Roaring River State Park
We had an outstanding day. It was hot and humid with sunshine. The morning temperature was 63 degrees and the high was 85 degrees.
We had a comfortable night of sleeping under the fan. I woke up at 7:15 am and got dressed. Then we shared a blueberry bagel with cream cheese spread on it and a shake. Afterwards we got ready for a hike.
Our hike was 2.25 miles on Devil's Kitchen trail. The trail started across the street from our campground. It took us up a steep rock hill for 259' in elevation. The trail was narrow with rocks and roots in the trail. By the time we got to the top we were hot and tired. We didn't go straight up we weaved through the trees. It was a beautiful challenging hike with a lot of rock formations, caves and beautiful trees. There are some points of interest to look at while hiking. We didn't have a points of interest map but we did see a few of them. The first time we were here we had the map and stopped at every points of interest. It was a lot of fun doing this. This was the third time we have hiked Devil's Kitchen Trail so we knew where it was going (I should say Larry knew where it was going). The ones we saw were: (2) Shelter Cave, (9) Devil's Kitchen, (3) Lignite Cave and (8) Trailside Spring Cave. Shelter Cave was used by the Native Americans for thousands of years. Devil's Kitchen was used by Civil War guerillas because of the overcropping and it formed an enclosed room. It collapsed in 2001 but visitors can still explore and take photographs of the area. The Lignite Cave is where water flows through it after it rains. Trailside Spring Cave was formed by the spring. The only point of interest I explored was the Shelter Cave. We had a super hike and saw a lot of great rock formations, caves and beautiful scenery.
Devil's Kitchen trail terrain on top of the hill
One of the original cabins the CCC built at Roaring River State Park
Shelter Cave
Lignite Cave
Devil's Kitchen Shelter remains
The trail around Devil's Kitchen to do exploring and take photos
After lunch we went on a motorcycle ride. Larry thought it would be fun to drive Sugar Camp scenic drive. The scenic drive is located a few miles from the campground. The scenic drive was down a rough dirt road for 12 miles. We only went one mile because it was very rough. The drive to Sugar Camp was a nice curvy highway. Sugar Camp runs through the Ozark hills and you can take trails off the road, that take you into Mark Twain National Forest. The road would be ok if you're hiking (maybe) and over-road vehicles. After deciding not to continue on after a mile Larry turned around. We didn't go straight back to the campground instead we went to the park store and walked through it. Then we drove around the day area by the Roaring River. There weren't as many people fishing as yesterday but there were a few. The ride was very nice and comfortable riding (not too hot or cold). We wore short sleeve shirts.
Rough forest road
We spent the day relaxing under the air conditioner. Larry read and I played games.
It's a beginning of a new week so I played 16 extra Solitaire games to double my points by earning a golden ticket. They were 4 games of easy Free Cell, 4 games of easy Pyramid, 4 games of easy Tri Peaks and 4 games of hard Spider. I played the Daily Challengers of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Hard Road Mini of 10 games. It took me 55 minutes and 34 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.
At dinnertime I barbecued hamburgers for dinner. When it cooled off a bit I walked around the campground for an hour for 3 miles. By the end of the day I had gotten 15,000 steps.
Roaring River School in 1820's on site
While I walked around Larry read. After I finished my games I started a new book called Northern Borders written by Howard Frank Mosher.
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I would love to hear friendly comments on anything at all. Ruth