Fall Brilliance Along the Buffalo River
by Charlie Transue
This year, the Halloween backpack took place along the Buffalo River. Gary Miller led four fellow Sierrans along a hike from Steel Creek to Kyle’s Landing. The hike out of Steel Creek included two steady climbs, but the hikers were energized by visual energy. The fall colors were at their peak that weekend, and to my view were exceptional compared to recent years. The standouts of the foliage were the maples burning bright in hues of orange and red. A rewarding sight after the climbs was seeing Granny Henderson’s home place across the valley as the sun came out at last in the late after-noon.
The clouds parted long enough for us to take in a star-filled sky before a harvest moon rose later in the night. By next morning, the clouds had returned. We helped two nice ladies from Nebraska find their way back to their trail at Granny Henderson’s home. Instead of taking the high trail back to Kyle’s Landing, we took advantage of the low river to walk along the Old River Trail to Kyle’s Landing. We quietly closed our outing with a leisurely drive home among the multicolored Ozark hillsides.
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