This past weekend I took my first hike on the Buffalo River Trail. I best I can tell the West (Upper) section is 37 miles. The Eastern (Lower) section is 43 miles and actually along with the Ozark Highlands Trail. Based upon the condition of the roads to some of the trailheads this may be trail I may not take my car to, instead just ride with other that have SUV or Pickups.

Day 1 South Boxley to between Dry Creek and Running Creek 8.0 miles
I took the little over 3 hour ride up to Klyes Landing Campground with my youngest son's new father-in-law. There we picked up one of his friends and drove down to the outfitter in Ponco to pickup two more of his friends and then drive to the trailhead of the southern terminus of the West (Upper) section at South Boxley. With of the driving around we did not get started untila after 11am. There was decent trail, but one of the last guys we picked up was 72 and not in the best of shape. We ended hiking by moonlight for a few hours and set up camp in the dark.

As you can see the waterfalls were dry. 5 years ago when the FIL (father-in-law) had gone thru they were flowing.

Day 2 Between Dry Creek and Running Creek to Beech Creek 8.6 miles
After the late finish the night before and a church service at camp in the morning, we did get off until 11am again. But the last two guys we picked up were just going 3.4 miles to Ponca, so left without them and moved twice as fast. Now I was the oldest guy. There were some really nice views along the way, including Big Bluff.

Now for some of the more interesting things on Day 2. We found a cave, and then not soon after we heard a tree fall on the trail only 30 feet behind us. When I started hiking the AT my two biggest fears were bears and venomous snakes, now I always say it is lyme disease and a tree falling on me. Well the second almost happened.
Also after Big Bluff there was a wider version of a lemon squeezer.
Campsite may have been .2 mile of the BRT on a horse trail, but had great water and shelter from the wind.

Day 3 Beech Creek to Kyle's Landing Campground Spur 4.2 miles
Fortunately the forecasted rain wasn't that bad, but we had a steady mist of rain during today's hike. Fortunately it was a short one. Slippery rocks caused me to slow down at times, but still finished before noon. That was around the time we started the other two days. After the Slaty place intersection there were around 10 wild hogs. But with camera put due to the rain, they were gone before I could catch them.

The highlight of Day 3 was seeing lots of Elk.

I enjoyed it, but I have only done one fourth of it. And of course there are all kinds of other side trails. As pictures I am sure my hiking partners probably would have done it more justice. And of course waterfalls which I saw plenty, are always much more impressive have lots of rain.

Here is an article about the place I took the pictures of the Elk on my BRT trip in March

ktlo.com/2020/09/30/majestic-e…o-national-river-country/

Looked up the trailhead for this weekend on Google Maps and got this picture. Look impressive, but don't think I will spend a lot of time looking down during that section.


google.com/maps/place/Centerpo…40847!4d-93.3604247?hl=en

Heading out tomorrow to hike around the link above. Centerpoint Trail, Goat Trail, Hemmed in Hollow. Planned 3 days, but now expecting rain and lightning off and so we will see how it goes. Way behind on my trip reports (100 Mile Wilderness, CT Collegiate Loop, OHT). So it may be a while before you see pictures and a write up.