The Whole Hole?

Grand Gulf Sinkhole

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but is a whole hole also greater than the sum of its parts?

Tan Trough Creek, Izard County, Arkansas

Tan Trough Creek

(Photo by EIC Crew)

The hillbilly crew Denny, Jim, and Rick over at Exploring Izard County are forever finding the unexpected in their Ozark explorations of Izard County. I'm always interested in their meanderings around Izard because my maternal grandmother was born there and most of her Cherokee relatives were settled in the rough, hilly area around the White River, which is part of the White River Hills. I'm from Fulton County myself, just north of Izard, so I know the region and did some exploring of my own as a teenager.

Denny and Rick -- I don't know where Jim was (out of pocket, I reckon) -- took some time recently to explore a fascinating, mysterious place called Tan Trough Creek, which runs just north of Calico Rock, Arkansas. Here's what Denny wrote about the creek:

Tan Trough Creek begins as a stream seeping from acres and acres of glade rock north of Calico Rock. The little stream gathers size as it follows a deepening hollow to plunge nearly 100 feet to a canyon floor below through a semi-cylinder of stone! The creek then flows through the most amazing canyon we've encountered in Izard County . . . possibly even the Ozarks . . . this part of them at least. It's unique and quite wonderful!

For hundreds of yards, sheer bluffs of around 100 feet or more line each side of this creek. At one point, the tops of the bluffs on each side of the canyon are nearly within jumping distance of each other. As Rick and I searched for a way to get down to the creek bottom, we were forced to hike several hundred yards before finding a navigable way down. As we fought our way back up the creek through briars, saplings, and last year's ice-storm fall-out, we were rewarded with fantastic views of the bluffs above us as well as with discovering small waterfalls and caves in the faces of the bluffs.

Sounds like quite an adventure. I've got to see this place! But my upcoming Ozark trip this summer might not be the best of times -- too many ticks, probably, and too much heat and humidity.

Anyway, Denny has a bit more written about the canyon over at the EIC blog, along with three more photos and a ten-minute video that offers information about the creek and provides shots of the bluffs through some fairly heavy thicket.

From what I've read and seen, the place should probably be a state park. The description reminds me of Missouri's Grand Gulf State Park and leads me to wonder if Tan Trough Creek might not also be an ancient cave system similar to that one at Grand Gulf -- or like the collapsed cave with natural land bridge remaining at the nearby Calico Creek, which my family and I hiked around in with Denny and his family back in February 2008.

As mentioned above, I did some Izard exploring myself as a teenager. At 19, I spent my last summer living in the Ozarks when I worked on the surveying crew for my high school math teacher, Mr. Jim Scott. On days when we had no work, I'd hop on my ten-speed bicycle and pedal off on an adventure of discovery, several times on a 35-mile trip south into Izard County through some steep Ozark hills to Sylamore, enjoying the views but not the sweat and scorching sun.

I never discovered Tan Trough Creek, though, for I always continued southward, never turning off on the road toward Calico Rock whenever I headed down Sylamore way.

I missed out.

Missouri Ozarks: Grand Gulf State Park

I have some more photos from my lovely wife, for they took another trip into Missouri, but only a short one this time:

"Today after church, Grandma Gaye took us to Grand Gulf in Missouri, 45 minutes away from Salem."

Here's the official information on Grand Gulf (and just click the photos to enlarge):


Grand Gulf is truly extraordinary -- a mile-long boxed-in canyon formed millions of years ago when a dolomite cave system collapsed. I visited the place before it was a state park, as it's only a few hundred yards from the Arkansas state line, and I hiked down into the sinkhole with my youngest brother John . . . about 200 feet down, roughly. The water that gushes down into that sinkhole emerges again at Mammoth Spring several miles away, but mixed with an enormous amount of other water. Speaking of which:

"We drove through Mammoth Spring, actually we made a stop there and had our picnic lunch."

Faithful readers will recall that my family and I made a trip to Mammoth Spring in February 2008, and the force of that spring's water can be seen in the second photo of my Ozark photoblog. But no need to wander down paths of nostalgia when we can lose ourselves in the present:

"Grand Gulf was a nice place to look out [into] and to hike [down into]. I took some pictures."

Yes, and here is a photo of the charming scenery:


Oops . . . that was our dynamic, intrepid duo. Here's the scenery:


Actually, that's merely some scenery . . . and note that the distances are deceiving and rather deeper than they may appear. Here's the stream, and if this is where I think it is, the bottom is about 200 feet down:


I believe that this is where the sinkhole is located, the lowest point, where I descended with my brother John (though this might be where the stream flows under a natural bridge). Sun-Ae, the kids, and my mother must have gone down, too:

"We went down on steps . . ."

And reached the bottom:


They there found a waterfall . . . a trickling, spring-fed waterfall, falling soft like sprinkling rain:


En-Uk kept his distance, but others 'bravely' checked out the tiny spring's source -- a foolhardy thing to do, in my opinion, for the spot is probably slippery with moss and moisture:


But soon, like Prufrock, it was time to turn back and ascend the stair:


This ascent proved too much for Grandma Gaye:

"[A]nd coming up, Gaye got breathless, and it was hot for her, so she felt bad."

But there was still a trail to travel:


After which, Grandma Gaye was enervated:

"Coming home, she had to lie down and rest."

In the car, presumably. Nevertheless, a good time was had:

"Anyway, it was a nice short trip."

Yes, it is a nice short trip close to home . . . even though my brother Tim and I couldn't find the place in February 2008!

Finally, a note from my daughter, who wishes I were there:

Dear daddy, this is Sa-Rah. I only have one thing to say.

S. (Save me!)
O. (Or you'll be...)
S. (Sorry!!)

Okay? Help me...!!

Love, Sa-Rah

P.S. I miss you and Korean food....

She neglected to tell me what I'm supposed to save her from . . . too much fun, maybe, or too much American food?