There's Treasure Inside

Part 2: The Storm

The plan was that I would drive to Kevin's, about two hours away, and spend the night, then we would fly out the next morning. I encountered a massive amount of rain while driving to Kevin's. On a few occasions, my Jeep would suddenly shift a few feet to the left as it hydroplaned across the flooded highway. Little did I know this was foreshadowing what was yet to come. Once I got to Kevin's, we rechecked the weather for Arkansas, and the weather report had changed overnight.

Northwestern Arkansas now had warnings for flash flooding, thunderstorms, damaging hail, and even tornadoes. Our plan of taking the steep trail in, which was touted as having the same elevation drop as the "Empire State Building," had just become a lot more dangerous. Even our backup plan of following the flatter river trail route was now potentially undoable.

With less than a week's window for the entire trip, we were scrambling online to find a place to rent kayaks and paddle the higher river, or weigh that option against possibly slipping down a mudbank while taking the steeper trail. After the storm, both routes were hazardous; however, if the only other option was not to search at all, my vote was to still do it despite the risks.

I was trying to look at the situation with a sense of humour, as if we just dialed up the level of adventure we would be undertaking, and if nothing else, we would certainly return home with a story to tell. After all, any good story requires a goal to achieve and a conflict to overcome. Better that perspective than dwelling on my notoriously bad luck. Kevin didn't complain, but he got relatively quiet, his way of showing that he wasn't altogether comfortable with the unfolding scenarios.

The next morning, we arrived at the airport and cleared customs in record time. A likely result of Trump's tariffs heavily impacting the number of Canadians traveling to the United States. The customs woman asked where I was headed. I said the Ozarks to go hiking. She replied, the Ozarks? Oh, like the TV show?

Now, if you have seen the show, this was a loaded question. I smiled and replied, "Yeah, like that, minus all the money laundering." Luckily, she laughed and waved me through.

Waiting at the gate, Kevin and I sat down and started studying various weather reports and predictive storm models. The weather channels were all over the map, with one suggesting 1 inch of rain and another stating that 8 inches were possible. Likewise, when I looked up the restaurant reviews for the town we would be staying in, the comments claimed they offered either the best meal ever or gave the reviewer food poisoning. It appeared the outcome of our trip was anybody's guess. 

We would be hiking in Compton but staying in Harrison, which, after booking, we discovered was known as "the most racist town in America." Turned out the headquarters of the KKK was located just a little way out of town. Upon arrival, we found everyone to be friendly. However, it's worth noting that 99% of the population was white, and so were we, so it's not something I can really comment on.

To our surprise, the plane managed to land during a break in the storm. In an attempt to save a few bucks, we had pre-booked the "Mystery Car" from the car rental agency. Basically, it is whatever the manager has a surplus of that day.

I thought, with any luck, it would have some decent ground clearance, but not likely. Usually, you would end up with the cheapest car they had, typically a small subcompact. At the rental desk, we learned the mystery vehicle was a 12-passenger GMC shuttle van.

What we saved on the mystery car's daily rate, we would certainly now pay in gas costs, but at least the van did have above-average ground clearance.

The two-hour drive to our hotel in Harrison wasn't as bad as we had been anticipating. It did rain on and off during our drive, although it appeared that a fair amount of precipitation had already fallen before our arrival.

This was evident in the water level, which was nearly at road height over the narrower river culverts and minor bridge crossings. There were also several dangerous-looking clouds, but in the end, nothing really manifested.

Once we reached the hotel and reviewed the results of all the rainfall, it became clear that our trail area near Compton had not been spared and had received 2.5 inches of rain. This meant the river was quite high, and the trail would certainly be muddy.

Most postings advised against attempting the trail for a week after heavy rain, due to the potential for flooding and hazardous slopes. However, with only a few days before we flew home, one day would have to suffice.

When we woke up the following morning, it was still raining intermittently. We drove for about 35 minutes and arrived at the Sneeds Creek trailhead. After a short walk, we could see the trail was still very wet, but the sandy soil would help it dry quickly. Given the steep nature of the trail and the wide and likely flooded creek near the bottom, we decided it would be doable after another day of drying out.

Next, we headed to the Steel Creek trailhead and boat launch. There, the Buffalo River was still relatively high and fast-moving. It was simply still too dangerous to attempt any route, given the severity of the storm the day before.

The reality was that we were going to lose the day of searching. We noted the height and speed of the river on government websites and decided that if it mellowed a little by the next morning, we would try it.

Determined not to lose another day, we decided we would get up early and make an attempt. I wanted to take the direct and shorter route hiking down the steep elevation. Kevin was in favor of the river trail, which would require water crossings but would be much flatter in elevation.

Given that he is older than I am, I agreed to whichever one he was more comfortable with, provided we made the attempt to reach the search area.

If the river trail was passable, we would do that; if not, plan B was to try to rent a boat. And if all else failed, plan C would be to hike down the steep trail.

We grabbed some food and headed back to our hotel to organize our gear so that we would be ready first thing the next morning.

I had brought my snake shin guards and decided I would wear them. The rain would draw the many poisonous snakes known to inhabit the area out of their holes and potentially up onto the trails and leaf piles. With Copperheads, Cottonmouths, and various Rattlesnakes common to the area, I figured it was worth taking the added precaution.

I was attempting to go as light as possible but also be prepared for anything. In addition to some basic first aid supplies, I had installed the Gaia GPS on my phone, packed a backup battery bank, laminated trail maps, and a compass for when all else fails.

Given his affiliation with Energizer, I asked Kevin to toss a couple of his headlamps into our packs as well.

Despite the many setbacks, I was relieved to know that we had a plan and that the following day we were going to get out to the search area where I would finally put my solve to the test.