We started off the second day of our stay at Mount Nebo State Park with the Bench Trail.
We again hopped on the summit trail from our cabin and took it down to the bench trail.
Lot of down…
Fern Lake, I believe.
When we actually got on the bench trail things got a little uncomfortable.
I had no problem with little pests the evening before and thought the bench trail was a little lower but just as open as the Rim Trail.
It is not.
It has many springs, which probably should have clued me in.
I got eaten alive.
Mosquito’s love me.
I thought it was pretty ironic since this same thing happened on our honeymoon hike and we were celebrating our 10yr anniversary.
I think I could have done without the nostalgia.
Here we are enjoying open spaces(less blood suckers) at the Bench Overlook.
I am his natural bug repellent.
They love me so much they leave him alone…
We decided to go ahead and finish if they were not as bad after this.
They did let up.
The gnats moved in.
I think I could have done without this trail but that is okay.
We usually have one flop every once in a while.
We did get to see these two little guys trying to duke it out so it was not a total loss!
We watched them for a while and then I followed one of them around on my hands and knees while shooting a video.
It is one of my favorite videos I have done.
Totally worth the crawling around.
After the bench trail we drove over to the Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge.
It is only about 20+mins east of Mt. Nebo.
It does have a small entry fee but there was a fishing tournament going on so it was free for us!
I was hoping to get there early morning or late evening since that is the best time to view animals but there was a storm coming so we went right away which ended up being late morning.
We did see a massive black snake(no picture) and a deer though!
We stopped and walked along the Levee Trail.
It was really pretty.
I really like tree tunnels.
This little guy was in the road so we stopped to take a look.
We moved him off the road before we drove on.
We stopped at a lookout tower that looked over a lake.
After we were done at the wildlife refuge we headed to Petit Jean State Park(another 20+mins east).
We stopped at the Cedar Falls Overlook and ended up taking the Cedar Creek Trail to the Rock House Cave Trail from there.
We did not have a map and were hoping that it would lead to the bottom of the falls.
It did not but it did take us to the Rock House Cave!
I had no clue about this place when I planned our trip!
I just knew that I wanted to go to Petit Jean for some reason(I read about a lot of trails).
Petit Jean State Park is also Arkansas first State Park.
If you look carefully in the back of the cave(technically a rock outcropping) on the ceiling are some really old cave paintings!
They ones we saw were red but very faded.
We then started the hike back.
There is parking right near the cave also.
It was a pretty short hike(1 mile) but hot and we did not bring water so I was pretty happy to see the vehicle.
We headed to the visitor center and then to an overlook drive.
I saw that a thunderstorm was heading our way so we hurried to the Mather Lodge and Cedar Falls Trailhead right after that.
It is only 2 miles round trip but can be pretty strenuous.
It is worth the hike to see the 95 foot waterfall!
They do not allow swimming at the falls but the park ranger told me that you can go behind it.
Nick took the boys while I sat and took pictures.
I knew I had a bit of a trip back up waiting for me and a storm coming so I did not add to it…
When they started heading back I checked the radar and then started putting anything I could into ziplock bags, including my camera.
No pictures of the climb back up.
We did not beat the rain.
We were almost to the top when it started hailing!
The boys decided we should run up the rest of the way.
They are better at uphill than I am.
We got wet but everything that needed to stay dry did so it was a good hike.
We headed back to our cabin for dinner and then I went to watch the sunset.
All in all it was a fun, gorgeous day, and I got to do everything I wanted to.
I would recommend lots of bug spray if you are going to take the Bench Trail though.
Day 3(our final day) next!
They were less enthusiastic when they found out they had to hike back also and could not take the “short way” back.
After a lot of steps going up and down we did make it back though.
Mount Magazine at sunset!