It was another hazy morning. I couldn't wait to get on the trail! After a stop at Starbucks and McDonalds, we were on the drive to the trailhead.
Temperatures in central Arkansas were forecasted to reach the mid 90s with a heat index of 101. Oh good god, that meant swamp butt in no time. We got started on the trail shortly after 8am and I felt my pores open up. At least the trail was mostly shaded, and there was water for the dogs. I was wet with sweat when I got done.
I met only one family on this trail. The trail covered the perimeter of the rim, around campgrounds and rental cabins. People were sitting outside their cabins drinking and enjoying the views. They were not hiking. It was no a secluded hike, but at least the views were nice. And I was thankful for the three drainages that gave the dogs water. I'm sure a sunrise hike followed by a sunset hike (or even a full moon hike) would be spectacular here.
My phone was low on battery juice again (what's up with that anyway?) so I pushed us hard to finish the four miles in under two hours before losing power.
I enjoyed this hike. There are other trails that go around the hill at lower elevations and if I had had time, I'd have done a double loop. But not in this humidity. I knew I had no choice but to get back on the highway and get as far west as possible tonight.
I took US64 west into Fort Smith, then got on I-40 and didn't get off the interstate until I hit Hinton, OK and the turn-off to Red Rock Canyon Park. This is a small park mostly for rock climbers, rappelers and campers. I paid my $10 and parked to wash my hair, let the dogs drink from the creek, and then hike the mile-long nature trail. Again my phone was low on power so I didn't continue with the longer Canyon Rim trail, but I will leave that for another visit as I wanted to get to Amarillo before the brewpubs there closed at 10. I barely made it, too.
I discovered while googling the address for the Long Wooden Spoon brewery that the place had permanently closed a month ago. Oh, no! That really soured me, as I was hoping to stop in that dog-friendly small brewery and chat with the hosts Jared and Kim again. Did they fall victim to the pandemic? Which, by the way, is far from over as numbers everywhere are spiking again. Or did they fall victim to the competition of two additional brewpubs that opened up in Amarillo in 2019 that are closer to downtown?
I was hungry and also wanting a beer (I associate Amarillo with good beer and food) so I stopped by the Pondeseta brewery. The dogs were resting in the car and it was cool and breezy in town. What a change from earlier in the day. The place was alive!
I was at this brewpub in 2019 when it had just opened and I didn't like the anti-dog attitude, but tonight I was treated politely by an over-enthusiastic and skinny server wearing a manbun. I only had 45 minutes before the place closed, and told him I needed a table near an electrical outlet so I could charge my phone and Chromebook. I have to admit, the beer here is good.
I had two more things before I could call it a day: get something to eat and walk the dogs one more time around the John Stiff dog park, which closes at midnight. My meal was a chicken fingers sandwich at Cane's, my first time eating at a Cane's, and the dogs got a special treat of three plain bacon cheeseburgers from Burger King. Those $1 burgers have fed the pups quite a few times on this road trip.
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