Welcome to Running: A FEVER. My name is Michael Davis. My goal is to live a long, healthy, happy, active life right up to the very end. If that’s your goal, you’re in the right place. We’ll get there together.

Well, this is my triumphant return to Hobbs State Park in Arkansas. It’s an Arkansas state park. I’ve just been to the visitor’s center, which has changed quite a bit, I think, since the last time I was there. The only thing I remember about the last time is that I made a YouTube video during my last visit. It was probably six or seven years ago. I don’t know the episode number, but I’m guessing it’s in the 100 to 150 range. So check that out if you like. The last time I was here, the only thing I remember about the visitor’s center is them having skins of dead animals stretched out and you had to guess, there was a game of guessing which skin belonged to which animal. So that was interesting. But this time, there are quite a lot of big museum-style displays. With various animals and plants, and some implements of things from the past, like the railroad, and native Americans and farming, I guess you’d say. There’s whatever the thing you strap oxen to to pull something.

So it’s very interesting. I also found out that it’s called Hobbs State Park and Conservation Area. And it’s the largest state park in Arkansas. It’s over 12,000 acres. And of course, being so large, it does have highways going through it. You might think you can hear it, but really it’s probably the wind, this Arkansas wind that we have here in Northwest Arkansas, here on the border of Tornado Alley. But it’s a short distance from the visitor center. It looks longer on the map. Just a five-minute drive from the visitor center to this trailhead. This is the Shaddox Hollow trail.

It has white blazes, as you can see. I just produced the episode on Mt. Magazine State Park, and the blazes were not that good. It just occurred to me that I’m going pretty steep downhill, which means it’s going to be uphill on the way back. I probably should have gone the other way, but it really doesn’t matter because either way, you’re going down, then up.

Pretty good visitor’s center. Maybe another time, I’ll do a video of that so you can see a little more. I’m pretty sure I’ll be back here. I did get my passport stamp, which I may be able to show you a picture of right now. I got the Arkansas State Parks passport. There are fifty-two state parks, and you get a stamp at each one, just like in a passport; you get stamps in different countries. There are fifty-two state parks, like I said, and if you go to them all, you become a member of the Fifty-Two Club or something like that. It’s a nice little thing, and each state park has its unique stamp. I got this at Mt. Magazine; it was pre-stamped. And then I’ve gotten my second stamp here, a little over two months later, at Hobbs State Park. So I don’t have to get the stamp again, but I’m sure I will be back here again because there are something like twenty-four miles of trails for hiking and other uses. I’ve been walking for ten minutes, says my watch. We’ll see how many steps I get today, but this trail is only about a mile and a half.

This does look kind of treacherous. This is marked as an easy-to-moderate trail for hikers, but there’s a steep dropoff here. They do have a toilet right here at the trailhead, which I took advantage of. It’s not a running water toilet, it’s maybe composting? The thing is, I didn’t think you could put urine in a composting toilet, so I don’t know. It’s kind of scary because the hole is as big as a regular toilet, so a kid could fall in there and not be able to get out. I didn’t drop anything, I didn’t fall in.

If I misstep here, I might be in trouble because it’s a steep way down. Easy to moderate, that’s what this is supposed to be. I’m already feeling it in my legs, out of shape as I am, just like I was at Mt. Magazine. Although I did three trails there, so not too bad. They were easy to moderate. I’m now on the other side of this little ravine, or gorge. I’m not sure what the difference is. One is probably larger than the other. Or maybe they’re just different names for the same thing. Look it up. Ask Alexa. I wonder what happens if you’re listening to this podcast on your Amazon Echo device and I say the name of the lady whose name starts with “A”, what happens? Does she respond? Interesting. I do have Amazon Echo devices in my house. I don’t really listen to podcasts on them. But I have checked, and the Running: A FEVER podcast is available. And you shouldn’t have to pay for it, since I’m not getting paid anything for it. So I think all you’d have to do is say, “Alexa, play Running: A FEVER podcast.”

And man, this is a tough trail. Maybe not tough in terms of hiking, but in terms of physical exertion, just because of the incline. Maybe this one will be more gradual. I hope so. As I speak, it’s February 2025. And today, the temperature is in the low 60s right now, which is nine or nine-thirty. Well, I’ve got a watch. It’s nine-twenty. It’s supposed to get up to 74 today. And this is what I just found out, this is what they call a “false spring” because it’s spring weather in the middle of winter. And we are literally in the middle of winter. This is February. It’s very comfortable right now. No hats, no hood. No gloves. I’m actually wearing an old pair of jeans today. I normally would be wearing sweat pants, but I figured these old jeans are kind of loose, probably okay to hike in. Got a hole in the back, but it’s pretty small.

I’m stopped here at the top of this rise. I’ll just stop and rest for a minute. So that’s the fashion report, we have the standard 2009 Red Sox Playoffs hoodie on, and it’s getting warm. One layer underneath, and in addition to the old jeans, I’m wearing the old Tom’s hiking boots, which are still serviceable enough. As I look at the tread, they’ve still got some tread on them. They are worn, but I’ve worn them a lot.

And I’ll try to keep going here. I feel it in the muscles in my legs. It’s going to be a good workout by the time I get done. I’ll feel good. I took the day off. It’s a Monday. Slippery rocks. There’s a little, not really a cave, just a crack in the wall, but it’s pretty deep. There are probably some animals in there. I did see a display about the different bats that are native to Arkansas. There’s one called the gray bat. And I believe it’s endangered. Maybe not officially endangered. It only lives in specific types of caves at a specific temperature. So, only about one percent of Arkansas caves are suitable for this particular bat.

There’s dripping on my left. It has rained a little bit in the last few days, but we’ve also had some sun. It’s not really muddy here except in certain areas. Not muddy, but there is mud. I’m not sure if this is the same trail we took last time. It’s a mile and a half trail, easy to moderate. So it makes sense, it’s the first choice. I’m also recovering from a bout with COVID that had me with a lot of sinus congestion and just general weakness. So I was a little concerned about coming out here today, but then I remembered my trip to Mt. Magazine. I didn’t feel like I was in good shape there, but I did fine. I did three different trails in three days. So I said I could probably risk it. I had no idea that there are twenty-four miles of trails here. And some of them are marked easily, although I don’t know if I’d call this one easy. There are not a lot of rocks. There are some roots to step over, some crossing the entire path.

Returning to the fashion report, I do have some new boots that are probably suitable for hiking. I’m still kind of breaking them in. They are Doc Martens. And I’ve got a little bridge here, across a little creek, or branch, or whatever you want to call it, partially dry. They have bright, white blazes on this trail, which is really good. Not that there’s any ambiguity about where you’re going.

This part of the trail is pretty easy. Lots of gravel. Almost paved in a way. Very wide, no treacherous inclines on the side of the trail. Speaking of Tornado Alley, I told you earlier we’re on the border of Tornado Alley here in Arkansas. A couple of years ago there was a pretty bad tornado that came through. It landed within a mile of my house. Apparently, it destroyed some of the trails here. So I asked the guy at the visitor’s center for a trail map. And he gave me one and then he said “Look at that board over there. That tells you the trails that are actually open.” Because all the other ones are closed due to tornado damage. So I am serious when I say we’re in an area prone to tornadoes.

I can see the hills over there. Hills over here with the rocks. While we’re kind of in the middle of things here, I thought I would mention… Did you know that 90% of the people who watch our videos on YouTube and listen to our podcast on YouTube are not subscribers. 90%. And subscribing, let me tell you how it helps us. It helps us by giving the search algorithm, which they call it, that YouTube uses to tell people what they think they might want to watch. There’s a split here, but I see the blaze on the left side, so I’m going on the left. The search algorithm decides what you see in those recommended videos. So this helps us to show up more if we have more subscribers, more views, more time that people watch the videos or listen to the podcast. So that in turn helps us reach more people, and that’s really the goal of this thing. Other than my selfish goal of helping me, it motivated me to be more serious about my health, take care of myself, exercise, and do some healthy diet- all of that good stuff. That’s my selfish reason for this. But I also want to help people and reach people. If anybody is helped by this show, whether it’s the videos or the audio portion, that’s part of the happiness part of the long, healthy, happy, active life that I’m seeking. So if you want to make me happy, click the Subscribe button. That’s all you have to do. One click and you’re there. I’m not asking for anything more than that.

I’m seeing here another split, but fortunately, there’s a blue blaze on the left and a white blaze on the right, so I’m going right. I don’t know if it said that in the guide, but when I started on the trail, at the trailhead, the first blaze I saw was white, so I’m following that. We’re going up. Alright, advertisement over. We are climbing. So glad I got out today. Almost stumbled there, caught myself. I’ll rest for just a second. Big rock. Looks like it’s supported by nothing. Levitating in the air, maybe cantilevered. Looks like it could fall any minute. I see a little crack in there. I know I’ve got at least ten or twelve feet in elevation to go up.

There’s a lot more about Hobbs State Park and the origin of Shaddox Hollow Trail that I’m covering right now. I will put that data in the show notes/blog/description. If it’s not in the description, there will be a link. If you go to http://RunningAFEVER.com, you can see every episode, and there are links to every YouTube video. You can play the audio right there on the site just by clicking a button. So, this is just a little convenience tip for you.

I’m on a steep staircase, and this looks kind of familiar. There are no blazes here. But it doesn’t look like that trail goes anywhere. Staircase? Dead-end trail? Which one are we going on? Maybe it’s not a dead end. I should have brought the trail map with me, I guess, but let me go up the stairs. I think I remember doing this last time. Quicker, not necessarily easier. And no railing to hang on to. I think maybe that trail was the easier, softer way. Maybe not, I don’t know. I couldn’t really see.

We’re still going uphill. So another, gosh, I don’t know, maybe fifty feet to go, vertically. Easy to moderate? Wow. I wonder what the difficult ones are like. Maybe I’ll find out someday. Well, I gotta be near the end, we’re going up. It’s a fake name, just like the fake spring we had today. Fake difficulty level. It’s all right, though. It’s good to stretch your boundaries. I got the sun coming through. Driving here was surprisingly easy from where I live. Took about forty-five, fifty minutes. I thought I was going to have to go through morning rush hour traffic. Because the last time I came from the other direction. I went to Rogers and went out highway twelve and that’s how I got here. The visitor’s center is right on Highway twelve. This trailhead is on Arkansas 303.

I’ll need some serious hydration when I get back. Trudging the road. So this route, I just entered it, didn’t have any maps or anything. Just entered it into the navigation computer Hobbs State Park, and it took me around the back way, which was much easier. Very little traffic. And by the way, when I pulled in and went into the visitor’s center, I was the only one there. I think it was really busy the last time I was here. Might have seen some people on the trail too. Nobody there. Didn’t meet anybody on the trail either. So if you live in Arkansas, take the western route, go out 412. Unless you live in Rogers, in which case you should probably just take twelve out.

Along with the highways going through the park, there are private residences. So people live here, just like they do at Mt. Nebo. And if you’re looking for some hiking for fitness reasons, for happiness reasons, for psychological reasons, I can highly recommend Hobbs State Park in Arkansas. You can go to http://ArkansasStateParks.com and find out a lot about this park and about the other ones. I’ve been to several now. Devil’s Den, Nebo, Hobbs, Mt. Magazine. But I’ve just scratched the surface of what you can learn.

Hopefully, this is the final climb. Keep trudging, you’ll be there before you know it. Just keep moving. That’s the key. I did go to the gym yesterday, by the way. Sometimes I go to church on Saturday, and then I go to the gym on Sunday when nobody’s there. Almost nobody. And we’re almost at the top here, folks. It seems easier, but I’m still going uphill. It’s getting warm. Now you can hear the highway. It’s not quite ten o’clock yet, but it is Monday.

This section of the trail is pretty easy, and it’s fairly long, so I can understand why this is easy-to-moderate difficulty. But I don’t know if moderate is the correct word for the inclines and declines we had earlier. I’m actually glad I went the other way. So I had more energy when I did those ups and downs. This trail was supposedly named after a guy named Shaddox. Shaddox Hollow trail. There was something in the trail guide that answered that. I’ll put that in the blog as well.

FROM THE HOBBS STATE PARK TRAIL MAP: Shaddox Hollow. This trail is recommended for school children and beginning hikers. Named after early pioneer Solomon Shaddox, this trail winds through a typical Ozaark forest with disappearing and sinking streams and limestone bluffs, through a typical Ozark forest. A spur trail leads to the Beaver Lake shoreline.

This looks like a great place to sit down. I see the end of the trail! At long last! The moral of the story is, I need to do more walking, folks. I need to get in better shape. But we did another state park. We did another trail. Mission accomplished. I wonder if these guys in these trucks and the chainsaws I hear are cleaning up from the tornado. It takes years to clear away the wreckage of a tornado. Maybe our last blaze there.

So, thank you for listening and watching; I hope you’ve enjoyed this. Please let me know in the comments. If you’ve ever been here and have an experience you want to share. If you’re planning to go here, maybe this has changed your mind one way or the other. Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear what you have to say. These state park episodes are really popular, so I know many people are watching. So, with that said, remember if you’ve got the fever, keep it. If you don’t go out and catch it. And I’ll talk to you next time on Running: A FEVER.

FROM THE FRIENDS OF HOBBS BROCHURE: Arkansas’s largest state park, spanning a 12,054-acre tract of Ozark landscape along the southern shore of Beaver Lake on Hwy 12, 15 minutes east of downtown Rogers. Its mission is to provide:
OUTDOOR RECREATION:
-54 miles of maintained trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.
-Hunting.
-Shooting Range.
-Hike or bike-in primitive camping sites along Beaver Lake.
NATURE EDUCATION:
-Visitor center with educational exhibits.
-Interpretive programs offered weekly.
-Day camps and school groups.
-Speaker’s series sponsored by Friends of Hobbs.
-Eagle watch interpretive boat tours on Beaver Lake.
-Natural Resource Conservation & Development
FOREST MANAGEMENT:
-Native plant restoration and invasive removal.
-Ozark Chinquapin Restoration Program.
-Wildlife management programs.
LEARN MORE AT WWW.ARKANSASSTATEPARKS.COM