Pigeon Roost Trail

 

We have done hike to Pigeon Roost Trail on 1st November 2026 . It is located in Benton County, Arkansas State.

Hike Location

Name: Pigeon Roost Trail - Dry Creek Loop

Distance: 20 miles from Walton Gym (approx.)

Total hiking distance: ~4.4 miles

Elevation Gain: ~570 ft.

Hike Team: Indrajeet, Ishaan, Amita, Sujit, Tripura, Christian, Nishant, Nitin, Shawn and me.

Hiking Experience 

After many discussions, deliberations finally succeeded in persuading most of the team for hike this Sunday. Though everyone said they would come , am still doubtful until the day comes and we start for hike. It rained for several hours on Saturday raising concerns for Sunday's hike and people tried to take advantage of this to skip the hike on Sunday. However me, being someone, who like to pester people until they agree, kept on following up and even changed location to make sure everyone participate. Despite all the efforts, as expected we still had two drop outs. Hoping no dropouts for our next hike. Though it rained the previous day, next day morning(Sunday) there was no rain and weather seemed perfect for our hike. It was warm, cloudy and light breeze. We decided to meet at Walton Gym around 8 am. We have two first timers Tripura(along with Sujit) and Christian. Most of us reached by 8 am with few reached by 8:05 am. Christian already was near the hike location(not sure if he was warming up as this was his first hike). Tripura mentioned she was running late, as her family had their own deliberation about the hike, distance just like evaluation(go/no go) of any project before delivery. 

While we were waiting at the gym parking lot Shawn teased with his new boots he has taken yesterday for the hike. Shoes are too good and I, who also planning to take shoes got interested to buy the similar ozark shoes and immediately decided to take from Walmart before Tripura arrives. Shawn and me set off to Walmart. I got the new shoes, wore them and we started to the trail location while others started from the gym. Shawn has this BMW sports car. It was like a roller coaster ride. We opened the roof top, passing through bridges, curvy roads with fall colour trees on both sides giving the best experience for riding on such a car. It felt like Shawn operating a car in a video game with sharp turns, easy maneuver and sharp brakes. We reached the parking lot around 9:17 am . we both are last to reach there, others have already reached. Christian also reached. He is the most silent person in our group. We need to keep an eye on him or might disappear. Around 9:20 we started the hike, took the white blazed trail(Dry Creek Loop) which is the short version of the hike. It was really a perfect timing for doing the hike. there were few cars in the parking lot, so we were not alone. This trail is strictly for hikers (pets allowed). 

We all were very excited and got started with great enthusiasm supported by the weather. It was a wide trail with large trees on both sides. Being fall season , we witnessed great fall colours and there were many leaves which have fallen off on the trail. This made our path like a smooth flower bed. As we were going further deep into the forest, we saw huge trees completely uprooted and burnt. Nishant, who generally tries to dig into history of places, informed that there was a tornado in this area couple of years back which caused this. Initially the trail was slightly going down and we hiked with great pace , enjoying the scenic views of the trees in the cloudy cool breeze weather. As expected by our team soon we split into groups each group immersed in their own discussions ignoring the presence of others or fellow hikers or natural life around us. Shawn was commenting about trail being wide and then trail got narrower with only one person can walk at a time. There are small stones along the path and little moiset due to the previous night rainfall. Not just narrow the trail also was traversing round the hill, and it was valley to one side and one slip could take us down the valley. 

we carefully hiked further. the trail got steepr as it became narrower and naturally pace got reduced. We were hiking in file like ants marching in one line. The good part with our team is each of us dont stick to one group, keep shifting groups making fresh new conversations(hopefully not same interview questions) but still ignoring rest of the living world. With our friend Sun not being there we didnt feel the heat while hiking the steep slope of the trial(I know not a good thing to say about friend), but we missed him to make the trees more lively. We followed the white blazed trail, it was properly marked and we took right diversions to make sure we are on track. Slowly our enthusiasm is fading out(that tired expressions, long silences speak about it) but we continued further hiking those steep slopes trying to enjoy the scenery of the trees, valley and huge rocks to the lest of the trail. Shawn's camera unable to sit quite in his 30 lbs backpack, came out and started taking picutres on some of the splendid views of the trees and leaves. Occasionally we need to search for Shawn (his Camera) to mae sure he is still on track and with the group. While we are almost at a point of complete exhaustion after all the steep slope, the trail became wider and flatten and covered with leaves. It was like walking on red carpet and now all groups became one and as a single group we continue walking appreciating the reward after all the hard work. We saw water stream to our left and soon reached the famous view point of the lake. There were huge rocks before the shore line to sit, enjoy the picturesque scene of the lake. 

We took a break here to rest, take good pictures and get immersed into the natural scenic view of the fresh green coloured water surrounded by huge rock boulders with fall colour trees behind. Finally Shawn got chance to showcase his photographic skills. He took his time to setup his tripod and taken some outstanding pictures for the view as well for us. Ishaan wanted to take this experience to next level and pulled up his drone, but unfortunately even the drone which took a liking to the beautiful lake and forest view got lost into the woods leaving behind its owner. Nitin quietly took good pictures of the scene, while Christian as usual silent observer of all the discussions and views. Nishant who is very picky about food/flavours when it comes to chips started eating barbecue flavoured chips (which he does not like) , as though they are the most delicious food he has ever eaten. That shows the exhaustion of us after all the hike. We all had our share of the hike except for Indrajeet who stayed true to his health consciousness. Sujit who kept on avoiding being clicked on our cameras , himself asked for pictures at this scenic view from Shawn. It explains Shawn's skills and natural views. We took good amount of rest and then waiting good deal of time for Shawn to pack his tripod, lenses back. Lot of patience is needed to unpack and pack along with adjusting the lenses. Seems like someone who has fishing experience can get used to this. We set off to continue the rest of the hike. By the forgot to mention, we brought food along with us for this hike. After all the rest the only motivation to put ourself into this hardship of hike is the great food that Tripura teased us with. The trail was wide and flat initially and then it got narrower and steep as we need to reach the top of the hill where we parked the cars. Again we were walking in a file but this time we have only food in mind. 

we completed the loop and now walking the same path we came before where we saw the burnt and uprooted trees. We finally reached the parking lot around 12:00 pm, fully exhausted. We took team picture(ofcourse not from Shawn tripod and camera as we dont have energy to wait anymore to have food). Then We have food from Tripura(Rayalaseema special Rice and Dal) , Amita(Tepla and Curry), Me(Rice and Fried Dumplings). Food was delicious. It was really great to have such good food after a hard days work. Christian who never ate Indian food before, upon our persistent requests(which we are good at) agreed to taste the flavours. Not sure if he would ever hike with us again(I mean after the food).  We had a stomach full lunch. We got two souvenirs , one Shawn took a orange coloured maple leave and Nitin's white jacket got stained with some pink colour(from one of the wild berry fruits presumably). We left the parking lot around 1:10 pm we reached Walton Gym again amazing go karting race in Shawn's car. It was great strenuous hike with amazing team and wonderful memorable experience. All is Well.
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Blowing Springs Park

We had done hike at Blowing Springs Park on 18th October 2026 . It is located in Bella Vista, Arkansas State.

Hike Location

Name: Blowing Springs Park Extended Loop

Distance: 8 miles from Walton Gym (approx.)

Total hiking distance: ~3.9 miles

Elevation Gain: ~357 ft.

Hike Team: Indrajeet, Amita, Madhuri, Nishant, Shawn and me.

Hiking Experience

    Today was great weather to go for a hike, however seems like its another lazy Sunday for most of us as two members dropped out early in the morning and most of us got up late or their errands tied them up. We were supposed to meet at 10 am at Walton gym and then reach to our destination by 10:30 am but we all directly reached Blowing Springs Park parking lot as 10 am seems too early in the morning. For a change Nishant was the first to reach the parking lot(learnt from previous hike maybe). While Nishant and me figuring our our hike trail, Amita and Indrajeet came in their "TESLA" car. As we know there will always be something special about the Car, this time it was about Halloween. we get to see the new Halloween theme of the car(flying ghost), where it is interactive with all the pumpkins, boos, skeletons and witch popping on the screen based on interactions on the screen. Also whenever the car locks it produces sound similar to halloween boo sound. Initially we thought it was dog which is passing by , later Amita revealed it was their car. Then came Shawn in his BMW convertible sports car. he was accelerating while reaching parking lot not sure if intentional :) . It was 10:33 and then Madhuri informed saying she need another 10 mins , like Nishant in last hike. While waiting for Madhuri , Amita took no time to give demo to Shawn of the Tesla's Halloween theme. There were lot of cars with bikes in the parking lot, seems like this was popular biking trail. Madhuri reached the spot and we immediately set out for hike at 10:45 am, unfortunately she missed the demo! Shawn packed his camera and his backpack weighed almost 30 lbs.

The trail led us into the hill covered with trees on both sides. It was moderate slope and with little cold breeze we hiked further. The trail was narrow with two people can walk side by side and there were proper sign posts about the trail and directions as there are multiple trails and intertwine along the way. Since this is first time for Madhuri to join us in hike, Amita started investigation about her (I mean interaction). it was steady slope along the trail with sunlight trying to reach us through the gaps in the trees and leaves which helped us not to get overheat or cold. There were lot of huge rocks like steps along the trail. Though there was no water flowing, the trail or rocks are not completely dry, indicating there was rain earlier. Actually there supposed to be waterfall and good scenic views in the trail but looks like due to extra hot climate for past few months everything ran dry. There were many bikers crossing us, they seem more happy energetic than we who are on foot. The trail was lot of twist and sharp turns so we need to watch out for the signs to make sure we are on the trail. Amita and Madhuri hiked with great speed as the interview is going on not worrying about where the rest of us are there. Shawn and me involved in conversations about mountain biking and decided to do it next time. Nishant and Indrajeet were too engrossed about food options, which and where food is good, enjoying the trail scenery and were trailing behind. AT one point the slope was little steep but we did not notice or feel it much as we were busy in conversations.

There were huge rocks on right of our trail. We were traversing the hill , so to our left is sliding down the mountain. At one point of trail there were small tiny adorable statues of hedgehog and snow white dwarves. We took a short break to make sure we all are together and then hiked further. There were metal grills on the trail for bikers to pass through. WE continue with same pace and kept going forward, in between looking at map to make sure we are on right path. Soon we reached a small foot over bridge over a small creek. We decided to take a break here and watch the creek and small fishes in the water. We thought this is the best place for our photographer to setup his camera(tripod). As always I took the chance to boast about my hiking experience in Mumbai. Shawn setup his camera which keeps clicking the photo until it feels the picture is good, while there were more than 20 clicks, Indrajeet had enough of it and we are good with the pics taken by the AI camera. We just continued the trail and reached our parking lot , it was just opposite. we completed the whole loop in about 1 hour 30 mins. It was a great hike, nice experience and memorable. All is Well.

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Shaddox Hollow Trail

We had done hike to Shaddox Hollow Trail on 11th October 2026 . It is located in Benton County, Arkansas State.

Hike Location

Name: Shaddox Hollow Trail

Distance: 18 miles from Walton Gym (approx.)

Total hiking distance: 1.5 miles

Elevation Gain: ~300 ft.

Hike Team: Abdul, Nishant, Nitin, Shawn and me.

Hiking Experience 

  Today was the first hike for this year for us. Though it looks late but never late to hike as long as we have good weather. we planned to start from walton gym at 8. Abdul and me reached the parking. Shawn just arrived in his new black mercedes convertible. First he found parking between two cars (lot of space), but decided to move on chose the spot near the wall(compact). Parked the car - after couple of to and fro turns. while trying to open the door, found not enough space for the door to open, took out the car and parked in the previous spot. whole thing looked like some one practicing car parking. Nishant, our cab service was waiting for anyone to message if they are coming late - waited for exactly 8 am to send a message that will start. To his surprise others reached gym sharp 8 am including Nitin. While we are waiting for Nishant to arrive, we interviewed Nitin, as he joined us for the first time. We started around 8:25 am and around 8:55 am, Nishant mentioned we lost our way to headed in wrong direction as we were using Nishant's car (Hyundai Palisade) in-built navigation. we switched to google map and located the direction and reached our destination around 9:07 am. The parking lot was full and there was a training team, they were training on how to recover things and person lost in the wild. They told us not to remove any items if we found, as they are placed intentionally for training. 

It was a nice hot sunny weather. The trail was narrow with full of small rocks and going downhill. It looked easy as we hiked down the slope with huge trees on both sides providing good shade. Soon we found the first clue(a cell phone) placed near one of the tree to left of the trail. As we just started the hike, we were very energetic and climbed down faster going into the midst of the forest following the white blazed trail. we were talking random topics off the mind , specially about nearby places for cabins, tents and other water activities which continue for rest of our journey. There were wooden steps taking us further down the trail beside huge rocks. Soon we reached an intersection with blue blazed trail, which led to Beaver lake shoreline. We expected lot of water to be there along the creek, however we were visited with barren land along the shore. there was water/lake at far off distance and lot of dead trees in the water. What surprised us is the trees which are not in water grown good and have fall colours, however those in the water are dead trees with just wooden trunks. Seems like excess water can kill the trees. we thought of utilizing Shawn's camera to take good pictures here, but unfortunately was not a scenic view. Shawn was carrying the heavy camera along with tripod to get most of it, but nature has other plans. We head back to our trail and continue our hike. Now the trail started uphill. There were huge rock formations(limestone) along the left side of the trail. we passed those and steep started to rise making it challenging. As we were immersed in talking we didn't stop to acknowledge or admire the steepness or the forest around us and kept going forward. Soon we reached the parking lot in short time. we expected the trail to be more but in one happy to get to rest from that steep trail. Abdul and Nishant were still on the trail hiking slowly and felt good to see the trail loop is complete. we completed the hike by 9:48 am.

Shawn was desperate to use his camera , so we decided to snap a photo of us at the trail-board. He setup his tripod with some struggle only to realize he forgot memory card. But due to his extensive planning, he searched all his bags to look for the backup memory card. Bingo! he spotted the backup card in one of the secret pockets of the bag(seems like learned from previous experience). We are back on track to have the photo. he adjust the camera and then realized the battery is dead. Again his planning came to rescue where he has battery backups. He quickly replaced the battery and finally able to get some awesome pictures. It was one of the short and wonderful trail with good memories. It definitely is moderate especially the last half mile of the loop which was indeed very steep. As we still have time we decided to play pickle ball at walton gym. We head back to Nishant's car and started to gym. Abdul, as usual looking for comfort, sitting in the middle row trying to look for AC controller , then Nishant turned the car seats to cool. His car has seat coolers for first and second row only. Shawn who was in the third row looked for it, but unlike him Nishant/Hyundai does not have backup plan. He was atleast happy he has air vents to third row. we reached gym by 10:33 am. Had a great time with team. All is Well.

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Bella Vista Ride

 We had done biking to Bella Vista on 6th September 2025. It is located near Bentonville, Arkansas State.

Bike Location

Name: Bella Vista (Razorback Greenway)

Distance: 9 miles from Walton Gym (approx.)

Total Biking distance: 18 miles

Elevation Gain: 1000 ft.

Bike Team: Amita, Pragya(Amita's Daughter) , Abdul, Abhijeet, Hanumantha, Nishant, Zhen and me

Biking Experience:

After doing so many hikes, Abdul (who did only 1 hike) felt bored of hikes and want to do something different, so we decided to go Biking. This was our first time doing something different. Thanks to Amita we all downloaded the app needed to book the bike from one of the walmart bike stations. All set for thrilling experience. We reached the parking deck opposite to Sam Walton Hall around 8:45 am. As usual Hanumantha, Zhen ignored our previous instructions to get water bottle. However Abdul, who is over cautious has got two bottles as he is unaware which bottle will fit to the water bottle stand on the bike, came to the rescue to lend one bottle to Hanumantha. Then comes our Hero Nishant who has come fully prepared with his own bike helment, nice coat and sports outfit. He too has extra water bottle. We all went to the bike station, took sometime to book the bike and take it from the station. However we realized we need to get helmets and they are in the lobby of walmart building. We forgot to carry the Id card to get into the building. But we have Zhen, who couldnt find the parking deck(had difficulty finding the building) parked somewhere else and came walking to where we parked. 

Zhen got the helmets and we all started to Walton Fitness Center where we are supposed to meet Amita and Pragya. Amita called me while we are about to start from our station. As we are too excited about the bike and exploring its features we started late and have not reached yet the fitness center. Amita called again to check where we are as even by walk we should have reached them. I am not good at directions especially all the buildings near the home office, Amita gave up and asked us to wait and she will find and get to us. As we know Amita very studious, found where we are and finally we all met. Forgot to mention about the bikes, these are electric bikes and so with simple peddling we can ride the bike and the electric power boosts to make the ride the bike so smooth and easy. Only Pragya who is a pro biker along with Amita has non electric bike. As expected Amita and Pragya were leading and they are also our path finders/ coaches. They were riding so fast, we were struggling to match their speed and upon special request(as you know it is difficult to convince Amita) they slowed down and we all were biking in one file through the beautiful roads/paths of Bentonville downtown. Have never been to this part of Bentonville and it was amazing to cross the streets amidst wonderful buildings. The paths are perfect for biking, we have a great climate with cool breeze , sun shine and couldnt ask for more. While we were biking, there was a small incident where Nishant tripped off. sorry not Nishant, it was Zhen. Getting Old, am always confused with Zhen and Nishant names. We just paused for sometime Zhen to recover and as usual I gave my free advice this time on how to ride a bike to the team during our break. 

We started again and being electric have not felt much work out while biking. There were couple of tunnels we went into to cross the highways and it was amazing experience. First tim felt great where cars, trucks have to wait for us to pass by. Always was on other side of the coin(used to wait for bikers to go first) , now our turn to be on bike and look at all those cars waiting on us. Similar feeling when there is traffic jam on other side of the road and we drive smooth without any hassle. I know it sounds mean, but thats real life. The bike trail was adjacent to our previous hike Slaughter Penn, we have river stream to our right all through our bike path/trail. We were slowing down/ picking speed in between to catch up with other members to have chit chat about weather, bike, past experience etc and slowly moving forward.

We met many bikers, serious runners, kids in strollers along our path. Good to see many faces on the trail. We reached the spot where we initially planned as our destination. There was lot of grass and shade and river stream. We parked our bikes and Abdul, the stylish among our group got busy taking his selfies, hiring photographer Abhijeet for his stunts, ignoring others. After the photo session, we went near the stream and had fun throwing pebbles into the water and counting the time it is bouncing on the water. Finally we concluded Abdul throw was good, the pebble was good but water was not good for pebble to bounce. Nishant, Abhijeet and me, sports persons in our team have done decent throws. Amita tried too but gave up before it is too late. we then decided to take a team picture, while we were waiting for someone to take a picture of us, we decided to go to Thai Basil for lunch. We got the picture and as we were riding electric bike we felt it was too easy and want to go further not considering Pragya the strongest amongst us who is riding non electric one. We continued further, where there is a lake near by. Unfortunately after reaching there we realized it is closed and had to turn back. 

At this point some of us decided to turn off electric and use our energy to bike to do some work out. This made us to slow down and we slowly, steadily retraced our path to where we started. What was easy earlier turned difficult now without the electric. Switching bike gears, constant peddling slowly able to reach the entrance of the trail where we started. Took a short break to relax and Abhijeet seized the chance to market his Samsung phone and almost got added one more(Pragya) to Samsung admirers by showcasing the pictures taken. Everyone was tired and hungry. Abdul, whom rules never obey - was on hurry to attend lunch invite had his own route going through the closed paths. We followed Amita our guide , crossed the streets and finally reached our bike parking stations. we returned the bike, decided to meet at Thai Basil. We reached the restaurant, had good food and left. Had an amazing experience and fun time with the team. All is Well.

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Slaughter Pen Trail

We had done hike to Slaughter Pen on 27th April 2025 . It is located near Bentonville, Arkansas State.
Hike Location

Name: Slaughter Pen Trail

Distance: 12 miles from Walton Gym (approx.)

Total hiking distance: 4.8 miles

Elevation Gain: 442 ft.

Hike Team: Amita, Indrajeet, Ishan, Nuthan, Abhijeet, Zhen, Shawn and me.

Hiking Experience:

After long waiting for a good weather we finally planned for first hike of this season. As usual we got good response from everyone and ready for the hike, however weather had second thoughts and let us down(has been raining the entire weekend). As we dont give up, we plan for next weekend(27th April). Weather forecast also was looking good. Finally the day arrived. Abhijeet and me reached Zhen's place by 10:15 am, and we left for parking lot in Abhijeet's car. Shawn directly left for the trail parking lot(came to know later why he went separately). Amita and Family invited their friend Nuthan and they all came directly to the parking lot. The trail was near Bentonville and it took just about 20 mins to reach the place. After scouting the place to find the trail, we realized we are not at right spot, thanks to All Trails app, we got the cordinates of the exact location, which was 2.5 miles ahead. we reached there, able to find our trail. Weather was good, no Sun and just a light breeze. We started hike around 11:15 am. Indrajeet was the only one who has been on this trail before and also shared the history that the trail is famoud for biking and the former President has done biking here. 

Initially we started on a cement road and little disappointed that it was not natural trail. As we took a right turn could see gravel road ahead. We set on All American Trail which is a green blzed trail and wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The trail is shared by hikers, bikers so need to watchful of bikers and give them way. There are so many small wooden bridges on the trail to encourage bikers and make the trail more challenging and fun to them. Unfortunately our photographer Shawn has not brought his pro equipment. As we all know, when people meet during weekend, first several minutes goes on enquiring, talking as there will be so much to catchup. On top of that we have a new member in our group , Nuthan who recently moved to Bentonville. So it started with Shawn's military outfit and his peculiar boots. Nuthan was very fond of them and this led to our promotional tour. Soon Abhijeet started showing the Samsung photography enhancements. Then we scaled our hike to next level with help of Ishan's Drone. With all these discussions along with good weather we didnt realize/focus on the slope of the trail and for next half an hour we are having great time and enjoying the view of the stream flowing to the right side of the trail. On left side we have construction going on building more and more wooden bridges for bikers to do somersaults. aWe reached an open arean filled with lot of green grass and decided to give chance for Ishan to promote/show his drone. The drone was very good and he has great control in flying it and safe landing it. Son this turned out as a science class on how drone works, technology behind it and precautions to be taken(based on Abhijeet's experiences). We took some pictures with drone and Ishan landed the drone after a catchy Hindi Phrase from Amita "Ped pe hatak jayega" (gets stuck in trees). Seems like they had experience in the past and had to climb the tree to get it back. 

We continued our hike and were having three serious conversations , one between Zhen and Abhijeet about chakras, tattoos etc, second Shawn and Nuthan, with Nuthan still admiring out team and third Amita and Ishan typical mother and child conversations. We hiked further in between admiring the courage and endurance of the bikers and giving way to them. we reached a point where saw a stone man(statue) and decided to take picture there. Once again Ishan came to rescue with his drone. After we took a photo, we wanted to explore more with drone but Amita cautioned again "Ped pe hatak jayega" and dropped the idea. As we are doing the loop we came close to our starting point and Shawn suddenly mentioned he has lunch plan with his friends and need to leave. Has not mentioned this earlier and that is why came directly to the parking lot. Almost we hiked for 1hr 15 mins by this time and rest of us decided to continue further. Now groups got changed with Abhijeet and Nuthan leading the hike , Zhen and me one group and Amita and Ishan another. Indrajeet has been shuffling between ours and Amita's like people switch between rooms in zoom call. The trail was steep and gave us a good work out with Sun started peeking in.

 The trail has multiple routes at many places, but we were able to stay on course with help of the map and Indrajeet's good sense of direction. Witnessed great skills from Amita to motivate and encourage Ishan to continue the hike.The trail has many u-turns and became narrow. We reached the same path where started earlier and could find the big mushroom to the tree trunk and water stream this time flowing to our left. We saw turtles taking rest on one of the fallen trees. We took pictures at start of the trail and soon reached the parking lot by 2:00 pm. We all were hungry after a good hike. We had two variety of Biryanis, Salad for our lunch. Abhijeet brought home made Biryani which was very good. Felt good after having the lunch. Left the parking lot and reached to our places by 2:40 PM. All is Well. 

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Whitaker Trail

 

We had done hike to Whitaker Trail on 9th November 20224 . It is located in Ozark National Forest, Arkansas State.

Hike Location

Name: Whitaker Trail

Distance: 80 miles from Walton Gym (approx.)

Total hiking distance: 2.7 miles

Elevation Gain: 321 ft.

Hike Team: Amita, Inderjeet, Ishaan, Hanumantha, Abhijeet, Shawn, Zhen and me.

Hiking Experience:

This was the first weekend team outing/activity. As soon as proposal was put everyone readily accepted under one condition (no early morning waking up). So we planned to start around 8 am from Walton Gym. With past experience with team, have sent message to team previous night to reach gym by 7:50 am so that can save that 10 mins late start. It worked in one way. By 8 we have all members at the gym. Amita and family left from Gym however due to my over excitement about new Range Rover took another 15 mins to boast off its features. Finally around 8:15 am we started our promotional tour, I mean hike. It started with me promoting my new car. We soon hit the highway and then Abhijeet started showcasing his Samsung foldable phone along with its AI skills in photography. Shawn very happy to learn that one more Samsung member in the team. Soon Hanumantha our reliable driver started about his car reliability (Toyota Rav4) and how it warned us that Shawn was not wearing his seatbelt who was in the rear passenger seat. Shawn was moving from his seat(not sure if he is adjusting or trying to do something else ) and car warned to put seatbelt. Zhen who was until now thinking, started speaking about his new house and how he is still buying/fixing things for the house and after careful thought he invited us to visit his house. I think enough of promotions along the way, let's move on to our journey. 

It was a rainy weather when we started from Bentonville, As we reached highway it was cloudy, the hills, trees on the dies of highway are covered with fog all along. Our reliable driver while engrossed in talking about his car missed one of the exits (not much time damage
though). We searched for nearby McDonalds for breakfast and closest to our destination was 30 miles from our current location. Both cars, I mean all of us planned to meet at McDonalds. On the way we decided to Surprise Amita for her recent Promotion and planned to buy a cake and some bananas for the hike. We stopped at Walmart Neighborhood and surprisingly saw Inderjeet coming from Walmart and located their car. We went into the store hoping they have not noticed us and went to bakery section. Hanumantha and Shawn almost took 20 mins to decided on the cake, chose every cake and finally selected the first one we saw on the shelf. It was almost like they were tasting every piece of cake while looking at each one. We left Walmart and continued our journey to McDonalds. We saw Dogs standing on the highway, seeing for the first time. We reached around 9:27 am. We ordered food, started having our breakfast. Amita started telling about their Tesla Car and its auto driving capabilities. Around 10 am we left to our destination. It was drizzling and the road full of fog almost zero visibility. Great maneuver skills by our driver.

Soon we entered the dirt road which was very slipper, muddy due to rain. It was drizzling continuously. We are about 15 mins from reaching the parking spot, Amita raised concern(which actually we all have but didn't say out) should we turn back due to bad weather and not good visibility. Due to our never give up attitude, we decided to reach the parking and then decide. As we are about to reach parking spot we saw lot of cars and overflown parking. This gave us confidence and never again thought of returning without doing the hike. We reached around 11:28 am. There were people camping at the parking lot, some were wearing raincoats and walking along the trail and others just either starting or just coming back finishing the hike. Seems like none were bothered about rain or slipper road or muddy road. We started our hike around 11:32 am. After couple of mins of searching for the entrance of the trail we were able to locate(grace of fellow hikers pointing the direction). It was a steep descent and trail is covered with tree roots, water, leaver, stones. We climbed down carefully and then the trail started getting flat. We continued on the trail waving and greeting other hikers who were returning. It was still drizzling and by now we got used to it and didn't feel its presence anymore. The trail was completely drenched and covered with leaves. But still the trail was beautiful with left over leaves with their splendid color. It was really good feeling to walk amidst such natural environment. 

As we continued our hike we crossed several streams which were for a change overflown with water. It was a great sight and enjoyment to cross the streams and continue on our trail. As most of the trail was either flat or going down we had not felt any stress and able to proceed with ease with good pace. We came across huge rock boulders to our right and there was huge valley with great fall colors. All of a sudden, Ishaan, so far who was shy to speak or make a sound, started asking how many more hours to reach the view point every few mins. While actually we were just a quarter mile away. Soon we reached one of the first view point. The view was spectacular with all the trees with various colors and most of them covered with fog.  After taking some pictures we hiked further to the main view point, which was little ascent with tree roots and sharp rocks. Around 12:30 pm. we reached the Whitaker rock point view. It was indeed one of the best views we have seen. Though most of the view is covered with fog, still it was amazing to stand on the cliff and look at the wonderful colorful valley amidst the sound of flowing stream. Shawn exhibits his photography skills with his tripod and powerful lens which were brilliantly captured by Abhijeet. We then had our photoshoot, not sure even if movie stars have so many photoshoots. Hanumantha, Zhen continued to pose until our pro photographer finally said its enough. Not to blame them but the views were really stunning and especially in that weather. We celebrated Amita's promotion in natural environment. 

We then decided to head back around 1:03 pm. All along Zhen was not ready to leave his parachute bag even during photoshoot, seems like a safety measure in case of a fall from the cliff. Ishaan whose name we didn't know until we reached to the top of the cliff, as he does not share his name and considers it security information, was the first one to start our way back. Initially the return trail was good with small descent and not much rain. Slowly as we walked further we started feeling the difficulty of the steep ascent of the trail. we steadily kept going with reduced pace. We crossed the streams again and by now it completely stopped raining. Shawn and Ishaan who were so eager to get to the parking lot, lost their way in another direction until they realized someone shouting at them to return. The last leg was really a steep ascent and it was very good stressful exercise. We reached around 1:54 pm to the parking lot. Thanks to Ishaan for sharing the Oreo biscuits and Fruit juice packets with us, much needed at the time. We decided to have lunch and made Hanumantha's trunk as our buffet table. Abhijeet made delicious Manchuria, Amita tasteful Parathas and Hanumantha prepared for the first time Tamarind Rice(thought didn't seem like someone first timer can prepare) with help of Virtual help from his wife(early in morning) and coincidentally I too brought the same. It felt great to complete the hike and have such wonderful food in natural weather with fog surrounded all over the place and no rain. We finished our lunch and started back to Walton gym around 2:30 pm. We had a good hike, nice promotions from everyone and finally reached home by 4:25 pm. All is well.

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Yellow Rock Trail

We had done hike to Yellow Rock Trail on 13th September 2024 . It is located in Devils' Den State Park, Arkansas State.

Hike Location

Name: Yellow Rock Trail

Distance: 45 miles from Walton Gym (approx.)

Total hiking distance: 2.6 miles

Elevation Gain: 482 ft.

Hike Team: Abdul, Amita, Hanumantha, Nishant, Shawn, Zhen and me.

Hiking Experience:

We decided to reach Walton Gym around 7:45 am sharp, but didnt realize sharp means another 5 mins fro 7:45. We all met around 7:50 except Abdul who as per him is very close, upon checking found out that he is actually on J Stree and stuck in traffic and takes another 5 mins. Finally Abdul reached and we set out in Amita and Hanumantha's cars. Hanumantha, Shawn and me in one car and rest in another. we started around 8:05 am after distributing the food in both cars. As usual I started boring them with my old adventure activities while on drive. we reached the parking lot around 9:03 am, not difficult to find just little off the road and could see the sign board. Both are exceptional drivers sticking to time, lanes and able to reach smooth and safe except few off lane driving warnings. We had our breakfast Bananas, Croissants, Bread with excellent home made spread by Amita(might give a tough competition to cream cheese spread if in market). By 9:25 am we are done with breakfast , packed water bottles, oranges and some bananas each and started our hike by 9:28 am.

There was an entrance arch which has Yellow Rock Trail Name on it and passed through the entrance and followed the white diamond shaped plate trail. The weather was cloudy making it optimal for our hike. The trail is full of rocks buried in the ground and looked like steps (unordered and different shapes). The slope increased gradually and we could feel the effort. But the natural fresh air, large rock formations and pleasant atmosphere kept us going forward. There was a scary cave like formation barricade with iron rails indicating danger. We crossed it without much venturing there (as the name of the park,D evils Den, also had some impact on us). We hiked along the rock formations and could see some steep dark tunnels. Due to summer season the streams are dry and can see just huge rocks and dried leaves. We kept going forward and after reaching certain elevation we started exploring various overlook points. They are very scenic and gives a good high level overview(not high level design) of the mountain and valley filled with trees.

Around 10:30 am we reached the main crux of our journey the yellow rock overlook. It was a spectacular view from the overlook. It was a large wide rock(certainly yellow in colour). This is where we discovered a young and great photographer amongs us, that is Shawn. While we were relaxing after strenuous hike and having some oranges, bananas our photgrapher was busy arranging the camera position to capture these awesome views. Finally after all the photoshoots we started towards the next point of our hike that is CCC shelter. Throughout our hike we were so excited and anxious towards what animals, creatures might be there in the jungle especially after Amita obsessed with spider with long legs which we came across amidst our footsteps. This led to discussion of various wildlife live video streams, documentaries and topic diverted to life of Alaska bears(salmon fish and hibernation). And our young wildlife explorer Abdul(Rockstar in our group - will come to know later) started exploring the foot tracks of fellow hikers and growth of grass on the trail to see if the route was used or not.

One person who was little upset that we decided to continue the hike to CCC Shelter was Zhen as he thought we could descent back instead of hike on the steep path. We continued our hike which was steep and had lot of turns and passed through a wooden bridge, dried streams. We had a task of figuring out what is CCC and closest we could guess was Child Care Center. We finally reached the shelter by 11:15 am. It was an old great construction in 1934 and CCC is Civilian Conservation Corps, we were very close. We took some rest there. It was other entrance to Yellow Rock Trail. We started the return hike.

Now that we have seen all the overlooks, scenic beauty of nature, trees and discovered wild species(spiders) we started having small group conversations. Abdul, who came to know our photographer joined Pickle ball sessions was trying to get all the info he can to join the class then and there itself(if possible). Then we were engrossed in small team conversations Abdul and Nishant , Hanumantha and Shawn, Amita, Zhen and Me. We had visited(visualized) many countries like Australia, Japan and Vietnam through Zhen's experience. Hanumantha and Shawn explored all states specifically California and India, and Abdul and Nishant engrossed in various sports including swimming, soccer. The return hike is a steep decent on rajor sharp rocks and tree roots coming out of earth as speed brakers. Soon we all came out of team conversations , walked further. We all were walking normal but Abdul in cloudy weather wearing shades, hands in pocket, glaring shoes was walking stylishly as though going on to a stage to perform like a Rockstar. Finally reached our parking spot by 12:00 pm. We took rest, had photoshoot and visited the visitor center which was small and decent. We then drove back to Walton Gym and reached by 1:18 pm. All is well
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Motts Run Reservoir

 

We had done hike to Motts Run Reservoir on June 27th  2021. It is located in Fredericksburg, 

Virginia State.

Hike Location:

Name: Motts Run Reservoir

Distance: 63.7 miles from Henrico (approx.)

Total hiking distance: 5.0 miles

Elevation Gain: 605 ft.

Hike Team: me and  my wife.

Hiking Experience:

We woke up at 5:30am. We have tried to get up around 4:30am but we could not do it. We got freshened, packed the breakfast and lunch and started around 7:15am. The hike location is around 1 hour 15 minutes journey from our home. The weather was sunny along with the cool breeze. We took country side road instead of interstate highway. We saw beautiful farms, fields, gardens, cows, horses and excellent houses and villas also. Some houses have extraordinary environment with lakes and farms. The entire road had beautiful scenic views on either side. To enjoy these things we always look for country side road only. Around 8:40am we have reached hike location. we saw two parking lots over there, one is at entrance of the location another one is near the river for that parking lot we to cross the first one. Initially we had lot of confusion about the trail. The instructions which we got from the net are not clear. We have to follow the red blazed trail that is Mile run trail. we have searched for the trail for sometime but we could not find it so we asked about it to bikers passing by and they guided us which way we have to go.

Then we started our hike around 8:50am After following that trail for sometime we felt like we were missing our trail because we saw the red color marked trees but we are going different trail. We understood that we were following some other trail which 8 miles hike trail. Then we moved to 5 miles hike trail and continued our journey. After 0.3miles we have reached the Lake view trail that is green blazed trail which lies on left side of the Mile run trail. We climbed down on that trail for 0.4 miles and saw beautiful lake view. The view of the lake was really beautiful. Then we were heading back to the mile run trail. While coming back from the Lake view trail it was very steep and it was nice workout for us. then in 5 minutes we have reached the Mile run trail. This hike very nice hike, the trail not a narrowed trail this time. We saw so many other hikers and bicycle riders also. In some places wooden benches also.

After we walked for 1.2 miles we have reached the Laurel trail that is purple blazed trail. We climbed down to the Laurel trail. It is 0.2 miles distance to the lake. This time we saw different view of the lake. We saw people fishing and there were so many fallen trees in the water. Then after 5 minutes we came back to the Mile run trail. Not only on the lake but during the entire trail also we saw so many fallen trees. After sometime we crossed a small wooden bridge and then after some distance from that bridge there were two small benches on the left side of the trail. Then we crossed another small wooden bridge also. But this bridge is not very strong like the before one, it was shaking while walking on it. After sometime of walking we have reached the creek of the Mile Run trail. We saw big stream also over there, saw so many small fishes in that stream. We had breakfast around 10:30am there and spent sometime over there. We liked the stream, fishes and water sound. We felt very pleasant environment over there. After 10 minutes we started our hike again, now we have to reach Turkey Ridge trail for that we were retracing our steps on Mile Run trail.

After Half an hour we have reached the intersection of Mile Run trail and Turkey Ridge trail which is yellow blazed trail. On this trail we were completely climbing down, we saw so many benches on the left side of this trail. The entire view of that benches and that place was just like a classroom. we were so surprised and did not understood why the benches were arranged like classroom in a hiking place. After half an hour of walking we have reached the yacht around 11:30am. At that place also we saw some benches here also they arranged those like in the classroom, also that looked like a camping area. From that place the scenery was simply excellent. We took so many snaps of that place, and took rest for sometime on that yacht. Then we saw some people were doing boating and fishing over there.  We thought that those boats are their own so if we want to do boating we have to get our own boat. But anyway our hiking was done we have decided to ask in the counter about the boating. At that recreation area we so many kayak boats and motor boats, we have decided to take motor boat if there is any availability. We went to the counter and asked there about the motor boats, they said a good news that we can take a boat for rent over there only. Then we took a boat for 2 hours. We have started the boating around 12:15pm. 

We thought boat driving is little bit difficult but it was so easy. There were 5 forward speeds, 3 reverse speeds and only one handle and we have to operate left and right. With cool breeze and the water splashing sound the ride was amazing. It was very huge lake we have took so many snaps and videos there while on the boat. The scenery, weather and the view of the lake simply beautiful. We saw deer at one side of the lake, initially we didn't expect any deers or bears in this hike because it was very crowded hike, another side we saw one small turtle also. After sometime around 1:00pm we had our lunch in that boat in the middle of that lake with cold breeze. We had never done so much easy boating like this.

We saw so many people fishing in that lake, we took big round around the lake. After 2 hours around 2:10pm we returned the boat. We enjoyed this easy funny boating a lot. We returned to the parking lot around 2:15pm and started our way back to home. We did not feel much tired, when we were coming back from lake view trail and laurel view trail we felt little bit difficult but walked on the normal plain road more time than that. We expected the lake view and stream views but we do not have any idea about the boating. It was really a surprise to us. We have never done boating like this on big lake. We reached home around 3:20pm. We enjoyed this hike a lot and we have came back from there with so many wonderful memories with us. All is Well.

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Little Devils Stairs

We had done hike to Little Devil's Stairs on 20th June 2021 . It is located in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia State.

Hike Location

Name: Little Devils Stairs

Distance: 102 miles from Henrico (approx.)

Total hiking distance: 6.0 miles

Elevation Gain: 1480 ft.

Hike Team: me and  my wife.

Hiking Experience:

We woke up at 5:00am. We tried to get up at 4:30am but could not do it. We got freshened, packed lunch and breakfast nd started around 6:40am. It is two hours distance from home. The weather was cloudy and the temperature was normal.

On our way we saw so many horses and cows grazing. As we have taken country side road, we saw so many green farms and fields all the way along. It was very pleasant to watch these sceneries in the early morning. We were about to reach the parking lot then we saw a deer. We reached the hiking place around 8:48am. We started the hike around 8:55am. We followed the blue blazed trail to the left of the parking lot. Initially there were some stairs going down and then there was a stream with many rocks and less water. As we hiked further the trail was so narrow only one person can walk and it was surrounded by many huge trees on either side of the trail. It was a muddy trail and got steeper. There was a water stream flowing down besides the trail. We crossed this stream several times to follow our trail. It was like a zig zag crossing the streams. There were huge rocks on the trail and we climbed on the rocks to proceed further. It has been long time climbed such huge rocks. The slope of the trail is also very high felt like almost we are crawling on our knees. It was quite challenging but we enjoyed it as there was stream flowing beside us. The sound of the water, birds chirping, green trees made us feel as though we are in jungle and adventurous. 

The trees are very tall and wide. Many a times we used to lose our trail and search for the blue mark to find it again. Almost for 2 and half miles the trail is covered with rocks. Sometimes we need to climb between two rocks to move further. After hiking for about an hour we had our breakfast on one of the rocks beside small waterfall. Around 10am we continued our hike. There were many fallen trees besides the trail but did not block it. The water in the stream is very cold and it was fun crossing it though it was slippery. There were many earth worms all over the place. Some of the rocks were very slippery because of the streams, so while we were climbing we almost have to walk on four legs like an animal. At one point we were climbing a big slippery rock and there was no place to put our hand and push our self to go up, the rock was so soft that we just have to give pressure with our feet and climb. I crossed that easily but my wife was too afraid to climb that. There was another rock to the left of this slippery rock. My wife decided to hold both the rocks and climb between them. She got half the way and reached her left hand to top of the rock to pull herself.

She was holding the rock and coming slowly and suddenly she was about put her hand on a SNAKE...!! She started shouting and climbing down instantly. I did not see that snake and I don't know what is happening and why she was shouting. She ran away so fast 10 steps down and then she told me. Obviously, now she had only one way to come up even though it was difficult for her. Now she is no more afraid of the rock, as her fear of the snake was much more. She was so frightened at that time, but later we felt it was so funny her reaction. After that we continued climbing, crossing the stream many times. Small plants and stream were glittering with thin rays of sunlight which escaped the leaves of the tall and wide trees. It was very beautiful scene to watch. After sometime we saw big waterfall. It was pretty far from our trail. There was no any proper route to go near that waterfall. We saw it from our trail only and we moved on. We were traversing the hill and now our trail got separated from the stream.

We continued further and no more rocks on the trail and no more climbing just walking on the narrow road. Soon we reached an intersection with the fire road with yellow blazed trail. We have to continue our hike on that road for almost 4 miles. So we took another break around 11:16am, had some food and around 11:25am we started again. So far we have hiked uphill and now this trail is complete downhill and it is covered with small stones making it hard to walk. There were no more water noises of the stream, no huge rocks and no snakes along this trail. Being wide we did not feel like it was hike and was not enjoyable. we sung some songs and remembered our way uphill and incident with the snake. Around 1:05 pm we reached the parking lot. We had our lunch on the way to home and reached home around 3:00 pm. We really had a great time compared to our previous hikes we have done and still cannot forget those memorable moments with waterfall, rocks, streams and all. We enjoyed this hike a lot. All is Well.

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