ponca for a night

An eve of stars and one of clouds- The deep Ozarks are beautiful and refreshing in nearly any condition. The flowers- delicate spring-ones- are the most unusual, attractive feature of this North Arkansas spring. It looks and feels like there should be mushrooms out, but there is not much around.
We used a different route- hit the Lost Valley area of the Buffalo River by way of hwy 74 and Boxley.

The upper Buffalo is right there- a quick drive-by and short stop to check for elk and photographs- no elk. A group of three or four swans, though!

Their rusty heads were familiar, though I could not ID them as trumpeters without a book...

Just remember that green-banded swans are always trumpeters (Tundra swans like the blue tags!)

This couple displayed tag numbers 1P7 and 2P7 in a small private wetland just south of the national forest campgrounds. I would love to know where they came from! Why are their tag #'s so close?

My mother and I did a bit of running around this afternoon- in addition to visiting the swans, the river and whatever mountain that is on the other side of Ponca, we took Lost valley trail back to the cave and falls; the dramatic Valley here is covered in the same flowers as the road was-

anemone's, beauty's, bloodroots, hepaticas, toothworts, trout lilies and -my favorite- those soft pink Duchman's Breeches.

The dirt is moist and fertile- growing things are everywhere- still there is something more impressive...the same thing that captured my attention on the long drive south and that which has altered the entire span of the Ozarks so dramatically.....Sawdust, fallen trees- mangled, shattered branches- The destruction is as bad on the ground as it is in the standing forest. The winter's disabling ice storm is still wreaking havoc on the healing mountains. Rumor has it that places a little further east are still without power- almost three months after the storm.

The campgrounds filled up quick; we claimed the last spot and tried to tune-out the noisy neighbors for the night. The stars were awesome! I made three exposures pointed north; at 5.6, a forty-minute photo was far too bright. This one was made in only twenty.
On day II mom explored more of the Buffalo. I was dropped off on the top of the hill- almost three miles north of Ponca. Here was shown to be a trio of old lead mines. They date back to the turn of the last century and I knew nothing about them except for where they were supposed to be on the map.

Last time I sought the mines I started by showing the map to the woman who runs Ponca's general store. I was not the only one who'd asked he about the map- lifted from a privately published guide from the 60's- she warned me of the mines and refused to tell me about them.

I walked for an hour- found some cool stone foundations for building and such- Spotted a possible mound about 2.4miles from town... a "tailings-pile" is the heap of waste-material from a mining operation. When I wondered back into the woods- not far from the road- I found galena, quartz in the many piles of discarded material. the heavy, metallic galena crystals were as large as my camera battery and the crystals and fossils were numerous- The mine's tailing's and the only deep shaft I found occupied me until mid-afternoon- My backpack was stuffed with pounds of lead-crystals and I strolled down the highway. Orange Puccoon coloured the dry areas along the road, and bright verbena was in some places, too.

HWY 74- crossing the buffalo near Ponca, ARK

Tried the Ozark Cafe for a meal, but little towns like Jasper close-up pretty early- Jasper's main strip (all four or five buildings) held only a motorcycle and a few pick-ups.