Ozark Photos: Tim Ernst

Dug Hollow

Tim Ernst

(Image from Cloudland Cabin Journal)

In his Weekly Ramblings e-circular, my cousin Bill Hodges linked to an Ozark website that I'd not yet discovered on my own webular meanderings. The site is called Cloudland Cabin Journal and is maintained by Tim Ernst, who has been keeping the journal since since May 1998 and at some point added images to illustrate his journal entries.

From my cursory look around his site, I gather that Mr. Ernst lives in Newton County, Arkansas, famous for its Buffalo National River and probably the most rugged area in the entire Ozarks. The image above gives some indication of the ruggedness even as it suggests accessibility. That sums up the Ozark charm, I think. It's full of isolated, rugged spots that are not that difficult to access.

As for Mr. Ernst himself, he's apparently well known and successful as a photographer:

Tim Ernst is Arkansas' Wilderness Photographer. He has been hiking, driving and crawling around the wonderful Ozark Mountains for most of his life, preserving the images he sees on film for everyone to enjoy. His photographs have appeared in hundreds of national, regional and local publications. Some of his credits include National Geographic, Audubon, Backpacker, Outside, Outdoor Photographer, American Hiker, Natural History, Country, Chevy Outdoors, and Arkansas Times magazines, Sierra Club and Hallmark calendars, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service maps and brochures, Readers Digest Books, and The New York Times.

I'm a little bit jealous . . . but a lot more glad that someone professional is out there photographing the Ozarks for all to see since his efforts enable me to visit my back-home hills any time that I have a hankering to.

A site well worth repeated visits . . .