The TrailBlazers Hiking Club is a group based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, dedicated to enjoying the outdoors in the Ozarks and Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. THCFS schedules several hikes a month, some long and some short, some difficult and some more laid-back. Some of us have hiked for years and some have just started, but we all enjoy the outdoors. If this describes you and you're in the area, you're welcome in our group!
Big Bluff
Thirteen hardy TrailBlazers met for an early role call to travel up to Big Bluff high above the Buffalo River. En route they saw 4 swans on a pond near Boxley Valley. Billigene reports that the temperature was a brisk 34 degrees at the Trailhead. For those who don’t know, the trail to Big Bluff involves hiking down from the highway to the bluff, so the return trip is a steady climb out. Somehow it seems that it should be the reverse!
Since it is colder in this area than in the River Valley, there was ice on the trail in places, making for slick footing. Once again this week there were beautiful icicles as well as frost flowers. For those seeing it for the first time the sighting of big bluff is quite amazing. The bluff is enormous and features a narrow ledge trail where there are wonderful panoramic views of the Buffalo River. At one place you can either climb through a hole in the rock in order to continue, or you can climb down and walk around it.
There was some occasional drizzle, but it was on and off. Billigene reports that it was muddy in places on the return trip and that it became rather foggy at the end of the trail. On the return drive some people reported seeing some turkeys (One wonders if they were anybody we know)! A final highpoint of the day was three elk sightings in the valley.
