Hiking around Hot Springs, AROct 21, 2009
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site at Hot Springs NP CG - note the door is open!
Gulpha Creek runs by campground - see Miss Daisy?
rocks form a path over the creek upstream from the small falls
I traveled most of the day yesterday from Branson to Hot Springs, then spent awhile washing bugs off the front of Miss Daisy. Most of them must have just eaten a big meal, as they were big, messy splotches!
Today was cloudy and rain is predicted for tomorrow, so I declared this a hiking day. There is a trail in back of the campground that goes up from Gulpha Gorge to Goat Rock and there is a lookout at the top that is featured in the brochure for the Hot Springs National Park. You will see the picture where I tried to imitate that picture, but I didn't bring my tripod, so I couldn't get the camera high enough to show the neighboring mountains.
Then I went to Lake Catherine State Park where there is a campground and 3 trails near the lake. The sites were roomy and on the lake but there is a big power plant across the lake that makes a lot of noise! The easy, 2 mile trail was challenging enough for me, so I can imagine the other two trails that are listed as steep and rugged!
Hot Springs itself is an interesting town. On Central Avenue, one side of the street consists of renovated bath houses, (but only 2 are open to the public as bath houses) while the other side is full of stores and hotels. I found a bar called Capone's Ohio Bar and was intrigued. There was a write-up in the window telling its history, then the menu listed a chicken, bacon and cheddar sandwich, and a neon light saying Fat Tire (a kind of beer I tried and liked), so I ate supper there! The waitress and I talked about the mahogony bar and big mirror behind the bar and the gangsters and raids. She gave me a laminated late night menu that has the history of the bar written on it as a souvenir! She told me that historically, the shops and hotels were across from the bath houses - they were over the springs. Gangs came here to relax and illegally bet on sports games. the bar was wired so they got results from games immediately! After the last raid in 1968, the gangs left and the main street went down hill. Businesses like Sears and Penneys left downtown and things got shoddy. They fired the town's mayor, created a town council, and brought the arts into town. That explains all the art shops! And the theater is host to the annual documentary film festival this week!
