By Shelley Smart, on February 2, 2012 
 [This post was originally published on June 14, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]
This past weekend, we headed back to the Buffalo River to see the famed Hemmed-in-Hollow Falls. We had our friend Dan join us. Since there were two cars, we opted to park on at the Compton Trailhead and hike back to the other car at Steel Creek campground, thinking we would avoid the dreadfully steep climb back up to Compton.
To ensure an early start, we camped Friday night at Steel Creek. I went for a walk back up the road into the  camp and got to spend some time watching a doe having a little dinner in the field.
After a rather sleepless night due to the raucous and rowdy behavior of other campers in the park, we were up at 4:30 a.m., and decided to grab a bite to eat in Ponca while the tent dried out from the dew condensation.
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By Shelley Smart, on February 1, 2012 
[This post was originally published on April 10, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]
 This past weekend, we went back to one of our first hikes, the Lost Bridge trail by Beaver Lake. The weather forecast called for rain in the afternoon, so we made an effort to get started early (okay 9 a.m.) to beat the weather.
I blogged about this hike in January, and it ranked as one of our favorites so far. This time did not disappoint either!
The dogwood trees were blooming, and it was very breezy. The wind coming off of the lake made it seem like it wasn’t as warm as it really was. Now that I’ve had the chance to try some more challenging hikes, this one did not seem very difficult at all.
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By Shelley Smart, on January 27, 2012 
[This post was originally published on March 31, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]
 This past weekend, we opted for some easier hikes. With cold gray skies overhead and the looming threat of rain, I didn’t want to get too far from my blanket.
I had wanted to check out the Historic Van Winkle Trail at Hobbs State Park, near Rogers, Arkansas, since I had watched a segment about the trail on AETN’s Exploring Arkansas. The trail is very easy and is more interesting for its historical information than for its hiking challenge.
Stuart’s comment was “that was a trail for little girls.” However, after the marathon backpacking challenge from a few weeks ago, that was the perfect level for me.
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By Shelley Smart, on January 24, 2012 
[This post was originally published on March 15, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]
 The Buffalo River Trail (BRT) in the Buffalo National River is a 36.5-mile trail that goes from Boxley to Pruitt. The Buffalo National River was established as a National Park in 1972 and is administered by the National Park Service.
We decided to hike the BRT from Ponca to Kyle’s Landing, about 10 miles. Camping is allowed in the wilderness, so we broke the hike up and camped one night in the back-country. Dogs are not allowed on the trails, so Buster and Katie had to sit this one out.
We drove up on a Friday afternoon and camped the first night in the Steel Creek campground. Initially, we were going to stay at Lost Valley, but the campsites were so close together and the bathrooms were locked.
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By Shelley Smart, on January 9, 2012 
[This post was originally published on April 2, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]
The Dogwood Overlook Trail is at the Dam Site Lake Park on Beaver Lake, close to Eureka Springs in northwest Arkansas. The hiking trail is only two miles long, but it is a steep two miles and a little more difficult than the length would indicate.We headed out with the dogs today to check it out.
It was a perfect spring day, with blue skies and just a few clouds here and there. Because it was such a short hike, I opted to go without my backpack, thinking we would not be out very long.
The trailhead is at the overlook by Beaver Dam. There is a long flight of stairs going straight up. Buster was headed up the stairs full steam while Katie was resistant to climbing any of the stairs.
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[This post was originally published on June 14, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]
camp and got to spend some time watching a doe having a little dinner in the field.
