From: theise@panix.com
Had a great trip to the Ozarks week before last.
First day we headed to Mark Twain Cave CG on the south side of
Hannibal, MO. Trailer pulled fine. It was a nice enough place.
The weather was gorgeous.
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/MarkTwain.jpg
Day 2 we went on to Lake of the Ozarks SP near Osage Beach, MO.
It was decent, your typical state park. We spent a couple of
hours hiking in the wilderness embedded in the park, the far end
of the trail was not really marked so we had to cast about a bit.
The park staff was quite friendly.
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/Lake-Ozarks.jpg
Day 3 we made our way on into Arkansas. The scenery was amazing,
with one view at the top of a pass we had to stop for...
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/Ozarks-view.jpg
I had been aiming to camp off the grid in national forest, and was
successful in finding a nice spot. The access road was not very
well maintained and we had to get past some private property. At
one point on our drive in we encountered a local coming out with a
trailer of wood. He gave us a tip on where to find a campsite,
and warned us if we went farther there would be no place to turn
around. I'm not sure I would have found the site without his
advice.
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/NF-location.jpg
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/NF-site-from-trailer.jpg
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/NF-site.jpg
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/Big-Piney-Cr.jpg
As it happened, part of the campsite access was quite sandy and
narrow, so it was a bit dicey getting the trailer out. I think I
got lucky. We ran the generator the first afternoon, because it
was quite warm. We also needed the furnace the next morning, but
I had to fire up the generator to keep it going. On our way out,
we encountered anothr local cutting firewood, and he commented
that he'd heard it running. I apologized, but he didn't seem too
bothered.
The next day we went hiking on Mt. Nebo. The road to the top had
signes prohibiting trailers over 24 ft. After driving up with the
Acadia, I was pretty sure I would NOT want to pull even a shorter
trailer up there. It was incredibly steep and windy, with very
tight switchbacks and poor visibility. I lived in Flagstaff for a
few years and drove the switchbacks to Sedona many times, but that
was tame compared to this.
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/MtNebo.jpg
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/MtNebo-view.jpg
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/MtNebo-view2.jpg
Day 5 we started for home, driving by the Buffalo National Scenic
River on the way. Very pretty...
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/Buffalo.jpg
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/Buffalo2.jpg
That night we stayed at Beaver Springs CG near Piedmont, MO. It
was a nice enough CG, though the manager insisted on directing me
to back in the trailer.
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/Beaver.jpg
All in all, good trip. We had longer than preferred days of
driving (trip length was pretty limited by schedule) and didn't
find any locations that seemed okay for cycling. One goof with
the trailer, pulling it out of the remote campsite I gashed the
side against a tree branch. Normally I would have driven more
carefully, but kind of gunned it once I was lined up to exit the
campsite because I didn't want to risk getting stuck in sand.
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/gouge.jpg
https://panix.com/~theise/ozarks/gasket.jpg
I got a fiberglass repair kit, and will work on that when time
permits (the storage is covered). I also have a gasket that's
coming loose, and will use some kind of silicone adhesive to
secure it back in place.
--
Ted Heise West Lafayette, IN, USA
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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