THERE IS NO PERMIT THIS YEAR !!!!!
THING'S NEEDED ON-SITE:
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