Day 36: To Ozark

October 14, 2014

I got up at 7:50 but made stops a the post office and supermarket, then had breakfast at Granny's Cafe. Didn't get on the road until 10 AM. It was overcast, temperature in the 50's, with a strong northwest wind. The climbing kept me warm, though.

I'm still going south on AR 23 and I'm still liking it. The route is alternately forested and farmed. I still see the occasional big chicken facility.

Chicken factories (giant confinement facilities) are a regular sight in Arkansas.

Not abandoned, but charmingly neglected.

The road starts gentle upstream along a big creek, but becomes gradually steeper, climbing 700 feet. Then a long descent to the sleepy farm village of St. Paul. I had an early lunch at Saint's Snak Shak, the only place to get food. I ordered the fish platter and got two huge catfish fillets. This is definitely the south, when "fish" is catfish. I can eat catfish but it's far from my favorite fish.

I was still cold after lunch, partly from sitting still in wet clothes. It was still mostly cloudy and very windy. There were many 10% grades today but the relentless wind kept my clothes from getting extremely wet with sweat.

Old farms are reverting to forest again.

Today's route has very little traffic because the road is so winding and hilly. But the pavement wasn't good. The main lane is often severely cracked. Most of it has no paved shoulder, or only a narrow cracked up shoulder.

Jed Clampett's original house? Note to young readers: That's a reference to a 1960's TV show The Beverly Hillbillies.

A few miles south of St. Paul the highway climbs another big forested hill, entering the Pig Trail Scenic Byway in Ozark National Forest.

It starts alongside a small river, climbs 500 feet, descends 1000 feet through a canyon, climbs 500 feet, then descends 700 feet to the Arkansas river valley. Very scenic, with a few hilltop views and not much traffic. At the summit, Mulberry Mountain Ranch was preparing to host a big music festival this weekend.

The scenic byway is very close to the river for several miles.

Hilltop view looking east towards the highest part of the Arkansas Ozarks.

I have never before seen the word "crooked" on a highway sign. Beginning of a 1000 foot descent.

There were two nice roadside waterfalls today. The shutter button on my camera has been getting increasingly unreliable. To take this waterfall picture I pressed and wiggled on the shutter button for at least a minute before it finally took the picture. That turned out to be the last picture I ever took on my Canon S100 camera. For the remainder of the tour I will have to use the camera in my smart phone, with no optical zoom.

Roadside waterfall. Last picture taken with my Canon S100.

The Arkansas river valley is sunny and much warmer than the forested Ozarks. After being cold most of the day it suddenly soared to 75F sunshine.

Near the end of the day I crossed I-40. A couple hilly, busy miles later I arrived in Ozark at 5:40 PM. Continuing the streak of getting to my destination during peak rush hour traffic.

Ozark (pop. 3700) does not look prosperous. The whole region doesn't look prosperous.

Ozark is at 400 feet elevation along the Arkansas river. But the hills aren't far away. The Ozark High School mascot is the Hillbillies. A term of endearment around here!

I've noticed another uniquely southern mannerism lately. At restaurants and stores, most women call me "hon" or "sweetie". Men mostly call me "brother", probably because that's the custom at church.

Today's route has surprisingly few houses and surprisingly little traffic. A good touring route because the entire area is economically depressed.

Distance: 57.4 mi. (92 km)
Climbing: 3207 ft. (972 m)
Average Speed: 10.0 mph (16 km/h)

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 1,733 miles (2,789 km)

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