Under gray skies and on and off rain 31 TrailBlazers headed for Jasper for our annual weekend at Buffalo Lodge. We managed to squeeze in our wiener roast Fri. night before rain drove us inside to make plans, play games, and have Mike entertain us with 3 different instruments. 

In spite of early morning rain making the weather iffy, we were ready to hike. With Round Top Mountain closed due to a mudslide, one group decided to hike Alum Cove instead. Fortunately we were able to shelter in a cave when the steady rain turned into an electrical storm. Later we hiked the Buffalo River Trail from Ponca Access, where we ran into our old friend Vicky on the low water bridge, over to Steel Creek. The other group did a more ambitious and wet hike to Bowers Hollow and were rewarded by some great waterfalls. 

Saturday night we had a great pulled pork dinner thanks to Becky cooking up a storm at home ahead of time. All in all we did a lot of eating since many people brought all kinds of great food contributions. Afterwards several of us went to the Ozark Café in Jasper to see the show and returned to the lodge to play more games. After our traditional Sun. morning Big Man, and hopefully not Big Woman, Breakfast chock full of everything, some Blazers went home, some decided to do some sightseeing, and 9 of us had a great time canoeing and kayaking the Buffalo from Steel Creek to Kyle’s Landing. The weather was cool and overcast, but there was no rain. We even trekked up to Hemmed in Hollow Falls from the river. Another great weekend at the lodge!