Cousin Bill and Petit Jean . . .

Arkansas's Petit Jean State Park

A delayed "Weekly Rambling" newsletter arrived from Cousin Bill the other day, telling of his rambles through the Arkansas wilderness:

Yesterday we left early morning for a day trip down the Pig Trail toward Mt Magazine and on over to Petit Jean Mtn. Both are beautiful, but Petit Jean has more to offer . . . trails, camping, lake, car museum, etc. In spite of the high humidity and temp there we decided to hike the Cedar Falls trail, located in Cedar Creek Canyon. It's a difficult hike (the first half mile descends 200 ft over steps cut from rock by the CCC over 70 years ago). The trail then follows Cedar Creek another half mile over rock and boulders . . . there rewarded by sight of the 90 foot waterfall . . . the large pool at its base a swimming area for young and old. Although indicated as only a two mile roundtrip, another couple got a GPS reading of 2.6 miles. Sweat was rolling going and coming. Molly got baptized twice in the creek in a successful attempt to keep her alive . . . she was almost tripping over her own tongue. We'll redo it and try additional trails in the fall, with a stay in one of the rustic cabins or Mather Lodge.

The CCC was the Franklin Roosevelt New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps, which gave unemployed men manual jobs during the Great Depression. Mt. Magazine is obviously a mountain, but important for being the highest spot in Arkansas, at 2,753 feet. That's not high, as mountains go, but it rises from a base of about 300 feet. Petit Jean rises only to 1,180 feet, from a somewhat lower base. Arkansas's mountains are not especially high, but the valleys are deep . . .

Oh, nearly forgot, but Uncle Cran responded to Cousin Bill's report with a note of appreciation:

It was kind of (YAWN!) interesting, and probably worth the wait.

A big thanks to Uncle Cran for the wit and wisdom of his elder perspective on the younger lives of his nephews . . .