I'm still around. We opened our new lodge on Mount Magazine on the 1st and had the dedication on the 18th. I spent the entire week of the 15th through the 21st up there. It was a mad house but we got through it okay. If you are interested here is the web site:
www.mountmagazinestatepark.com we should have some new photos up soon. In the meantime, here is a report that Lisa wrote about our experiences this weekend when they came up to meet me at the end of the whole thing:
Quote:
This past week Joe was at Mt Magazine for the opening ceremonies etc for the brand new lodge on top of the mountain. The small one and I joined him on Friday for a weekend of big fun. After the 2 hour very scenic drive out Hwy 10 from Little Rock, the small one and I got there in time to walk around the new lodge, see the sunset from the promenade where the small one immediately changed my cell phone wallpaper to a view off the mountain, and check out the indoor pool (with slide!) while Joe finished up working the crowd. After a quick tour we went for a short swim and dip in the hot tub before retiring to our very nice room. All the rooms at the lodge have southern views off the mtn...niiiice. We had a big day planned for Saturday so after waking we headed to the restaurant for the buffet and ate our fill. Mmmmm bacon. We had to pack up our room and check out since we planned to camp in the campground that night and were so slow that we just missed the group hike up to the highest point in Arkansas on the signal hill trail. Luckily we were able to hike quickly and caught up with the group and the park interpreter, the amazing Don, at the top.
The park has built a stone replica of the state at the top it's really cool. I On the hike back to the lodge Don stopped to describe different plants, wildlife and tracks that we saw along the way. It really makes a hike unique to have someone along who is an expert in all the flora and fauna in the area as well as the history of the park. After that we stopped at the hang gliding launch and had a chat with one of the guys setting up to launch later in the afternoon...we were definately going to have to come back to see that! Then we had another dip in the pool for the small one, little fish that she is.
We went back to the launch site and listened to a guy that has been hang gliding for more almost 30 years talk about the sport. While we were all waiting for the wind conditions to get "right" we decided to set up our camp grill and cook up some beer brats for lunch. We stayed long enough to watch the first guy launch off the mtn. COOOL! What a rush that must be.
Then we headed down to the visitors center to check in to the campground. There is a very nice wildlife observation area there so we watched birds feed and chipmunks scamper for a while then went in to watch the amazing Don's presentation on the history of the mountain. We had to stick around for the Arkansas Herpetological Society and their snakes! When are you going to get the chance to have a timber rattler squiggling around 3 ft from your 10 year olds' feet? She thought that was cool. Later in the evening after setting up camp we went back to the lodge for dinner. The views from the restaurant are amazing. Then we headed back to the VC because David Saugey brought his BATS! presentation. He brought a live big brown bat that he had caught and fed him crickets right in front of us. I've never seen a bat feed before...it was really awesome to watch. THEN...as if we hadn't packed in enough for the day...there were several members of area astronomy clubs on top of the mtn so we got to see Saturn and Jupiter thru their high powered telescopes....AWESOME! WHEW, that was a packed day. Off to bed. I HATE, and I mean HATE campgrounds. I would rather pack in than camp in noisy campgrounds any day. This one had hook ups at every site so there were no noisy generators going all night. I didn't hear a single kid screaming or running around even though I know they were in the campground, I saw them at the bathhouse, which was clean and well maintained I must say. No one was playing loud music or sitting outside talking too loudly...it was SO nice. A decent night's rest and we were up and on the North Rim Trail right after breakfast. BEAUTIFUL hike. We made one very lucky wrong turn and ended up at a lovely running brook complete with waterfall!
The small one was doing a great job leading the hike, we'll make a backpacker of her yet! Her most exciting moment of the day was a rather large milk snake in the trail. She squeaked when she first saw it but then said, "Look, a milk snake, he's soo cuuuuute".
We named him Bob, and set out on our way again. Later on we saw some bear tracks and more than one beautiful view of the river valley. What a great start to a day. We packed up after that and headed home. I'm still recovering.
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