120915_ooc_z50)


Dillard's Ferry (20260716_120701_ooc_z50)

From there, we visited one of the spots on the way, a new one called "Grey Springs." We'd simply seen signs for it. It turned out to be a nice quick "side-spot," not a spot I'd travel a fair distance to visit as I would something like Archey Fork or Blue Hole (from Jasper), but it was a nice peaceful spot to stop at for a moment. 

It was a dinky quiet spot with flowing water from a fountain, one that, I'm told, people have even used as a filling water source (one we could use, I suppose, if we needed one for our new home on CR 301). The water was way too cold to get into, which is not really the purpose of such a spot anyway. In a way, it was disappointing, if you were to think of it as a "main" spot, but thought of as a "side spot" on the way to something else, it was pretty nice. It looked like the kind of place I'd enjoy going to on a lunch break if I worked at a job in the area.



Grey Springs (20260716_121139_ooc_rx100m3)

Grey Springs (20260716_121408_ooc_rx100m3)


This is a spot which I feel could've aided in my "mood recovery" 2 days ago when I acted like a toddler over the ARK 65 road construction. It's simple, nothing exciting, and yet so peaceful, a spot where you ponder life and the larger meaning of many aspects of the world.

From there, we went back to "Crooked Creek, Kellys Slab," a new favorite of mine (not my favorite, it's not replacing Archey Fork, but it's one the main ones nonetheless). It has a very "vibrant" swimming hole which I really liked.

Where the Guy's Walking Is A Good Jump-in Spot
(20260716_124104_ooc_rx100m3)

Wife Posing On the Other (Right vs Left) Side


I was going to have us eat at the nearby Mexican place again, but my wife persuaded me that we could go cheaper and quicker, so we went to the nearby Subway place. Unfortunately, someone ahead of us (a call-in, I believe) had apparently ordered enough food for all of Dallas. We waited 10 minutes and no one had even spoken to us, and a line was forming behind us. I became irritated and we left. "You had the right idea, too bad someone ahead of us ordering enough food to pay off the national debt like a bunch of pigs had to get in front of us," I said (something like that).

I even posted about it (of course):

I was pretty irritated

I found a local mom & pop pizza place and we ate there (honestly I might have liked it more anyway, although I continued to grumble about the "pigs ordering enough food for all of Arkansas and Texas and Virginia COMBINED" for quite awhile). I even splurged on cinnamon sticks.

Pizza Place. GPS Coordinates: 36.226126,-92.6828

Sausage and Black Olives. It was flipping good.


From there, we went to the cabin to check-out. (We had pizza and cinnamon sticks left over, and left them for Kevin as I recall.) For your "boring pleasure," here are some of the food items we had to pack-up.

Soy sauce for German Spaghetti, left over tomato soup,
a "generic" chili mac hamburger helper. In the
background--the Craftsman "jump box" which in fact
Kevin made much use of for inflating his tires.


My wife LOVES these popsicles from her childhood
which as of this point she can only find at Harp's
while on vacation here


The trip was coming to an end, almost.

I was still mad at myself for having messed up with going back to Archey Fork 2 days ago. We decided we'd do it one more time on the way out--as my wife pointed out, I won't have to deal with the road construction again since we won't be coming back.

I really "talked myself down" going into it, telling myself "stay calm, it will be fine, you don't want to blow it again." Meanwhile I had a detour planned, it turned out to be a right-hand turn right after the scenic pull-off on ARK 65, and it went to Dennard. However it was telling me that it was 14 miles long and 30 minutes, which I figured meant driving 25-30 mph, plus the road was VERY uphill and curvy. I thus decided to just ago down ARK 65 and brace myself for what was to come. Surprisingly, I did fine, I don't think I even so much as sighed.

I told Kevin what we had planned, and he was going to meet us there, but the fishing he had been doing in Mt View at Sylamore Creek was going so well for him (after he found a Walmart and started using natural bait) that he decided to stay put. I wish he'd met us so we could have a proper goodbye with photos and a meal-out, plus he'd seen me make it through the construction OK without acting like a toddler and that would've helped atone for that day, but I understood.

Unfortunately, while the sky was filling with "punchy clouds," they started dissipating by the time we arrived. Oh well, we went on and visited it, and briefly checked out some of the hiking spots (we didn't do a "deep immersion" into them, but did enough to give us an idea for next time--we went on the "Double Drop" hike, and I believe the one I wanted to do next year etc was called "Bluffline"). I also did a quick dip in the water, although it was muddy-ish and I couldn't go for long as my wife was by now waiting on me.

Hiking Sign at Archey Fork


The short 0.1 mile hike, overlook shot
(I'm sure there is much better to see here)

One last shot of Archey Fork


We made it to the Hotel outside of Gurdon ARK, although on the way we got caught up in-between two 18-wheelers (us in the left lane) during a sudden downpour, and the 18 wheeler in the right lane tried merging over into the lane we were occupying, visibility was very low, and we couldn't find a way out of any of it. 

Honestly, it almost turned into a collision which likely would've killed us. Right then, Kevin called (fortunately my wife's Bluetooth stereo picked up the call). I had to basically get rid of his call and tell him I'd try to call him back later "if we manage to live through this." We did, how we managed I don't know (not to throw my wife under the bus, but I don't know if we would've had she been driving) and shortly later made it to the hotel.

One last shot: this was the hotel we visited in 2024 halfway in-between on the way in, and I remember laughing at their HUGE debit card machine. It was still there, and I was laughing again, shared it with Kevin, and of course he replied "gooooood God!" It was huge.

Look at the size of that debit card machine

From there, we got a good night's sleep, I caught up on backing up the photos on the PC the next day, we left, ate at Hardee's and Bojangles in Prescott ARK half an hour away (we didn't eat at Southfork as we did two years ago), and that was that.

Until 2027....

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