The Eyebrow: Adventures Into the Rugged

"You might as well build a railroad across the Devil's eyebrow…". That's what a settler told the Frisco Railroad in 1880, regarding a particularly rugged piece of property in eastern Benton County that they were surveying. The name stuck and today, the land is part of Devil's Eyebrow Natural Area, an Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission property; among the most rugged places in the Ozark Mountains. It's places like this that a person has to have a sort of grit or craze about them to travel through…maybe a little of both. This natural area is fairly new, but is already renowned for its rare plants and beautiful scenery. Today was the second time I had the chance to go down into the natural area with a fellow photographer and it's always very rewarding…despite the fact that each time we've spent the first 30 minutes trying to figure out where the trail is! I think I've finally gotten it figured out. The key here is to be away from the trail, but that exact route is top secret.

Common Green Darner (Anax junius)

The trail leaves the field where you park and, for several hundred yards, follows a logging road flat and easy through the woods. After this it begins to gently slope down and quickly, BAM, there goes the road, dropping steep into a narrow valley below. All the way down, this stretch is littered with rocks and fresh asters. The morning sun was shining warm for several dragonflies that cruised the area, looking for breakfast.

At the bottom, the road crosses a creek and winds around the base of a ridge. But for those adventurous at heart, what good is a road? Leaving it, we began following one of the creeks through the area. Creek walking isn't usually easy going, especially when the bottom is slick bedrock like at Devil's Eyebrow. It made perfect habitat for great blue lobelia, though. One of my fall favorites. Their deep violet blooms were covered in tiny dew droplets, winking at us as we passed. The lobelia was very common on our hike; I couldn't complain. We eventually made it to a fork in the creek where one branch took a violent turn into incredibly potholed bedrock. An artifact of thousands of years of water eating away at weaker limestone, no doubt. Using my imagination, I was able to picture the cascades of water the potholes would create if there had been any running.

Continuing on, we were greeted by several hummingbirds sipping from perfect, bright orange jewelweed blooms. A fight ensued as we passed through and they parted to let us go on. Slipping and sliding around another few turns brought us to the holy grail for the day, one of those Devil's Eyebrow rarities botanists speak so highly of. This one in particular was ovate-leaf catchfly, with a feathery and exotic-looking flower. Yet another creation that is as close to perfection as things get here on Earth.

Ovate-leaf Catchfly (Silene ovata)

This plant, and many others, speak highly of "the Eyebrow's" unpolished hills, hollers, and near pristine habitat. The major creeks here end at inlets of the mighty Beaver Lake. One can only imagine what it would have been like farther down had the White River never been dammed, but Northwest Arkansas has to have water, don't they?

It wasn't far past the catchfly that we turned around to head back out. Getting in is the easy part since it's all down hill! Hours later and half way out the sun finally made an appearance in that narrow canyon that made our day. Despite a cool start to the morning, butterflies began to show themselves in the sun; including an Eastern Tailed-Blue that gave us long looks at its upper wings…a rare occurrence any time. These dime-sized butterflies are well worth a closer look.

Rare View: E. Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas)

As we hoofed it up the final hill, a Gemmed Satyr graced us with its near presence, and like raccoons with shiny things, the photographers stopped to gawk. Satyrs and close looks don't often go together, so one must take their chances as they come. It may take some inspection on an otherwise brown small flying thing, but you will eventually see where they get their name and it can stand out like the finest silver.

Gemmed Satyr (Cyllopsis gemma)

Another morning and about three miles to the south, I find myself at the base of Whitney Mountain, one of those rare Cerulean Warbler habitats, but for that I'm over a month too late. As the fog keeps rolling through, I'm here to photograph pale jewelweed, not the orange, spotted jewelweed of Devil's Eyebrow. A pretty good patch grows at the base of a bluff near the road, indicative of a damp habitat. Its cornucopia-shaped blooms are completely yellow with fine red spots on the inside. Its namesake are the leaves that have tiny, water-repelling hairs that cause water to bead up and roll right off, but the flowers must be part of the story too.

Pale Jewelweed (Impatiens pallida)

As I pull myself away from this crisp roadside oasis, I feel refreshed in both mind and body. Shutting the car door, I hear what's sure to be the last Hooded Warbler song of the season and my mind wanders north, across several valleys and back to Devil's Eyebrow. The preservation of places like this is vital, especially in an ever-growing Northwest Arkansas. We don't do great in many aspects, but here we aren't doing too bad at all.

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

For more photos from these two trips, visit www.pbase.com/mpruitt/recents