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Category: Hike Reports
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Twenty-eight TrailBlazers with some welcome newcomers headed to Petit Jean on a brisk, some would say cold, fall morning to hike the Seven Hollows Trail.  It was a bright and sunny day so it was great for hiking.  The group did a great job of hiding the dumpster when Yours Truly took the group pic at the trailhead.  Way to go, TrailBlazers!  Dumpsters are NOT scenic or natural, just a necessary evil!

 

With Judith at the lead and Ed and Tina as sweeps we headed down the trail and in no time at all Yours Truly created a dramatic scene and a great photo op.  While putting on her stretch mittens, she tripped over a pesky stob in the middle of the trail, fell hard on her head just above her left eye, scraped the top of her nose, and promptly felt a goose egg on her head.  Nurse Kenya cleaned up the blood and taped the edges of the cut together, so Marilyn of the 9 lives got back on her feet with helping hands hauling her up and got back on the trail with her ubiquitous wooden poles.  What some people won’t do to get a little attention!  Later on she realized that she had also torn up her left knee but it really didn’t hurt much.

 Continuing on, we saw all the majestic rock formations and palisades characteristic of this trail.  Of course, we never have actually figured out where all these 7 hollows are or when we leave one hollow to enter the next, so that part was futile as usual.  There were hints of fall color here and there, but nothing nearly as dramatic as last year.  The creeks were mostly dry, but here and there we saw puddles of waters with floating fallen leaves. 

 In no time, we arrived at the Natural Bridge and scrambled up and through it taking pics along the way.  Next we climbed up a rocky trail to reach the Turtle Rocks, always a treat for newcomers.  There are many large rounded rocks that look like turtles.  The child in all of us makes us want to scramble around and play for a while.  Some of the more nimble hikers chose to leave the area by climbing down a steep rocky trail to return to the loop while the rest of us went back down the same way we came up.

 After trekking along for a while the group decided to eat lunch in a sunny area featuring lots of rocks for sitting.  Although not unheard of, this represented a break from TrailBlazer tradition because we usually eat in the grotto!  After this we did indeed go to the grotto along a trail that is up and down with lots of rocks to climb over – a tad tricky for the vertically challenged!  The falls were not flowing but Wild Bill aka Birdman aka the mountain goat scampered up to the top of the falls, found some water up there, and pushed it over the ledge to create temporary falls for photo ops.  Great idea, Bill!  We also reminisced about the very patriotic young Canadian we met in the grotto several years ago.  This is a great story but those of you who don’t hike with us miss out on these memorable moments – sorry, all the more reason to hike with us!

 As we trekked on we saw more towering bluffs silhouetted against the sky and a few more glimpses of color.  In the fullness of time we arrive back at the parking area.  Although we met several hikers on the trail, we were lucky to find adequate parking when we arrived.  At times it has been a real problem.

 Afterwards some of us went to CJ’s for great burgers while regressing to the Fabulous Fifties because of the décor and music.  Great day for hiking, fun and fellowship!

 Don’t forget the Tim Ernst Program on Monday evening at 7:00 pm at Grace Community Church in Fort Smith.

 Sign up on this site if you plan to do the post Thanksgiving afternoon hike in Fort Smith next Sunday.

 Pictures are below.  Click on any pic to enlarge and then click on the arrows to the right to create a slide show.

 

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