BuffaloPalooza II

“high water is a distinct possibility”

“did everyone survive?????”

“Just got home. GREAT trip. The HEAVY rains Thursday nite gave the trail a unique look...."waterfalls where it's usually dry rock"

Props to Chili for the itinerary and special props to Mozart and Jerbear for the steaks/potatoes........”

“Back in Memphis. Full report tomorrow, but the waterfalls were everywhere.”

“I picked Randall up in Little Rock TH night and we cruised over to Russelville before turning north into the Ozarks. Randall needed athletic tape, so we diverted into Russelville looking for somewhere to get it an wound up at a Dollar General store. Now, there is nothing remarkable about a DG store in the south, but when "Bill the Icecream Man" turned into the parking lot....now that was remarkable. I will let Randall tell that story.

Before leaving town, Randall says "are we going to get some beer?" So, we begin to look around and nada, we don't see a single sign indicating they might sell beer there. So, we ask someone. "Bout 18 miles thataway" he says, using his hand to indicate the direction of Little Rock. So...things being what they are, we backtrack 18 miles for beer. For future reference, anyone coming to the Ozarks from Little Rock, remember to stop at exit 101 for beer. The two places there are lit up like a casino, you can't miss them.

So, having that accomplished, we cruise on up to Jasper to find Chinmusic and Athena holed up in a small motel (they did have separate rooms). Randall decided that looked a little better than camping in what was surely to be a rain storm, so he opted for the motel. I never asked which room he slept in.

I went on to Ozark CG where Hillbilly hiker and stratdude had set up camp. They had a nice fire and tarp set up and we enjoyed about 30 minutes of the evening before heaven's floodgates opened and it started raining. For the next 8 hours it rained steadily. By the next morning, the Buffalo was raging but the rain had slowed down some.

After shuttles and viewing the elk, we hit the trail at Ponca. The first ten miles were the typical roller coaster, but we had several wet crossings. There were waterfalls everywhere. I can't wait to see chin's pics.

We all met at Kyles, where we were joined by Mozark, Jerbear, NGB, Stomper, and Trailrelic. The steak dinner and the breakfast burritos were most excellent.

We hit the trail after the power breakfast and knocked out another 10 miles. The stop for lunch at the old farmstead was a nice place to spend a hour of the afternoon. Built in the early 1800's, it made you wonder how people ever survived in the Ozarks. Again, there were plenty of pics and I will let the photographers post those.

We went on to Erbie, snagged a group campsite and told stories and swapped lies around a massive campfire on Saturday night.

Sunday, we hit the trail and knocked out 8 more miles, ending at Pruitt. After retreiving vehicles, we went to Ozark cafe where we enjoyed some great burgers before heading out our respective ways. I dropped Randall off at the airport Sunday night and cruised on back to Memphis.

All in all a great trip with some great folks. There are many, many more details, but I will let the participants chime in with their versions of the "stories".”

“Thanks for sharing!!!....sounds like a great time....”

“It was a blast. Friday's hike was in a light misty rain in the morning. By noon, it had stopped raining, but the stream crossings were wet. Randall has some great video. The views were spectacular looking up Hemmed in Hollow. The waterfalls over there (about a mile away) were clearly visible and flowing strong.

We saw more waterfalls per mile of trail than I have seen in a while. That last hill on Friday was a test of character. It was only 800 feet, but it seemed like it just went on forever.”

“My good buddy Hillbillyhiker picked me up around 6 on Thur evening and we stopped by the liquor store and Sonic and then booked it for the river. We quickly set up camp including a tarp to put our chairs under. After Chili showed up we smoked a cigar a caught up a little bit adn that's when the $h1t hit the fan. It rained hard for 7 hrs and when we woke up the next morning the river had risen about 3 feet. We got up and went the The Ozark Cafe and met CHinMusic and Athena and Randall, ate and drove to Ponca. After a quick Elk viewing(hundreds of them regularly hang out in these huge fields in Boxley valley) we started off for a great day of hiking. To me, it was hard but well worth the effort. Some world class killer vistas, including an birdseye view of the spot where Chili so famously fell into the river some 7 years eariler. Anyways, I think CHin Music has the numbers but we climbed a lot, waterfalls everywhere kept us entertained. When we got to Kyles, we met up with JerBEar, Mozark and his 26 yr old son, Trail Relic showed up from Dallas asn then NGB and Stomper. Jerbear and Moz and TR brought a bunch of cow meat and taters adn beans and desert and it was great. Thanks you guys for the effort. I played around on my new backpacker guitart. It's kind of hard to play, definately takes some getting used to. The second day we went to Erbie. I was pretty sore but made it through the day. Everyone is laid back and easy to be around. More incredible scenery and a few tough pulls. Somewhere in the middle of the day, we started seeing these wide areas alondside the trail where the leaves were all rooted up and fresh dirt everywhere. We decided it wa wild razorback hogs. It went on for a long ways, like 1/4 mile. Randall was on point when we came over a rise and they attacked. There were 20 or 30 of them and mostly small to med sized but Randall was very nearly killed. His fast reflexes saved him. Later on, Trail relic wanted to take a break and it triggered Chili's trail-rage, so he stabbed TR in the knee with his hiking stick. It's all fun and gamed untill someone looses a kneecap..... The cabin at Erbie is really cool. We decided to stay in a group spot at Erbie campground. Real bathrooms running water and stob-free, flat, dry ground for 10 tents. Jerbear and Moz and son wanted to finish early the next day and so they decided to rough it and go out past the campground so they would have a shorter hike the next morning. We had another great time which included a gigantic root ball that I cut out of the river with my spork and then burned, a great story my friend Randall read to us from his new book. The story was about the Thanksgiving watermelon and it was halarious. He's a talented writer. Then there was monkey butt and coyotes and Southbound snow geese. We finished out the trip to Pruit and sealed the deal with a cheese volcano and Ozark Cafe. Hillbilly and I saw at least 250 Elk driving home.

After I got home last night I got and knot in my stomach and kinda had to stay close to the bathroom. I was still uncomfortable this morning so I calledin. I'm pretty sore but not as bad as I thought I'd be.

Great trip guys. Good to see old friends and make new ones.”

“I'll bet that is the last time Trailrelic asks for a 5 minute break.

Got him in the knee but I was aiming for the nads.”

“Strat.

I think there is a local vendor somewhere in Kentucky. I also hear that there is a cream instead of the powder.


http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/

Ya gotta watch the video commercials in the link
last edited: 10/12/09 10:28:02 AM”

“He clearly had it coming...”

“HBH, I can't imagine it working as well as the Gold Bond cream the MBCL gave me. Kinda hurt a little at first...OoO00OWWWWE!”

“The blood curdling scream was kinda spooky.”

“Maybe that's what freeked out the coyotes, Chili.”

“Could have been. Sort of freaked me out.”

“This was a great trip! It was good to make new friends and visit with old ones.

You guys rock!”

“Fun Backpacking Trip! Now let's return and float the Buffalo!”

“Wow!!

Finally made it home!!! It's sure a long ways from Jasper ta Chicago, especially if ya go through Cincinnati!!!

I'll post a tr and the pics ta go with it sometime tomorrow!!

I was very nearly killed by wild hogs again and it happened just like Strat said.... yep just like he said!!

See ya later.
Randall”

“A few pics from the first day. I understand that we were blessed with those heavy rains as these rocks are usually dry.









”

“made it home great trip. good seein ya all again. yo bear!”

“Wow great pics.”

“nice pics Chin. I have not yet downloaded mine. I am just happy I actually brought the camera and then took some pics!! Hopefully I got some good ones...”

“Cool pics.”

“NICE!”

“More please.”

“More Pics,please everyone.
I had such a great time that words can't even express it. You all treated me like family even tho I didn't know anyone.
My knee is starting to heal and the Texas doctors think the kneecap will just grow back. I take full responsibility for that because everyone had warned me about Chili's temper.
Seriously, that was awesome and I can't wait to go with you guys again.

Mark”

“Just hustle up next time and I won't have to stab you with a hiking pole.”

“TRAIL RAGE!

Nice to meet you, Mark”

“Nice to have meet everone on this trip. It was a great experiance. I look forward to hiking with all of you again.
Thanks for putting it together Chili.”

“Awesome trip. Thanks to those who travelled so far to get there. It was one of those trips that makes me appreciate trailtalk.”

“Same here chili. Good job! You give liberals a good name.”

“You're not too bad...for a right winger.”

“A right-wing guitar player?????

Was that the Motor City Madman and I missed it?”

“Uncle Ted's one of my heros! You were there Chin, you just fell asleep, LOL.”

“I didn't realize that this was the first TT trip for Mark and JIm. They didn't get properly initiated.

It was a great trip! One for the books!”

“WTH, Mark got his knee gashed. Wasn't that enough of an initiation?”

“Stomper

Not my first TT trip.

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/50890,-1.php

Not my fault that Strat was the only TTer to show up.”

“Yeah I guess that counts....But what about Jim?”

“He was there too. I saw him.”

“ok, my bad!”

“Hey all!!
Here’s my pics.

I ‘ll have the TR up in the morning!

http://community.webshots.com/album/575080906HjhszI

See ya later.
Randall
last edited: 10/13/09 8:29:17 PM”

“Here is the elevation graph for the trip. I had a battery die for a short bit of day 2 and we had a long road walk on day 3 when we lost the trail. 4289 ascent and 4618 descent for the 26.6 miles with the heaviest elevations on day 1.

”

“That little pull at mile 7 was a ball buster.”

“Thanks for sharing the pics Randall!!!....great shots!!!”

“So if that wasn't the initiation, what is?
Losing a non-vital organ?
I was wondering why none of ya'll had a
Spleen.”

“Who has the pic of that injury?”

“The TrailTalk Hillbillys.

”

“I H A T E mile 7 !!!”

“Great pics, Randell.”