I flew into NW Arkansas late last night. I had free time today until 3:30 pm, so after breakfast I headed out for the nearest cache. Bentonville Lake is right at the end of the Bentonville airport. The lake is kind of L-shaped, and unfortunately I started walking on the wrong side. After backtracking, I drove to another parking area (which seemed like it was right in some folks back yard (they don’t have fences). Then it was just a short walk with the last few feet in some brush. I think I spotted and avoided the poison ivy.
Then I drove into Bentonville and found Down by the Station. I suspect the history is this is the old train station, although no marker explained that. The cache was hidden on the old train car. Coords were good, but the hint helped to narrow the focus to the undercarriage. It was a magnetic one.
The next cache was right downtown in the city square. Son of the South is a virtual (get the name off the placque on the statue). Of note is that Sam Walton’s original store is just across the street from the square. It’s a Wal Mart museum now, but I didn’t go in.
I decided I wanted to get at least one cache in Missouri, so I headed north. The closest was Huckleberry Ridge, which turned out to be in the woods and a pretty good hike (in the rain). I managed to find the access road (dirt) and drive about 5 miles to it, but when I got there it wasn’t obvious where to legally park or where the trail was. So I went looking for another cache that didn’t have a long of a walk, but I could not find an access road that would get me there. As I was leaving the way I came in, I spotted the trail at Huckleberry Ridge, so off I went. It was about 0.4 miles in the rain. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very peaceful with the sound of the rain hitting the leaves of the trees.
On the drive back to Bentonville, I stopped at Bella Vista for a nice walk in a park and found Grandpa’s Christmas Cache. This one was a little difficult. It was buried way down under a rock, and as far as I could tell there was a new sprig of poison ivy guarding it. I managed (I think) to get it out without touching the ivy.
As I drove back into Bentonville, I stopped for a short hike along a new paved hiking trail and picked up N. Bville Trail #1. Then I found Stumped, which was real easy to find, although it was close to a high school. No folks around though.
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