Ok, I know it’s technically Arkansas, but my mind finds it so funny to read and say Kansas (kan-zuhs) but once you put that “ar” in front it becomes Arkansas (ar-kin-saw) and not AR-Kansas (ar-kan-zuhs). It’s become my new favorite thing to mispronounce, though some may think I’m silly or straight dumb for acting like I think that’s how you say it, it still makes me giggle on the inside.

I recently ventured off to Arkansas (tell me you didn’t read it ar-kan-zuhs that time lol) with my sister for the weekend for some exploring and hiking! She has set a goal to hike in every state and has been so amazing to allow me to tag along on some of her adventures. We landed in Little Rock and stayed about an hour outside of the city in a small, I mean SMALL town of Morrilton up in the Petit Jean Mountains.

We couldn’t help but start off our trip with some matching seester tattoos! I came up with the idea while we were planning this trip and thought it would be so fun to get a tattoo in every state we go to as a momentum of our trip. My suggestion is getting each states flower, but we quickly realized, not all states have the prettiest flowers. So, we’ve opened it up to anything we like and feel symbolic to the trip/adventure. This time, some dainty little Apple Blossoms, one for her and one for me. They turned out so cute and dainty and just what we were envisioning.

After a long day of traveling for both of us, new tattoos and a short hour drive to our destination we were finally to our home away from home, our own little cabin. We had two queen beds, mini fridge and microwave, flat screen TV, a cozy fireplace and your essentials (toilet, shower, sink and coffee maker!). It was the perfect little room for the two of us, we settled in and called it a night!

We woke up the next day to a straight DOWNPOUR of rain! But as the true Oregonians we are, a little rain never stopped us from going outside. As we were getting ready for the day we glanced outside and it looked like the ground had a light dusting of snow, upon further inspection, yup! it was snowing!! My first snow experience of winter, I was stoked! And a little nervous because I wasn’t sure I packed enough warm clothes, being cold was my biggest concern of the trip. I’ve been in Southern California for almost 6 years and have become very acclimated to the warm sunny weather. Also, I’ve never really liked being cold.

We both weren’t too sure of how we would manage in the snow as it wasn’t in the forecast and well, we didn’t really prepare for snow, so we went down to the lodge to have some breakfast and feel the rest of the morning out. A small glass of liquid courage at breakfast (more like brunch) and then maybe a few drinks and some wine later we felt ready for the hike! We layered up and set out on our first adventure. Because we were staying in the park everything was walking distance or a short drive which made exploring super easy.

We started our weekend with the Cedar Falls trail, overall, I would say it was an easy trail. You start by descending down the mountain then started evening out the further we went. The trail followed along a beautiful creek with so many picture ops. The snow was so beautiful and was still coming down pretty hard. By the time we started the hike there was already a few inches of snow on the ground and it was sticking to everything. We only saw one group of 4 the entire time, it was a nice change of pace from the National Parks we’ve visited before which are crowded with people (rightfully so they are amazing places to visit).

There was this cute little bridge covered in snow, it was so beautiful. The dark colors of the wet trees and ground and the water made the snow pop with such a strong contrast, it made everything so magical. We took our time exploring the trail with plenty of picture ops and admiring how different the environment was in Arkansas compared to what we were used to. When we made it to Cedar Falls we had the entire place to ourselves. It was such a cool experience, snow still falling pretty heavily, this huge waterfall in front of us surrounded by huge cliffs, an easy hike that is so worth it!

Day two we woke up to blue skies and even more snow. We ate some of the snacks we had brought for breakfast, neither of us was too hunger after a very tasty and filling dinner at the lodge. Our hike for this day was the Seven Hollows Trail, this one was a bit longer than the previous by a few miles but was said to have some cool gems along the way. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but the best way I can describe it is, colonial. Think early settler days, it was as if I could see the tents and campfires, along the ravine I kept thinking, “ooo that would be a great place to setup camp for the night and have a fire.” There were big boulders, but their edges were more jagged than smooth, and they had swirls and folds throughout them, I remember pointing out one looked like it had a newspaper rolled up and stuck in it. One tree trunk was also growing into/around a big boulder, we were both so stunned that trees even grew like that!

First landmark of the trail was the Natural Bridge, it was so cool to walk through it and explore around it and up close. I was impressed with how the trees were growing around it or in places I wouldn’t expect a tree to be. I bet it’s such a magical place in the fall with all the changing colors of the leaves. We passed this group of women who were so kind to get us a seester photo under the arch of the bridge and we helped them out with a group photo as well. Everyone we passed or talked to was so nice and welcoming, we didn’t come across anyone with too thick of an accent, but you could hear a little Southern twang in some of the words they would say.

The trail changed a few times in ways we weren’t expecting. Because of the sun the snow was melting, and the trail felt almost like we were walking through the creek instead of next to it. Eventually we ended up above the ravine we had been hiking through, which doesn’t sound crazy, but it was an experience to be somewhere that seemed and felt so flat then all the sudden you felt like you were up high and above everything. We passed by cute little puddles that had form in the rocks from the melting snow, passed through some forests, back to rocks and some cliffs, back through the forest, then, we made it to the Grotto.

The Grotto was only an extra .25 miles off the main trail and so worth it, we passed the same group of ladies we had seen earlier, and their smiles and kind words had us so excited to reach the Grotto. Again, we found ourselves alone and the whole Grotto to ourselves. I took the opportunity to have some snacks and refuel a bit for the rest of the hike, then walk around and take some pictures and videos. It was the perfect little lunch spot and there was plenty of sunshine to stay warm while our bodies cooled down. During this time my sister somehow jumped onto a small island, more like large rock or boulder to capture some pictures of the waterfall, what she hadn’t planned for was how she was going to back onto the bank. We brainstormed and planned out how she would make it back from the boulder and as she was about to make the jump her foot slipped and she ended up stepping right in the water, almost up to her knee. I felt so bad because I know that water was freezing and did not feel good in her shoe, but she handled it like a freaking champ! We got a good laugh out of it too.

The last few miles were beautiful, but we both were getting pretty tired and were kind of over the hike. We did our best to shift our perspective and keep our mindsets positive, but we were so happy to get back to the car and head back to the cabin. We wanted to catch the sunset now the sky was clear, and it wasn’t snowing so we stopped by the Lodge for a quick dinner and finished just in time to catch some great shots. The rest of the night we laid low and prepped for our last day and return home. I gave it my full attempt to start a fire in our fireplace, and I did a great job getting it going, but every time I would shut the doors (as the instructions in the cabin said to keep them closed) the fire would go out! I would hurry back to try and save it but once we ran out of fire starters, I called it a loss and gave up, it wasn’t the trip for a fire, and I accepted that.

Our last day, the weather was clear blue skies and sunny, still very cold and still a good amount of snow on the ground. We stopped by a look out and grave site of Petit Jean, who the mountain was named after. She was the fiancé of an explorer who wanted to come to the new world with her Fiance but back then woman weren’t allowed on ships or voyages, so she cut her hair, disguised herself as a boy and snuck onto the ship. She worked hard and became a popular friend to all the shipmates, and they named her Petit Jean (Little John). Eventually she caught a fever and knowing her days were limited she came clean to her fiancé and asked one last request to be buried up on the mountain looking out over the land.

It was a beautiful resting place with views that seemed to go on forever and we were so happy we made the last-minute stop and got to learn a little bit of history. Overall, Arkansas gave us some beautiful surprises and reminded us that though it’s not the Pacific Northwest it holds it’s own beauty and wonder and we were so happy to have gotten to explore the small parts we did.