The Sidewinder Saga

Campsite Drama
Never again will we try to find a campsite in the Ozarks on Memorial Day weekend! Despite arriving at 3 p.m. on Friday, our original destination of Haw Creek Campground was packed. The much larger Long Pool Campground was full. The ranger said the only spaces left were in a horse and ATV campground called Moccasin Gap. Great, we're thinking, a testosterone camp, not up our alley. Actually, though, it wasn't bad at all. Except for the occasional entry or exit of ATVs, the campground was probably more quite and quaint than the others that were full of revelers.

More Than We Can Chew?
For our first adventure, we set our sights on a group of three waterfalls, Sidewinder Falls, Swamp Falls and V-Slot Falls, in a semi-remote valley along Bear Creek in the Ozark National Forest northwest of Dover, AR. This time we would be going way off the beaten path and descending deep into a valley into the unknown with some vague directions and GPS coordinates. We knew it would be hard. Tim Ernst's book said it was "not for the faint of heart." We didn't know we would consider giving up multiple times.

The morning was already warming up and humid when we left our car along a one-lane gravel county road and trekked along a short jeep trail to a small swampy clearing in the forest. The gnats and mosquitoes were intense. We were supposed to find an opening on the far side, but found no such thing, so we went around outside of the clearing until we found the steep drainage leading down into the valley that was indicated as our "route".

Edna Falls, But She Doesn't Feel It
We whacked our way through the underbrush, fallen trees and spider webs, walking through a thick carpet of poison ivy when out of the drainage bottom and climbing our way across slippery boulders when the trench seemed the most passable. Early on, we discovered a small unmentioned waterfall, about nine feet high, which we named Edna Falls, after Melissa's mom. From there, the going became more and more difficult, dangerous and slow. We tried to find a route above the drainage bed a few times, but were stymied by the steep slopes and poison ivy on both sides. We also worried about having the stamina to make it back up this difficult terrain.

Hard Rock Gaffe
With our GPS indicating we were a mere .15 miles from our destination, we found ourselves at an impasse. Melissa slipped on a slick rock and fell hard on her hip, striking her hand as well. She stayed down for a while, and I imagined how I was going to carry her back up and out. But she recovered after about ten minutes and decided to continue. Check out the bruise (right).

Sidewinder Falls
At last, having discovered a route on the eastern slope of the drainage, we reached Bear Creek virtually on top of Sidewinder Falls, an fantastic cascade down a corkscrew rock formation to a pool about 15 feet below the top ledge. It was cool and comfortable, so we rested above the falls at the water's edge and ate lunch.

Swamp Falls
In theory, from Sidewinder Falls we should have had a clear view of Swamp Falls, a straight falls from the drainage we just came down, dropping perhaps 17 feet to the pool below. However, a large tree has fallen into the canyon above the tree. We could see Swamp Falls, but couldn't get a great picture through the foliage, and couldn't figure out how to climb down to the base for a better view.

V-Slot Falls - Not Meant To Be, This Time
What promised to be the most exciting of the three falls, V-Slot Falls, which apparently cuts vee shape into the bedrock that joins in a deep crevasse, was not far downstream. We got close enough to hear it. But alas, exhausted and unable to see a way to safely reach it, we gave up and began the long haul back out of the valley. Turns out we had descended 580 feet in about a mile, most of that in less than a half-mile.

Kings Bluff, But Don't Fall For It
A quick dip in cool pool below the falls at Haw Creek Campground was just the trick before we decided to brave one more adventure for the day, a hike to Kings Bluff Falls east of Old Hwy 7 on Hwy 16. The well-worn trail was welcome and the bluff, falls and rock formations were fantastic.

More pics: http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=172482&id=690593800

Check out our first attempt to record parts of our adventures on video...