The Gorge

There are many scenic gems hidden away in My Corner of the Ozarks. 

On November 4 in response to a notice in the local newspaper, we joined a group of about 20 on a guided hike at Prairie Valley Gorge Natural Area in the Ozarks National Scenic Riverways. 

The guide was Ranger Josh Chilton whose parents lived in Mountain View at one time.

The group first took a winding trail to the top of the gorge to look over the deep valley. 

This gorge, called locally, "the canyon" has been named "Prairie Hollow Gorge" by the National Park Service.  A glade area on top of the bluff has many open land or prairie plants.  It must be managed with fire or eastern red cedar will dominate it, as it does in many Ozark glades.

 

After viewing the gorge from above, we retraced our steps and walked up the valley parallel to a small stream to see the steep rhyolite walls.  Rhyolite is an igneous rock similar to granite.  The igneous outcroppings of the St. Francis Mountains in southeastern Missouri are granite. 

Prairie Valley Gorge empties into the Current River just downstream from Two Rivers, where the Jack's Fork joins the Current.  The lazy trickle of water in the stream turns into a torrent after a heavy rain.  There was evidence of flash flooding in the trees of the gorge.  

Seasons Change

Autumn again.  It's a beautiful season in My Corner of the Ozarks.  

The fall colors reveal the season.  

But dry weather earlier probably resulted in a "duller" color to our hills this year.  





We moved back (home) to the Ozarks 13 years ago.  I had never hunted turkeys in the fall before that.  Spring gobbler turkey hunting is "easier" than finding and calling turkeys in the fall.  I hunted in Illinois in spring and I often traveled to Missouri to hunt in spring with Dad.  But not until we moved here did fall turkey hunting seem likely to be worth the effort.

This is actually a gobbler shot in the spring.  I've since shot five turkeys in the fall season, but no one bothers to take pictures of 8-10 pound juveniles.  When we moved to My Corner of the Ozarks, it became possible to have a chance to harvest a turkey in the fall.  My personal scout always knew where the flocks were feeding and moving when the October season began.  

One October on opening day, my scout told me to sit in a certain fence row and watch for a hen and brood to enter the field from the woods. Sure enough they marched out in front of me with the mother hen leading them all in a row.  I was able to get a double that day.  (Yes.  Two in the same day is legal in the fall.)  

I did not get a permit or go afield this past October.  I have lost my trustworthy scout.  It is just not the same.  In the spring of his 89th year he shot his 68th wild turkey.  Me?  I'm still trying to find Number 21.

I LOVE CAMP DAVID

Every summer we try to gather all our grandchildren for a week of fun.  We now have six grands.  Since one lives in Kosovo, we did not expect to see her at Camp David in August.

But we got to visit Kosovo, as did our oldest grandchild.  We had a brief time in Kosovo with the youngest and the oldest in June.

Wow!  That was a long way from My Corner of the Ozarks.  But great fun!

Five grandchildren made it to My Corner of the Ozarks in August. A year ago we had to move Camp David to Maryland because of Karis' cross country training schedule (See post from Feb. 7, 2017).  This year we were able to squeeze in Camp David between the busy schedules of five youngsters.  (Mimi and Papa don't have busy schedules.)

For the second time in three years, Camp David was held at Bunker Hill Resort on the Jack's Fork River only a few miles from Mountain View.  Now that is in My Corner of the Ozarks! 

Karis, sophomore, is still busy with cross country running. But this year she trained on some Ozark hills.  Olivia (7th grade) and Emily (3rd grade) are very busy with dance.  Camp David was held between various dance camps and practices.  Jackson (2nd grade) plays ice hockey and takes golf lessons.  Cami (kindergarten) is also a dancer.  There is a lot of "movement" when these Davids come to camp!

We gathered up the grands from Illinois and Tennessee and brought them to the Ozarks


On the way to the Ozarks we posed at the site of Fort Defiance at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 

Meals at Bunker Hill are ample and nutritious and fun.  We had our own table each meal.  All meals were served "family style".  So our family fit right in. 

As always, the river and the kayaks were the most popular activity.  The water was great.  The kayaks were fun.  The children were noisy.  The grandparents were tired.

Even sisters got along well at Camp David. 

The weather was great.  It rained the last day, but we got loaded, had our breakfast together and headed toward homes in Illinois and Maryland.

Only twelve months until the next Camp David.

But wait... we got to have a "mini-camp" for a few hours in Pennsylvania in October. 

Can you believe it!!!

The Marylanders got to meet their youngest cousin (and niece).