Loving Family,

THERE IS NO PERMIT THIS YEAR !!!!!


THING'S NEEDED ON-SITE:

  • Dry Clothes - Shirts/Socks/All
  • Benadryl
  • A Friend


  • Come to the National Gathering in Fallsville, Arkansas. From east or west take I-40 to Clarksville Arkansas. There are three exits at Clarksville, look for the Hwy 21 exit. Go north on 21 into Clarksville. The Creek Festival is this weekend in Clarksville, lots of tourists and bikes. Drive slow in town. Follow Hwy 21 right at light downtown, about a mile east on Hwy 64/21N. Hwy. 21 leaves Hwy 64 and goes north into the mountains. You will climb about 2000 ft to get to Fallsville on Hwy 21, it is crooked but a very good Hwy. Fallsville is 28 miles north of Clarksville. At Fallsville you will come to a fork in the Hwy. or a "Y" in the Hwy. This is the Jct of Hwy 16 and there is the Fallsville Gas Station and tiny store. Very kind locals run the store and should be greeted warmly and with love!!!



    The road into the site is to the right of the store 1¾ miles. It is the 2nd dirt road on the left. Just past an old cemetery. Just before the 2nd road you will see "Six-Up" on the right side of Hwy 21. Just past this turn left into the USFS road block/welcome home.
    $75.00 fine for open containers. LEO's are being cool and pretty nice.



    Thank goodness the trail is fairly level. It's slow going because it is very slick and thousands of feet keep it churned up and soupy. You get mud splashed all over you by the time you treck to your favorite kitchen, or the front gate, etc. Luckily, the river is there to wash off the mud when you need a rinsing. Since it is raining soooo much, the river is running good and clean. There is not too much run off that the river is silty. In some spots it does get a little mud running in, but it does not make the river brown and muddy, just kind of opaque blue/green. There are some good swimming holes and everyone is enjoying the river.



    Off of main trail, the forest floor is thick leaves and the water doesn't stand. It is clean and non-muddy, and if you wash in the river and stay in the forest, you can keep yourself fairly mud free. There are several really good kitchens and still lots of happy folks. They just smile and splat down the trail.



    There is plenty of clear spring water tapped up on the hillsides and it is good fresh water. No shortage of water, maybe we could use less water? (less rain) There's good food in plenty, and great variety. Typical of all good gatherings. The LEO's have backed off a little and there is no longer a large roadblock. However, they have a checkpoint where there are Arkansas Game and Fish Law Enforcement Officers looking for a reason to hassle folks, but they are more friendly than the Feds. There is a shuttle from the highway to their checkpoint. Then another shuttle from that checkpoint down the mountain into the site.



    Kitchen's: Crispy Critter Cafe, Shut-Up & Eat It, A.R.F kitchen Arkansas Rainbow Family from Fayetteville, Tea Time, Kiddy-Village, PPK, Phat Camp and at more kitchens. Water but you should boil and/or filter it. There are springs everywhere to tap for a kitchen. Main trail is level and wide, curving through a dense forest along the Buffalo valley for a couple of miles.



    There's no meadows anywhere. Main circle is not happening, and instead folks are gathering at the river crossing where there is a large flat rock shelf on the west side of the river to drum at night like a main circle with the river as the heart. Lack of good organization is causing headaches, but things get done in typical rainbow ways. Since this site was chosen so late, it is one of the less organized gathering I have ever attended. However, personally, I am still enjoying it because the spirit of the forest and our ancient river is counterbalancing the negative problems faced from not enough time for scouting and organization.



    There is a lot of space in the forest, but it is second growth and there is underbrush that needs to be cleared for tents or whatever. The forest is very peaceful and serene, it is mixed hardwoods and pulpwoods, with some yellow pine. Inside the forest it is typical beauty like you find all over Arkansas, and the wild hogs are nowhere to be seen. There is lots of poison ivy, but there are areas of the forest where it is almost vacant of the stuff. Off of main trail, it is a thick vibrant forest and the variety of trees, vines, and ancient rocks covered in moss make it a beautiful gathering. There are cliffs, and forested mountainsides



    POISON IVY WARNING!!!! If you are packing, please bring long sleeved/long legged clothing to protect you from the poison ivy/oak, especially if you intend to venture off the trail! Poison ivy/poison oak is everywhere! it is so bad that several people have been sent to the hospital for systemic poisoning (throughout the whole body) from BURNING the vines.

    From HipForums

    "I came home from katuah gathering with mad poison ivy and poison oak last week! welcome to the eastern u.s. one of the things you don't think of is your shoes. as you walk through the forest & bushes and then step into your tent or handle your shoes, you transfer the poison oils to your skin. also if you sleep with your dog, think about what he runs through all day and gets all over his fur! if it's there and you are suseptable -you'll get it."

    Ignore all rumors of cancellation and "alternate sites". There are approx three thousand (3000) folks "Home" already. Thank you for GEO-Satellite Image Technology!!!!

    WEBMASTER NOTE:

    "If you survived an Ocala Gathering, you will do fine here. Florida has Poison Ivy, Oak & Sumac (It's just not in Bloom during Feb!!), Spiders: Brown recluse, Brown & Black Widows, Scorpions Galore and all the snakes AR has except for the Western Diamondback and Copperhead. Copperheads were Found in Ocala Forest until 1970-80.
    Do IGNORE rumors of "Snipe Hunting", "The Razor-Beaked Finark" and "The Brown Speckled Gnarf". Just come and Have a good time with Family".
    I will be found on-site at "Trade Circle", in the river or Somewhere needing to be found. You can't miss a 6'4" guy in a loin cloth.....

    Tradin' Bill


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