My Cabin Trip to the Buffalo River in Arkansas

I just got back from my trip to the Buffalo River in Arkansas and it was AMAZING! It was so nice to finally get away and go do something after being stuck in quarantine for the last 2 months. We had this trip planned for almost 7 months, and I am so happy that it actually got to happen! I went with my boyfriend, and three of his really good friends from Houston that drove all the way to Arkansas to see us. We stayed in this super nice, super cute log cabin that was fully furnished and decorated with the cutest “woodsy” and “forresty” decorations. The cabin was right in the center of the woods situated somewhere on a mountain. The whole town we were in was situated in and around the mountains and forest and we had to drive a lot of winding roads to get there. The whole house was made of three different colored wood, and it was just so beautiful! We went during memorial day weekend and got there Friday early afternoon and left Sunday mid morning. I was blown away by the look and smell of the cabin as soon as we got there. It had such a nice cozy scent. There was a big bonfire outside fully stocked with plenty of firewood to burn. My boyfriend, George, set up the eno on the outside of the Cabin using some of the wooden poles that held the cabin together. I laid in the eno and read a book in the cool breeze. I had to put on some fuzzy socks and long pants and t-shirt because it was about 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Burr! We ended up heating up an Amy’s lasagna and drank white wine for dinner. Our friends didn’t arrive until around 10pm. When they got there we all talked and caught up because we hadn’t seen each other in a while and made the most delicious smores ever!

On Saturday morning, we all made a big breakfast together. It’s so funny how much more responsible you are in your later 20’s than in your earlier 20’s. We all helped clean up after breakfast and did all the dishes and started the dishwasher. I feel like that would not have happened if this trip took place 5 or 6 years earlier lol. With a delicious breakfast in our bellies, we packed our back packs and got ready for a big hike to Big Bluff. The start to the hike only ended up being a 2 minute drive from our cabin! We had no idea what kind of hike we were in for. George and I wore some old tennis shoes, his two guy friends wore chacos, and his best friend’s wife Tiffany was the only one smart enough to wear hiking boots. This girl is ALWAYS super prepared so I wasn’t surprised. She is the perfect person to go on a trip with because she thinks of everything and always packs the essentials that can be easily forgotten. The hike ended up being super steep, rocky, muddy, and even a little dangerous at times! We didn’t know that it was going to be quite that much of a challenge, but we thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of it. It really tore my shoes up. The hike was only about 6 miles round trip and took us about 3 and half hours. The view of the Buffalo River made it super worth it! Once we got to the view of the Buffalo River, we were standing on the edge of this huge rocky bluff overlooking the entire area. The mountains were lush with green trees everywhere with the teal blue water of the river running in between the mountains. It was such a beautiful site.

Once we got home that Saturday afternoon, we were pooped! I brought a whole watermelon with me and started cutting it up to make watermelon margaritas. It was basically just fresh water melon, limes, and tequila blended up in a blender. I also made a huge bowl of fresh guacamole for everyone to snack on while George and the other guys made fajitas. We finished the night playing board games and sitting by the fire telling scary stories. It was the perfect ending to our day.

Sunday was our last day and we went big! We went canoeing on the very river we had just admired the day before from the Big Bluff hike, the big sapphire and emerald, blue Buffalo river. This was a long day alright. We started the day by making a quick breakfast and packing the coolers with drinks and sandwiches. Since we were still in the midst of quarantine and social distancing, we were not able to take the bus to the canoe site. Therefore, we had to caravan in two cars all the way to the end of the canoe site to drop one car off. The road to get down there was one of the longest, windiest, steepest, narrow gravel pit roads I have ever ridden! Once we dropped the car off at then end site, we all piled up in the other car to go to the starting site. The canoe drop in spot was right on this super fast rapid so it was very scary to start there. Our friends flipped their canoe immediately lol. George and I made it without flipping until the very end when he wanted to be ballsy and take the harder route to the left instead of the easy, smoother route to the right. The river had a great current so we didn’t have to do much rowing. We did have to be on high alert whenever we got close to a rapid though to make sure we made it through. The trip took about 5-6 hours with plenty of stops to get in the water and hang out. We even stopped to take a 1 mile hiking trail to a gorgeous waterfall! We also stopped to climb a short cliff and jump off into the water! Whooo, that was scary, and I’m still so proud of myself for doing that! As I mentioned earlier, towards the end of our canoe trip George decided to take a harder route with huge rocks and rapids, and wouldn’t you know it, we ran right into a huge rock and the canoe got stuck! I was soooooo mad because I told George that I did not want to go down that route. Once the canoe got stuck, it filled up with water immediately and was extremely hard to get out. I was so mad I made George do it all by himself. Luckily, after about 5 minutes of intense work, he was able to move it and get it to a nearby patch of land. We were able to get all of the water out and get back in it. That canoe was badly BEAT up and had so many dents and scratches from our little ship wreck. As you can imagine, I was ready to be back to the cabin after that incident. Luckily, we were only about and hour away from the end site.

We are all so exhausted after our canoe trip and were ready to just chill and relax at the cabin. We grilled burgers and had potato salad and baked beans. I had a veggie burger that was amazing! After dinner the boys sat around by the bonfire, and Tiffany and I stayed inside and watched movies and were passed out by 11pm!

I am just so glad the parks opened up in time for us to still go on this trip. I feel like we all needed it so bad because we had all been cooped up inside working from home with nothing to do. The weather was absolutely beautiful the whole weekend and none of us got Corona! With things slowly opening back up, I encourage you all to go on a quick get away not to far from home just to get a change of scenery and get a quick energy cleanse! You will certainly feel much better afterwards : ).