Ozark tradition
Trail group takes steps to celebrate 32nd Hare Mountain Hike-In
They hiked to the mountaintop one by one or in groups using the first trail they built together, three decades ago.
The Ozark Highlands Trail Association marked its 32nd anniversary Oct. 26. As they do every year, members celebrated by gathering atop Hare Mountain for an overnight camp out. They call it the Hare Mountain Hike-In.
The organization was founded in 1981 by photographer and trail scribe Tim Ernst with the prime directive to “build, maintain and enjoy” Northwest Arkansas’ now 218-mile footpath. This year’s hike-in drew 39 members, old and young.
Hare Mountain rises from the Ozark National Forest in northern Franklin County east of Arkansas 23 and northeast of Cass. Ernst chose it for the annual gathering for several reasons. The 1.7-mile section of trail from its crest east to the Morgan Field trail head was the first section of trail built by the association. At 2,382 feet of elevation, the peak is the highest point on the Ozark Highlands Trail.
Also, because it offers several access points, campers have the option of hiking in as little as one mile or more than 200 miles.
With heavy camera equipment and camping gear, I chose to begin my 19th hikein about 3:30 p.m. at the Morgan Field trail head. (In the 1960s, the area around this trail head was the homesite of Catherine and Harvey Morgan. Madison County Sheriff Phillip Morgan was one of the couple’s 11 children.)
As I was finishing loading my backpack in the parking area, Norma and Roy Senyard of Fayetteville drove in. Norma’s the association secretary, and Roy coordinates trail maintenance. Norma’s grandchildren, Gus and Tabitha Meadors, were with them once again — Gus attending his seventh hike-in and Tabitha her fifth. Each child began attending the Hare Mountain Hike-In at age 5.
The hike-in has special significance for these grandparents. It was 20 years ago that Ernst, then president of the association, asked Roy to watch over a rookie backpacker, Norma, who had just joined the group. Since that fateful weekend she has hiked and backpacked most trails in Arkansas and many in the western United States and, of course, shared the path with Roy.
AUTUMNAL GLORY
With the recent rains and drop in temperature, the forest was vibrant, alive with brilliant colors.
Our hike up the mountain was strenuous at times, but at the top we found unobstructed views of the Mulberry River Valley. I noted a cleared, open meadow atop a distant lower mountain to the south. That is Mulberry Mountain Lodge, where visitors can stay in a turn-of-the-20th-century farmhouse that was built using a kit mail-ordered from Sears, Roebuck and Co.
A short hike on a spur trail leading from Hare Mountain’s bluff overlook took us to the campsite, where a large fire was already burning within a 6-foot fire ring. As friendly cries greeted us, I spotted many familiar faces and among them several soon-to-be new friends.
Hikers arrived one by one and in small groups.
Our group meandered into the woods in search of a flat area to assemble our tents. Over the years, I have endured one too many snoring competitions that seem to erupt during the night. So I picked a small bluff some distance from the other tents.
HISTORIC AREA
After my shelter for the night was secure, I joined several others for a traditional hike to the remains of an abandoned homesite. The children with us poked curiously about the rock chimney, hand-dug well and the stone fence that still rims the mountaintop. For years, hikers have speculated about what stories this interesting site might have to tell.
This time, I came prepared. With help from Mary Brennan, archaeologist for the Pleasant Hill, Boston Mountain and Mount Magazine ranger districts in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest, I pieced together a bit of history.
The 1900 U.S. Census listed Henry and Kittie Andrews, along with two young children, as residents of Cobb Township. Bureau of Land Management records show that on Feb. 1, 1901, Henry L. Andrews was issued a land patent for 160 acres, under the Homestead Act of 1862. This tract of land, also within Cobb Township, included the location of the old Hare Mountain homesite.
The Andrews family residency on Hare Mountain was short-lived. The 1910 Census listed Henry Andrews and family as residing in a different township. No other records indicate that anyone else has resided at the site.
In 1935, the 160 acres were bought by the U.S. government and added to the national forest. The acquisition was described as including five acres of abandoned cultivated fields, with no standing structures and no current occupant.
Exploring the homesite armed with this background, I felt new respect for the craftsmanship of that longgone farmer. A brick fire pit I built in my backyard began to crumble after only its second winter, but his chimney remnants have survived more than a century.
Knowing the Andrews children would have been too young to help, I surmised that constructing the stone wall around five cultivated acres was a monumental effort. With the nearest neighbor miles away, it is reasonable to assume that Henry and Kittie alone did the digging and hauling required to clear their field for cultivation.
ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE
On our way back to camp, we met two young men from Morrilton who were through-hiking the Ozark Highlands Trail as a fundraiser for charity. We invited them to join our gathering.
The association attracts an adventurous breed. Around the campfire, I heard stories of backpacking along Wyoming’s Wind River, bike tours on Natchez Trace, rafting trips down the Colorado River, hikes up “fourteeners” (14,000-foot mountain peaks) in the Rockies and mission trips to Africa to feed the hungry.
With daylight waning, the group migrated away from the fire ring to a nearby smorgasbord. The menu wasn’t coordinated, merely potluck, but there was plenty to feast on and as every hiker is aware, everything tastes better in the woods.
After eating, the group reassembled around the fire ring as the current president, Michael Lemaster of Fayetteville, presided over an informal meeting. His first order of business was introductions, so one by one, the happy people around the fire ring shared their names and something about themselves.
It’s easy to say that strangers soon become friends in a group like this — because it is true.
Lemaster presented annual awards, including one named for my wife, who died in October 2010. Mary Poynor Chodrick of Fayetteville was honored this year for exemplifying the commitment and service of Dawna Robinson. For seven years, Dawna was co-coordinator of the group’s Ozark Highlands Trail maintenance efforts and devoted countless hours to club activities.
AROUND THE FIRE
After the awards, some drifted toward their tents, the beams of their headlamps shining through the trees. But a core group remained huddled around the warm fire, with beverages to ward off the chill slowly dropping behind their backs.
Conversations were frequently punctuated by laughter and cheers. Entertaining tales were retold, with various members contributing. We still like the one about the time Ernst and Luke Collins lugged a keg of beer up the mountain for the inaugural hike-in. The heavy keg burst the frame of Ernst’s favorite backpack. He returned the pack to the manufacturer, explaining what he was doing when it broke, and they sent him a new one.
Eventually even the hardiest of yarn spinners and joke tellers slipped into the night to snuggle into their down sleeping bags.
When I unzipped my tent after a restful night’s sleep, the subdued light of morning shone on the red and yellow leaves in the valley below my bluff. The hardwoods appeared even more vibrant than I remembered from the day before. The red oak borer beetle in recent years has killed many oaks in the Ozarks, and the forest has replaced them with faster growing maple trees. These maple leaves provide much more fall color than I remember from hike-ins long ago.
With a cup of hot brewed coffee or hot chocolate in hand, a few reluctant-to-leave campers rekindled the fire.
A few more greetings, a quick bite and then it was down the mountain, back to the so-called real world. But not before many attendees had agreed to meet soon for hikes. For as most everyone is aware, these are the best months to get out in the Arkansas backwoods. The Ozark Highlands Trail Association Hare Mountain Hike-In is open to anyone — members and nonmembers — and it’s always on the last weekend in October. More information is at ozarkhighlandstrail.com.