Category Archives: Hiking

Animals, Hiking, Parks, Wildlife Preserve/Reserve

Turning 36

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I hesitate to put my age out there, not because I don’t want you to know but because I am often wrong…

I am pretty sure that I am 36 though, maybe.

And here is how I spent my first day.

First stop was Mt. Magazine on our way home from our campsite. If I had it to do again I would have skipped this because it ended up being a long detour but I loved being on that mist covered mountain. Beautiful.

We went on the trail to the highest point in Arkansas.

The whole hike was so beautiful. Made it! Next up was the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. This one was pretty close to our route home already but I was still not sure we should add even more to our trip especially with the weather turning cold and rainy.

But it ended up being stunning. So many birds! And the cloudy skies were so pretty for pictures. Can you believe this is in Oklahoma?

We did go for a walk on their walking path which was beautiful as always and freezing. We saw that one of my favorite bridges was broken.

Yikes

It was a pretty day.

What kinds of things do you like to do on your birthday?

Hiking

Beautiful hikes in the Ponca Area~Arkansas

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My goal this trip was to do hikes that I thought would be fun for our kids.

First up was the Pedestal Rocks Trail.

It does have fun rock formations and beautiful views but it ended up being too long of a hike there and back before you got to those things.

At around 2.5 miles it was not bad at all but several of my kids got bored with the hike. Stick bugs everywhere. There are several places to go down and see the rocks closer up. Beautiful views.

This would be an amazing sunrise or sunset hike.


We planned to drive the scenic byway 7 after this up to Lost Valley Trail.

It is an amazing trail that I thought the kids would enjoy but when we got there it was crazy crowded and no pets were allowed on the hike so we decided to not go.

The kids and Nick went into the Elk Educational Center while we were in Ponca.

Boxley Valley is nearby and is a great place to look for Elk but you have a better chance of seeing them in the morning or evening and we were there mid day.

We always have something not work our quite as planned so I just tried to look at this as the fail for the trip and move on.

The next day we went to Alum Cove Natural Bridge.

This ended up being a fast payoff and the kids had a lot of fun.

The bridge is on a mile loop that has caves and lots of up and down so the kids were happier with this hike.If I had it to do again I would have tried to do the scenic drive near sunrise or sunset and would have definitely done the 1st hike near then.

I think the kids enjoyed our campground the most though!

It was just such a fun place to explore they would have been happy doing that most of the day!

 

Camping, Hiking, My Family

No more steps…

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After driving and seeing a lot the previous day we had a pretty laid back day planned for the next one.

By we, I mean me.

Nick basically just goes where I say on trips. Ha

We headed up North again but not as far.

We basically stopped at all the tourist shops and went on one hike at Cascade River State Park.

I was pretty much done with steps after that.

There are so many amazing waterfalls along the north shore but that means a LOT of stairs…

So after several days of stairs I decided to take it easy on my back and to avoid anymore stairs which meant no more waterfalls.

The town of Grand Marais is such a cute little town right on the water.

We stopped at the Lake Superior Trading Post there and then headed back south with no idea what we were going to do next.

We stopped at rest area on our way back south and ended up at a great beach to look for rocks.

Cut Face Creek Wayside Rest  The kids went crazy looking for rocks and we ended up picking up a book on agates to learn more.

Because you know I can’t pass up on a good educational opportunity…

Only our oldest had really shown an interest in rocks before that so I thought he would be the only one really excited but all the kids liked it. We also ended up stopping at Beaver Bay Agate Shop and I highly recommend it if you have a rock collector and are in the area.

They had some of the most beautiful rocks and even had a little museum!

Someone in a state park visitor center told us about it and I am so glad we went!

Sometimes my girls propensity to strike up conversations with complete strangers pays off!

This was our last day on the north shore, we headed back south west to Nick’s parents the next day!

I know the winters are brutal up there but every time we go I struggle with leaving.

Such a beautiful area!