A
few pictures and a brief description of an off-trail hike through
Ball Pond Hollow on the North Fork River
Missouri Ozarks Hiking
By Jim
Photos by Jim |
|
(Click on any picture for a larger image) |
|
May 11th, 2002 The
North Fork was bustling from the after effects of an Ozark's Spring rain,
forcing the intermittent streams and springs to flow at spectacular
rates. Seemed like a great day to take an Ozark's off-trail hiking adventure and explore Ball Pond
Hollow, located within a few miles of the ROLF in the Mark Twain National Forest, North Fork River, Missouri
Ozarks. |
Ball Pond Hollow's intermittent stream. |
|
|
|
What started conceptually as a
short 3 hour off-trail hike to locate Potato Cave, turned into a 6.5 hour trek
marveling at the treasures that lined the path. By the time we got to
Potato Cave Hollow we had ran short of adequate time to actually
locate the cave, but had a great trip nevertheless.
|
|
|
|
One of my faults is I have a hard
time hiking past any Karst
topography that shows it might contain a cave; or any other oddity that captures my attention. Anytime I pass one
of these features I
must stop, drop my ruck, and take in the beauty and explore it to my
content. I generally like to record it with my camera to share on the
Web. This practice adds a considerable amount of time to the
trek, but has its own rewards for the soul.
This particular cliff [located .3
miles up the stream bed from Kelly Ford Road] was a nice place to
take a breather. The spring water gently dripping down from several places cooled
the area a couple of degrees, making for a nice rest spot.
|
A cliff
overhang dripping in multiple places makes a great spot to cool off during the
off-trail trek. |
|
|
|
A rather curiously bent tree was
the next item to warrant a photo. The trunk was bent to form a rather
long bench; with the tree stump, as well as the horizontal portion of
the trunk, being hollow.
Numerous other picturesque
settings presented themselves along the Ozark hike, and I snapped a few more
pictures. For every picture I snapped there were a hundred more for
the taking.
|
A curiously bent tree with a hollow stump and hollow horizontal section |
|
|
A bit of drift wood deposited from the last
flood makes
for a picturesque setting |
Spring water gently
gliding over a
limestone ledge |
|
|
|
As we continued to hike up the
stream we came to a point where dual branches of intermittent streams dumped
into the Ball Pond Hollow stream. Just through the trees we could hear
rushing water from the first branch. What a pleasant surprise we encountered as we broke
through the brush.
A beautiful waterfall, dubbed
"5
Layer Falls" for the purpose of this article, was discovered. Cold
spring water cascaded over the rocks forming 5 distinct drops, on its
way to the stream. Its sister branch to the north could be heard, but
not yet seen. I volunteered to explore the north branch, while my
friend decided to explore "5 Layer Falls" upstream towards its source.
|
"5 Layer Falls", the first of two branches feeding the stream at one point |
|
|
|
The second stream of the dual
branches had a nice little water fall, but was nowhere near as
beautiful as "5 Layer Falls". We separately followed both streams
upstream for a few minutes,
but discovered nothing spectacular. We plan on returning to dual
branches [located .8
miles up the stream bed from Kelly Ford Road; .5 miles from the
dripping cliff] for another
trip in the future, to follow both streams to their sources.
|
The second branch feeding the stream at the same point of
"5 Layer Falls" |
|
|
|
As we continued on our Ozark's off-trail hike up the
stream, we came upon a pair of water falls flowing into Ball Pond.
The site was spectacular! Only we didn't know the real beauty of the
formation was on the top side, where the water had carved its
irregular path as a trough through the limestone. When I first saw the
gentile turns and slope, I thought immediately how it reminded me of a
log ride that you might find at an amusement park.
|
The dual water falls and pool at "Ball Pond"
This is a great spot for a picnic and swimming hole. |
|
|
|
The cut channel is an amazing
piece of work, but proved nearly impossible to capture on film. I have
posted the three best photos I took from three different angles, but
none document the pure raw beauty and uniqueness of the formation.
"Ball Pond Falls" [located 1.1
miles up the stream bed from Kelly Ford Road; .3 miles from the dual
branches] makes an excellent spot for a
picnic.
|
Downstream view of the upper channel at
"Ball Pond Falls" |
|
|
Perpendicular
view of the upper channel at
"Ball Pond Falls" |
Upstream view of the upper channel at
"Ball Pond Falls" |
|
|
|
Our Missouri off-trail hiking trip
moved on toward Potato
Cave Hollow [located 1.5
miles up the stream bed from Kelly Ford Road; .4 miles from Ball Pond Falls]. At a few places during the
hiking trip it
became evident the stream was a "losing
stream", as flowing surface water would suddenly disappear
into the rocks, only to emerge again upstream. Don't despair if your
Ozark off-trail hike in a stream bed suddenly turns into a trek in the rocks, as the stream might reappear
as you approach a fresh source of water; such as a spring or
intermittent stream branch.
By the time we got to Potato Cave
Hollow we had less than an hour to
find the cave and explore it, and we were wore out from our numerous excursions
up the bluffs along the way looking for other caves or oddities. We hiked both sides of the hollow, up
the bluff to the top of the ridge, and all along the ridge; but were unable to locate the cave.
It was decided that Potato Cave would have to wait for another trip.
Our legs thanked us.
At a brisk pace on the way back,
following more game trails on the bank instead of hiking through the
stream bed, we made it back to the road from "Ball Pond Falls" in about an hour.
Footnotes:
Potato Cave (called "Tater Cave" by the locals) was used at the
turn-of, and the early, 20th century as a communal winter storage for
tubers. [More to come on this
North Fork history gem in a future article.] Ball Pond was named after an 1800's homesteading family and was used
as a communal watering hole for livestock in the dry summer months, as
well as a picnic area and swimming hole. [More to come on this
North Fork history gem in a future article.] |
|
|
Topography Map
of Ball Pond Hollow with landmarks noted. |
| |
|
Notes:
- Please follow all
safety rules when hiking and observe all Mark Twain National Forest
rules and regulations.
- Please respect the rights of the private land owners located
along the road leading to and surrounding the lower part of the
hollow.
- This off-trail hike is at a gentle grade, but is moderately difficult due to the
many rocks in the streambed. The streambed is usually the best route,
but most of the time there are game trails along side the
streambed for those wishing to avoid most of the water and rocks
(but more bugs and brush). Please plan on possibly getting wet up to your knees
at times (depending on the water level), as it is necessary to cross the stream several times even if
you choose to hike solely along the banks.
- Be sure and notify someone of your hiking route, time of return,
and pack plenty of water and snacks for the trip. A compass, map,
and the knowledge to use them are recommended.
- Parking is best taken at Kelly Ford, necessitating a .3 mile walk
back up the road to the low-water bridge where the Ball Pond Hollow
intermittent stream crosses the road.
- Ask Myron, or email the Webmaster
(who wrote this article) for more details or if you have any questions.
|
|
|
