A few months ago I got a tip from John Moore on a really neat location. It’s called Penhook Hollow and is located near Hector, Arkansas.

_{Waterfall on the way to Penhook Hollow}

_{A Waterfall in Penhook Hollow}

We got quite a bit of rain this past weekend so I figured, yet again, I’d go out and search for more waterfalls. To my surprise, this hollow was absolutely loaded with them!

I left early Monday, thanks to my wonderful boss Carla, and headed for Hector, Arkansas. Hector is about 50 miles away from Conway and it only takes me about an hour to get there. I’ve really been enjoying finding all of these waterfalls so close to home. It makes it a lot easier to get out and explore on my days that I don’t work evenings at College Square Retirement.

_{Waterslide Falls}

Thanks to the Takahik website (http://www.takahik.com/penhook08.htm), I already had an idea of what to expect here. They have taken two hiking trips into Penhook Hollow and have photographed two of the falls that I found on this trip: Penhook Hollow Falls and the other, which I don’t believe is named. Those two I know they’ve been photographed, I actually found 5 more in the hollow itself and 2 on the way in, just off of the road.

_{Penhook Falls with me for scale}

_{Penhook Falls}

The last drainage that I explored for the day actually had the tallest waterfall. It was approximately 60ft tall. Upon climbing to a ledge at the midpoint of the falls there, I removed my backpack to find a HUGE walking stick clinging to it. It was raining pretty heavily and I was guessing he thought I might find shelter, which I did, and he could hide out from the storm. I left him on my bag and took off to photograph the falls. I was planning on getting a shot of him after photographing the waterfall, but unfortunately he must have had other plans because he was nowhere to be found upon returning to my pack. I’m going to name this one after the walking stick that “hitchhiked” on my pack while I was exploring the drainage, Hitchhiker Falls.

_{Hitchhiker Falls}

_{Hitchhiker Falls with me for scale (6 shot pano)}

After the scramble up to this waterfall, I was completely exhausted. I’ve been doing a lot of hiking lately and it’s been finally catching up to me. Thankfully, the ATV trail was just at the bottom of this drainage and getting back to the Jeep was incredibly easy. I love it when there are trails! It was a long day exploring Penhook Hollow, but following the trail out was incredibly easy and after all the hiking I was tired!

Hope you enjoy the shots! I’ve got the coordinates for all of these falls on my Arkansas Waterfalls Map.

Arkansas Waterfalls Map

_{Winding Road}

Brian was able to get off of work early on Friday. So around noon we were off to one of the coolest locations in all of Arkansas. We were hiking to the Goat Trail that evening. A location which is precariously located on the side of the tallest bluff between the Appalachians and the Rockies: Big Bluff.

We arrived at the trailhead and started our 3 mile hike in what seemed like winter conditions. The temperature was approximately 48 degrees with blowing cold wind and mist. I’m glad I had the foresight this trip to pack some heavier clothes; a hoody was definitely helpful at blocking the wind and keeping me warm!

_{Big Bluff}

If you’ve never been to the Goat Trail on Big Bluff then you’re missing out! The hike in is 3 miles, but gradually downhill and easy. I think we made the hike in a little over an hour. That was with about 50+lbs on our backs, so if you’re day hiking it, you could probably do much better. We weren’t in a hurry so we hiked at a steady pace and did pretty well. There were around 5 vehicles at the trailhead on the way down, but we only saw 4 other people on the trail. Two separate groups, a younger couple and a mother and daughter, were on their way out as we were hiking in.

_{Big Bluff}

The mother and daughter actually hiked all the way to the top of the hill before the drop to the Goat Trail and then turned around without even seeing the view! Brian and I were kind of shocked when they said they walked 2 miles then turned around. We couldn’t fathom why someone would want to hike the trail to the top and then not even see the best view in the state. Oh well, to each his own!

After arriving we quickly set our gear aside and took the cameras down to the Goat Trail for some awesome pictures from Big Bluff. The views were amazing, as can be expected, and offered good cloud cover on the tops of the mountains. We explored the bluff for about 2 hours and got some great shots of the scenery.

_{Big Bluff}

Shortly after we arrived a couple of canoes came around a bend in the river. Brian and I saw the perfect opportunity to grab a couple of shots that would show the scale of this magnificent scene. After waving and yelling back and forth to the canoeists we took their photograph and let them go about their way; they soon “pulled over” to camp right beneath Big Bluff.

_{Big Bluff – Spot the canoe}

The light was waning so we decided to hike back up to our camping spot and get our shelters built. I hung my hammock then helped Brian set up his new tent. The amount of rocks at the top of the mountain there greatly harshed Brian’s gig as he tried to drive stakes into the ground. We figured out a way to pull his tent apart using the various large rocks and guy lines and it was able to stand after that. We then set out to build a fire, which proved extremely difficult considering the amount of wet tender that we found; the area had received quite a bit of rain the night before.

We eventually, after an hour or so, got a nice huge fire going. We sat around and had a few drinks while we waited till well after dark to finally get some sleep. Around 10:30 or so we heard a couple of voices coming down the trail and noticed a few lights. We thought to ourselves, who would be crazy enough to hike this 3 mile trail in the middle of the night? I shouted a hearty hello but nobody returned the gesture. The lights went out and we both wondered what was going on. After a short pause the lights came back on and the voices behind the lights shouted hello back to us. Ok, I thought, let’s find out who these people are!

_{Big Bluff – Brian for scale}

I walked towards the light expecting a couple of guys with packs, guys perhaps just as crazy as me and Brian. To my surprise as I got closer to them and they got closer to me, I noticed there was not one, not two, but 10+ guys with flashlights! I said to them, what the heck are you doing hiking out here in the middle of the night, where they returned what the heck are you DOING out here in the middle of the night. I said camping, and they said hiking, touché.

Come to find out, they were a youth group from Tulsa, Oklahoma who were camping in Ponca. They simply got bored and decided to hike 3 miles into the middle of nowhere! They didn’t have a clue as to where they were going and had absolutely no idea they were standing on top of the biggest bluff between the Appalachians and the Rockies.

The funny thing is, just earlier I had told Brian, no matter where I’m at or what I’m doing something strange happens to me on every single adventure that I go on. I guess that’s why they call them adventures?

In any case, the guys were there and we had a strong fire burning. The night was cold, at least below 45, so they figured they’d stick around for a while and use our campfire to get warm. They told a few stories and we all shared a few laughs before they decided it was time to hike back out at 11:30 at night.

_{Big Bluff – Hot Fire}

Shortly thereafter Brian and I decided it was about time to hit the hay. Especially considering we were going to wake up and take pictures of, what we thought, was going to be the most epic sunrise ever.

Day 2

We woke up around 5:45AM hoping for some amazing fog in the valley. Unfortunately, there was no fog at all, the light was terrible, and we were extremely pleased with our shots from the night before. Therefore, we decided that we would hike out early and try and hit up a nearby waterfall, Sweden Creek Falls.

I’ve seen the guidebook photo of this waterfall and I love how Tim photographs the guidebook photos for the falls. While he does give you an idea of what they look like, he also doesn’t show a lot of the surrounding area. Upon arrival, you know what to expect, but at the same time you don’t know what to expect. That was the case with this waterfall. Tim’s photo makes it look like it’s along a flat bluff line just spilling off into a small creek. However, this waterfall has a lot of character and looks a lot like other waterfalls; sitting up in a hollow with a beautiful creek tumbling through it.

_{Sweden Creek Falls – Brian for scale}

It’s sheer size makes it incredibly hard to photograph. Even at 10mm I was finding it hard to get shots of it. In order to shoot it you have to back up from the waterfall a lot and even then you have trees blocking your view. Luckily, I was able to find a couple of spots that provided a neat perspective on this huge waterfall.

_{Sweden Creek Falls}

After the hike out of Sweden Creek, we went towards Deer on Highway 16 and made a backwoods drive to Haw Creek Falls, the last destination for the day.

_{Haw Creek Falls Panorama}

This morning was pretty amazing.

Matthew Kennedy and I headed out at 3:30AM for Forked Mountain. Forked Mountain is located in the Flatside Wilderness area of the Ouchita National Forest of Arkansas. The mountain is 1,234 feet at it’s peak elevation. It stands like a sentinel overlooking what is known as the Valley of Vapors. I can totally understand why the valleys surrounding Forked Mountain were thusly named due to the spectacle that I witnessed this morning.

_{Forked Mountain – The Valley of Vapors}

The views from the top were absolutely incredible. I don’t think there are words that could describe the essence, the emotion, of the morning. We fought the mountain all the way to the top, starting, in the dark, around 5:00AM and arriving at the summit around 6:15.

_{Forked Mountain Fog}

_{Forked Mountain – The fog in the Valley of Vapors reflects the morning light}

The last bit of the climb was incredibly strenuous and would have been a straight up ascent if we hadn’t circled around to the back side. We found a small trail leading to the top and upon reaching the summit we immediately knew the fight was worth it and we were well awarded for it.

The temperatures the night before dropped 20 degrees in almost an hour and I just knew that we would have fog the next morning. Matt and I were out at Flatside Pinnacle, a peak which can be seen from Forked Mountain, the night before shooting a storm moving in; that storm brought the cool temperatures that were going to provide the perfect elements for the fog that we witnessed this morning.

_{Forked Mountain – The clouds reflect the light from the morning sun}

_{Forked Mountain – Looking back at Flatside Pinnacle shrouded in fog}

_{Forked Mountain – Panorama shot}

The Valley of Vapors was in full color and I was there to witness.

It was quite an experience and one that I won’t soon forget. I’ll definitely be making return trips to Forked Mountain, especially now that I know the way.

_{Forked Mountain – The Valley of Vapors}

_{Forked Mountain – Matt Kennedy photographs the fog in the Valley of Vapors}

The Legend of Forked Mountain

Many trails converge on the sacred Valley of Vapors bringing Indians of all tribes from north, south, east and west. When they made their camps in this Valley of Peace where the healing waters flowed, they lay down their weapons and sat together around fires at night, smoking the calumet has brothers telling stories of long ago. Here, friendship was often established among the various groups, but ancient rivalries persisted and sometimes led to events that recall the tragic story of Romero and Juliet; for this was a romantic place where young people, far from their homelands, met and fell in love. This is the tale of one such unfortunate couple as told by white storytellers who lived near the strange mountain with two peaks that overlooks the Ouachita Forest near Hollis.

Once in the valley of Manataka, a lovely maiden from the south caught the eye of a brave warrior from the north. Even though their tribes were different, the two seemed to belong together. He was tall and straight and strong; she, gentle and loving as well as beautiful. When they looked into each other’s eyes, they felt as though their spirits were joined and could never more be parted. But her father was a powerful chief who could not think of giving his daughter to a stranger who would take her away. As the days passed, the two lovers grew closer and closer. They spent all their time together, bathing in the magic waters, gathering healing herbs and berries in the forest, fishing in the streams, and sitting by the campfires at night.

When her jealous father saw them so much together, he could not accept the thought that they might be joined forever and vowed to separate them. He could not kill the young lover or make war on his tribe because they were in the Valley of Peace where the Great Spirit had decreed that no blood should be spilled. Therefore, he called his people together and prepared them to leave the very next day.

_{Forked Mountain Panorama}

The young lovers, hearing this, were distraught. So strong was their love that they knew they could not live without one another. In desperation, they slipped away during the night and, taking two swift horses, fled toward the north hoping to find a friendly village where they could be married and live happily together. All night they rode, and all the next day until, exhausted, they came to a tall mountain and could go no farther. Leaving their horses, they climbed as far as they could go and hid among the rocks to rest.

That morning when the chief had made ready to leave the valley he found his daughter missing. In a great fury, he took his strongest men and flew in pursuit of the couple, following their tracks up the trail to the north until he came upon their horses at the foot of the mountain. When he looked high up to the top, he saw the lovers asleep in each other’s arms under a rocky shelter. Remembering his vow to separate them, the angry chief called upon the Great Spirit to help him.

_{Forked Mountain – Sunrise over Flatside Pinnacle}

There was a great clash of thunder and a lightning bolt split the mountain at it summit. The two younger lovers disappeared, but the Great Spirit took pity on their love. The maiden’s spirit remained in one peak and the brave’s took its place in the other, forever joined at the base.

Credits: “The Legend of Forked Mountain” by Sandra Long and Marcus Phillips is from the “Indian Folklore Atlas of Hot Springs National Park” (1994).

_{Forked Mountain – Morning dew rests upon fresh spring leaves}

_{Forked Mountain – A rain drop clings to a small branch}

_{Forked Mountain – Redbuds, soaked from the recent rain}

_{Forked Mountain – A raindrop clings to the newly bloomed redbuds}

Matt and I are pretty solid photography buddies. We know each others limits (easy for me, with Matt there are none) and also know that we each share a fascination in the undiscovered. Matt and I had planned this hike around the idea of exploration and scouting of new areas. Matt had always wanted to scout out the Graves Canyon area, so Sunday morning last week we did just that.

To be honest though, the whole trip was somewhat uneventful aside from an unforeseen blockage in the road on the way in. I hopped out of the car to examine the tree that had fallen over the road and attempted to move it. Luckily it was broken in half, and one part was easily removed. The other part gave Matt and I a good game of tug-o-war with a come-a-long that Matt keeps in the car for emergencies. With that out of the way we were down in the canyon in no time taking photos in the morning light.

Forever falls is the first sight you see on entering the canyon.

_{Forever Falls}

The light this morning was interesting. There was a light fog covering the whole area and the oranges and reds were absolutely saturated with it, which made the colors just “pop” as cliche as that sounds.

_{Graves Canyon}

_{Graves Canyon}

This is a cool little spot on a larger waterfall. I really liked the way the smaller falls kind of mimicked each other. You can see the larger view of the falls at Matt’s blog, he took a full-size shot that turned out very good. Check it out here.

_{Graves Canyon Falls}

_{Orange leaf in Graves Canyon}

Matt and I actually found this other waterfall up one of the drainage’s, since we have found no record of it, that means we get to name it! I told Matt that I didn’t mind the name of it, whatever it was I was just happy to have taken part in finding it. Therefore, Matt has dubbed this one Split-tree Falls, since the tree in the middle of the falls splits the waterfall in two. The height of this one is about 15ft or so.

_{Split-tree Falls in a drainage off of Graves Canyon}

On the way back home Matt had spotted this waterfall off the side of the road. It’s actually a very large waterfall at around 25-30ft. I was kind of amazed that it isn’t in one of the guidebooks, it’s also not named. Therefore, we’ve dubbed this one Mt. Levi Falls.

_{Mt. Levi Falls}

Everyone I know and everyone who has seen my photos eventually comes to the conclusion that this is “my shot,” a signature of mine if you will. I’m all about taking a leaf from the surrounding area of a waterfall and taking it’s photo with the waterfall as the background. It’s become my signature shot and to be honest, so far I’ve never seen it from any other photographer.

_{Mt. Levi Falls – My signature shot}

That’s all folks! =D

Hope you enjoyed this round of photos, stick around for some beautiful shots from Flatside Pinnacle.

Carpe Diem!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so I figured I should get around to showing some new photos of mine.

_{The Blue Hole}

View Larger – Click “Blue Hole” after the jump!

These photos are from the most recent outing of mine, a quick trip up to the Blue Hole with John Moore.

_{The Blue Hole – Fall colors envelope a small cascade}

John and I met at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Russellville around 6:30 in the morning and headed up to the Blue Hole, not far from Jerusalem, Arkansas.

_{The Blue Hole}

The Blue Hole is somewhat of a hidden gem in Arkansas. From what I have seen online not many photographers visit this beautiful location. This, to me, is a bit surprising considering all the Blue Hole has to offer.

_{The Blue Hole}

The Blue Hole has two major waterfalls which are approximately 10ft in height and 30-40ft in width. They are cascading falls and slowly roll over a series of boulders and drops as the water rumbles downstream.

_{The Blue Hole}

They both are truly unique waterfalls and have so many different angles and variations that one could photograph them all day. Unfortunately, I had to be back in town by one o’clock. Although, it was quite sunny outside and it became hard to photograph the falls in anyways.

_{The Blue Hole}

John had a hunch about a particular hollow that might contain a series of waterfalls. On the way out, he and I took this small detour. Upon arriving at the hollow we were quite surprised to find not one, not two, but a HUGE amount of waterfalls cascading down a runoff. John and I were quite amazed that we may have been the first photographers to have ever seen this place. We both, pretty much, vowed that we would return in the spring.

_{The Blue Hole}

The Hollow itself was quite a site to see, at one particular point the ground went straight into the hillside and opened up into a large cavernous outcropping that contained a huge ~30-50ft waterfall, it was hard to see because we were on top looking down. Unfortunately, we were running out of time. However, the scenery around the falls was quite dead already so it would be a better place to visit in the spring anyways.

_{The Blue Hole – Flower Macro}

On the way back into town we stopped for a few quick shots from an overlook. Nuclear 1 can be seen in the distance.

_{The Blue Hole – Nuclear 1}

I had a great time with John, he’s an amazing photographer and it was an honor to get to spend the morning alongside him shooting this awesome location. If you would like to see his photography, which I strongly encourage, then check out his website at: http://www.mooremonkeys.com

_{The Blue Hole – “Fire” washes over the hillside}

Until next time! Carpe Diem!