Spring in the Ozarks

      This likely being my final spring semester I felt it necessary to go out and do something for spring break. My first thought was to try and go camping somewhere and when a couple of my roommates showed interest in joining me I got started researching all of our options. March in Minnesota is cold and I think we were all looking for a little bit more adventure. We considered going out West to places such as Yellowstone but the cost and time necessary to travel made it quite impossible. We looked at the Black Hills and the Badlands as possibilities but South Dakota's ban on campfires on public lands made it hard to imagine going there. We finally decided to head South to Missouri or Arkansas. Both states have millions of acres of National Forest land on which most forms of recreation are free of charge. After weighing our options we decided to head for a cheap campsite in the heart of the Ozark National Forest in Northern Arkansas.

        We drove down during the night and arrived at the campsite about an hour before sunrise. We slept in the car as we waited for the sun to appear. Once there was plenty of light and we assumed most of the other campers would be awake, we started to set up camp. There were three of us, each of us with our own tent. We arranged a tarp over the wooden table, set up our folding chairs and then attempted to find out what in the world we are going to do. This trip was a spur of the moment idea. We came down prepared with equipment but not with a plan of how we were going to spend our time. As we drove back from town picking up some firewood we drove by the Forest Service office and we stopped in to get some ideas. The woman at the desk in her khaki shirt and pants and thick, southern drawl told us of a hike with stunning views.

        After quite a long drive on winding paved roads that turned slick, dark red and muddy we reached a parking lot with dozens of cars. I was amazed to see so many vehicles seemingly so far away from any other towns. The three of us began our hike on the well-worn path, passing groups of college kids, couples and families. There was little sign of spring yet, some bushes had began to bud and some grasses were green but the trees were absent of leaves. The mix of overcast sky with the brown leaves on the ground and limbs of trees did not make the landscape appear particularly inviting. After continuing down the path for a mile or so we crossed a stream that babbled across boulders and then fell off a series of cliffs. With a camera in hand, a tripod strapped to my backpack and my friends knowledge of photography we began taking a number of pictures experimenting in order to change the look of the stream in each photo.

         As we began to climb back to the top to start hiking again, I decided to take a detour. I saw that their was another platform of rock with some grass and trees further down the face of the bluff. The problem was that the only way to reach it from my vantage point was to shuffle across the ledge as it narrowed from several feet wide to a mere four inches. I have always loved testing my ability to find firm rocks and footholds to trust at the risk of falling down, in this case at least 30 feet (and yet I have no desire to go rock climbing). And so, I started my way across to the other side but something happened halfway across. I was feeling comfortable, making sure I had sturdy places to set my feet  and other places to grab the cliff face with my hands. but at one point, I suddenly felt top-heavy. I could feel my body weight shifting backwards, I reached for the limestone in front of me, feeling flakes coming off of it. Somehow I was able to grasp some piece of rock and stabilize myself but now I had adrenaline flowing throughout my body. I was not out of the dark yet and I needed to be able to control myself until I found a place to rest. I quickly made my way to the other platform and regained my composure. I heard someone once propose the idea that because of the society we live in we encounter fewer risks within our lives, yet we still unknowingly desire to have the same overall risk as our forefathers. I can see how this could be true and how it manifests itself in a variety of ways. For me, I enjoy going hunting with deadly weapons, going camping in sub-zero temperatures without the comforts of my home, walking along cliffs without any railings or gear to prevent me from falling to the bottom. Risk is an interesting topic and I have come to believe that there is a healthy amount that each one of us needs in our lives.

         Continuing down the path that bordered the bluff's edge, we suddenly found what everyone was looking for. A large rock formation jutted out 20 or so feet beyond the cliff. We walked out, sat down and looked over the valley full of trees that appeared dead, but knowing that within a month or so the landscape would be changed completely, bursting in color and new life. We spent the next couple of days cooking this winter's deer steaks and other foods over an open fire, exploring new areas and enjoying the warmer, if not warm, weather of the South, content simply with His Creation and each other's company in a new and exciting place.

A Place

            Today, I want to step back and reflect on not solely a single experience but a rather a place. One that left a feeling of wildness in my soul. The area is in Northeastern Iowa where my mother was born and raised. I have visited there with my dad on several occasions, typically to hunt and fish for trout. With bluffs that rise from the ground as well as winding streams and rivers that flow beneath them, it is certainly one of the most scenic parts of the state. Over the last year I have returned by myself to this area a couple times as I traveled to and from Iowa. Each time, I spent one night camping in the Yellow River State Forest which is an 8500 acre piece of land that is full of places to camp and hike. The second time I went was July of 2016.

When I arrived at the campground I was happy to see that there were plenty of open sites and that I would be able to have some solitude for the evening. The following day I was going to be continuing my drive down to a Christian youth camp to be a counselor where I would most certainly not have much time to myself during that week. After parking my car I began setting up my tent, hammock and whatever else I would need for the night. After a restful evening of walking along the trout stream, reading in my hammock and siting by the campfire I went to bed for the night listening to the crisp, high-pitched howls of the coyotes as they as they sang their goodnights to one another. I doubt this was because they were going to bed but rather their night had only just begun.

When I woke up the following morning there was not a stir in the air. As I was deep down in the valley, surrounded by rising hills covered with the thick foliage of a hardwood forest the wind was very seldom felt from where I was staying. Before the sun had made its presence fully known I began to pack up camp. There was not a peep that came from any of the other campsites as I finished loading the car. The only noises came from the music of the song birds and the gurgling of the stream as it rushed over rocks polished by this constant flow of water. I was not in a hurry to leave this place, I just wanted to experience this state forest in its true beauty.

I slowly drove over the gravel road past the tents and campers that housed the still sleeping families. I drove down the road about half a mile and started my ascent up to one of the highest points in the area. Half way up the hill a white-tailed doe stopped in the middle of the road in front of me. Her red summer coat perfect in the low-light of dawn. I drove closer and she walked into the woods a few yards, turned around and looked at me as I rolled down the window to take some photos. Eventually we were force to part ways and I continued my slow drive up the steep, washed-out road. When I reached the end of the road I was relieved to see that no one else had beat me, I had the spot and all its beauty to myself. The site was simply a lookout point that was situated on a bluff that overlooked the main valley of the state forest. I opened my trunk, got out my mini stove, some water and a freeze dried package of biscuits and gravy. Thanks to my early start I was in no hurry, I had the next 10 hours to make a two hour drive, so here in Creation I took my sweet time. As I sat with my legs dangling over the bluff, looking out across the valley into a stream certainly full of rainbow and brook trout, I made breakfast.

That morning, I could have ground up dead sticks to eat and that meal would still have been one my favorites. As I prepared breakfast I could hear the soft yelps of a hen turkey as her and her flock moved through the woods foraging for food. On the edge of the field below me I saw a doe and her two newborn fawns headed to the creek for a cool drink of water. The birds continued to praise the new morning, singing to everything that it represents. In this moment of solitude, filling my stomach with the warm, salty mush that is freeze dried foods, I am convinced that close to nothing could have made it better. There was no sense of time, nor was my head full of tasks and items that I needed to accomplish. I had the luxury of being able to sit back and enjoy what God has provided for us and what the public lands of this country are able to preserve.

As I picked up my trash, began to put away my camera and stove the sun continued to rise. The magic of dawn was gone, it was time to start the day. The birds stopped singing but were now off foraging for food. The doe and her fawns would certainly be looking for a place to lie by now. For me it was time to leave this place. I drove awfully slow as I left that state forest. Taking in all that it had to offer. Believe me when I say that this is no national park or wilderness area, one must long to see just what this landscape has to offer. But, when you find it, that something resonates deep within your soul, there is no other place that you would rather be.

Driving out of the valley I realized why this place means so much to me and hopefully others as well. Everywhere around that forest is agricultural land. Corn and soybeans dominate the Iowan landscape in just about every part of the start including Northeastern Iowa. When one drives down into the Yellow River State Forest it is like taking a step back in time away from the row crops and farmhouses. The preservation of this landscape provides people the opportunity to experience a little piece of the wild that is simply absent from much of our daily lives and also from much of my home state of Iowa. We have no Yellowstone or Boundary Waters Canoe Area or Everglades. All it takes is a little 8500 acre piece of multiple use land to satisfy the desire to find God simply by being in Creation. Having experiences in places like this gives a person the ability not only to reflect back on something beautiful but also something to look forward to again in the future.