Arkansas – GeoJeep

Day 2: Arkansas to Mississippi
Water is the most vital thing to life. Not only do we need it for our very survival, but we find it comforting. Millions of us flock to places of aqueous views, and whether we live there or not we all find it calming. The seas, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and springs dominate our culture. Most of our major cities are built near waterways. Water is the essence of our being.

Petit Jean Sign — Petit Jean State Park May 10, 2011

Today my friend took me to a place that exemplifies our fascination with water: Petit Jean State Park in central Arkansas. It is a beautiful place full of hiking trails and history, built by the Civilian Conseration Corps starting in 1933, during the Great Depression. Rich in history, and geology, it’s most stunning (and most visited) attraction is a 90′ waterfall that cascades into Cedar Creek Canyon.

First View of Falls — Petit Jean State Park-Cedar Falls. The first view when walking up. May 10, 2011

The walk to Cedar Falls isn’t too long, only 2 miles from trailhead to the falls, but it is pretty vigourous. The first 1/2 mile that descends more than 200 feet, climbing down steps made from local rocks by the C.C.C., isn’t the hard part: It’s climbing back up later. I enjoyed it a lot, as sitting in a vehicle for long drives doesn’t offer a lot of exercise so I love to get what I can.
The geology of the area was unknown to me when I entered the park, but I started making some assumptions. My first clue were the trees, many of them obviously several hundred years old, that had grown on top of the rock rubble.

Tree growing around rock — A tree growing on top of a fallen rock. Petit Jean State Park May 10, 2011

The area suggest to me a collapse of a large karst area several hundred thousand years ago. Now, everyone knows how I LOVE karst, so perhaps I try to see it in everything I visit. So, I decided to look it up when I got to camp where I would have wireless internet. Here is what I found:
It turns out that this area was not karst, but it did undergo a similar process as the sinkholes that take place in the carbonates of Missouri and Kentucky. What happened to these sandstone rocks is that the shale, softer and less resistant than the sandstone, was eroded by the water faster and left little support for the sandstone, causing the rocks to tumble. This area is in a big syncline called the Pontoon syncline. For more info on the geology of the area, go to http://www.geology.arkansas.gov/pdf/Geology%20of%20Petit%20Jean%20State%20Park.pdf

I really enjoyed the falls. There is something absolutely serene being in the presence of moving water. You can feel it in the air, and everything seems right with the world. I owe a huge thanks to my friend who took pictures of me, and taught me how to use a lot of the functions on my camera. I am extremely lucky to have a friend who is also interested in photography and we had a great time taking pictures at the falls. She was a gracious host as well and I couldn’t have chosen a better place to start my grand journey! We will have to go camping again soon.
In the afternoon it was time to leave Arkansas and head towards Mississippi. Upon driving EB along I-40 I saw exactly how you can have too much of a good thing. White, Cache, L’Anguille, St. Francis, and Mississippi are all names of rivers, but today they were lakes. At one point the water was so high it was approaching the roadway, and had already risen over the roadway on the WB side. I was lucky enough to squeak by on the EB lanes. They hadn’t closed them, but I imagine if the water isn’t yet receeding they would have had to do so.

WB lane on i40 AR — The water breached the WB lanes of I-40. 5/10/11

The water, almost level with the roadway, along the EB lanes of I40 in AR. 5/10/11

The Mississippi river took over a large portion of Memphis, reclaiming property that once belonged to the flood plain. Locals had taken over exit ramps as boating ramps, and they lined the new coastline with fishing poles. A few roofs poked out through the water in places.
It is important to remember that many things are vital to our lives, in so many ways, yet there still needs to be moderation. There is a such thing as too much, even of a thing so essential as water. Sometimes we don’t have control over what amount of a good thing we are dealt, but we can decide to use it wisely, and learn from every moment we get.
The drive through Mississippi was wonderful. I was racing the sun to get to my campsite, the top down on the Jeep, the aromas of pine and honeysuckle breezing through my nose. Mississippi, so far, is a pretty nice looking state. I’ll let you know more about it after I do some more exploring of The Magnolia State tomorrow. Until then-
-Nicole

Flowers at Petit Jean — These flowers were all over Petit Jean State Park when I was there 5/10/11

The steps at Petit Jean — The stone steps, carved by the CCC, at Petit Jean S.P. 5/10/11

Me, @ Petit Jean — This is me, taking pictures at Petit Jean S.P. in Arkansas (photo courtesy of my friend, Jennifer)

Me at Cedar Falls at Petit Jean S.P. — Me, taking a pictureof Cedar Falls at Petit Jean S.P. 5/10/11 (Photo courtesy of my friend, Jennifer)

Most of the time when our alarm clock goes off we hit the snooze. It goes off the second time and we either begrudgingly get out of bed, or we hit the snooze again. If you are like me you have to set your alarm clock at least a half hour earlier than you intend to wake up because this process repeats until you can’t fall back asleep without dreaming about your alarm’s incessant call.

The night of a trip is nothing like this. You wake up before your alarm goes off. Only 2 hours until you have to get up. Fall back asleep. The next time your eyes are open, it’s only 1 hour and 45 minutes until your alarm calls. It is one of those rare moments where you anticipate your alarm rather than dread it.

This morning was one of those days.

It was the start of my Grand Adventure tour, to which I call Caves, Waves & Future Paves. Aptly named, as the goals of this 77 day tour is to a) visit potential grad schools b)collect data, photos and other information from a broad spectrum of caves throughout the U.S. for my own research and c) to relax among the worlds wonders (including friends, family, mountains, canyons, geologic marvels and one of my personal favorite: coastlines).

Starting out in Missouri I will be doing two loops: My Eastern loop, which I started today, a short 3 day stop at home, and then my Western loop.(See the map below)

My first stop was just South of the Missouri border in Arkansas: Cosmic Caverns. Along the way I also had a plan of selling some of my stone creations, so I have produced a dozen “cave candle holders” and have them with me. (go to www.geojeep.com/stone-creations to see a picture of it) The Cosmic Caverns gift shop purchased two of them, and seemed likely to want to sell more. I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

The tour of Cosmic Caverns was fantastic. Taking tours on Mondays seems to be beneficial. I was on tour with one couple and the tour guide. The tour guide was very informative and knew a lot about the geology, mineralogy and history of the cave. I was very impressed since I often run into cave tours that know very little about the cave geology. I scribbled an entire page worth of notes in my field book, and noted the size of different items I used as scale so I could reference them later. The tour only costs $14 for general admission, so if any of you are near the area I highly recommend it. There are lots of beautiful formations to take pictures of and the group that works there is very friendly and knowledgeable. If they don’t know the answer they will try to find it for you.

Cosmic Caverns, Berryville, AR — Cosmic Caverns Berryville, AR May 9, 2011

My next stop was at another cave that was only a 30-40 minute drive from Cosmic: Mystic Caverns. Here I was going to actually tour two caves owned on the property: Mystic Caverns and Crystal Dome.

I was the only one who arrived for the next tour, and while they don’t normally allow a tour to go with just one person for safety reasons, the lady allowed me to go because she knew I was doing some research and data collection. Going on tours alone goes nice and fast, and especially if you are someone like myself who has been in enough caves that they don’t have to repeat the same script they have rehearsed uncountable times. I was able to get photographs of almost everything I wanted, with different items of scale.

Mystic Caverns is not a very big cave, but it is pretty well decorated- speleothems are in great numbers as compared to the size of the cave itself, although many of them are no longer depositing.

Crystal dome is right next to Mystic, and run by the same private owner, but is not known to connect. While the tour route is pretty short the cave itself is much larger. It has a beautiful dome that is covered in draperies, and one of the biggest pieces of cave bacon I have ever seen. (Although the speleothem density is much more sparse than it’s neighbor, Mystic).

Crystal Dome Cave Bacon — Crystal Dome. A large piece of cave "bacon". May 9, 2011

The drive from Mystic Caverns, which is located near Harrison, AR, to Russellville, AR where I was to meet my friend from high school was a beautiful drive. The weather was sunny and warm, so I was able to take the Jeep’s top down and enjoy the air. The view from the top of the mountains was breath taking.

As with any of my trips, I did have an almost crippling mishap. I had put my Jeep top down after touring Mystic Caverns and Crystal Dome and slid my side windows to my soft top under the back of my top, folded down. I was driving south on the curvy, steeply-graded, 7 highway that runs from Jasper, AR to Russellville, AR and I noticed a flash of black in my rear view mirror. One of my side windows had flown out onto the highway into the northbound lane. I pulled over into the nearest driveway, made a u turn and had to stop, mid highway with flashers on, to reclaim my lost window. Without that window, rain would not be a fun weather event. Luckily the time of day I was traveling afforded very little traffic to fight. Close call!

I am now in Russellville at a good friend of mine’s home, enjoying grilled chicken and other good food with her husband and her neighbors. The night is beautiful, and they live right next to a bayou. Tomorrow morning she is going to take me to Petit Jean National Park to see a 90′ tall waterfall, and then I will be treking my way in my Jeep with the top down to Mississippi so I can camp for the night.

It’s funny how we spend life dreading some alarm clocks and anticipating others. This Summer will be a part of my life where every alarm clock will be something I look forward to. I think it will prove to be a great lesson in life. Every day we wake, whether it be to the sun rising and the birds chirping or that incessant buzzing of an alarm, should be cherished. Each alarm allows you to start the journey of a new day.

Until my next alarm clock, here’s a couple more pictures of my journey!

-Nicole

Tag: Arkansas

A Water World: Day 2, Arkansas to Mississippi

Day 1: Arkansas