Wednesday evening was springlike. In the 70’s and a very light feel on the skin. I headed to the Arkansas River for my weekly evening run and it was crowded so I had to park in the satellite lot. Walking south I noticed a lot of people hanging out on the trail and I heard music and a rather good natured, nice party vibe going on. I got closer and I noticed some rocks in the water which were new. I’ve been running this stretch of river for 25 years so I know when I see something new. You can just barely see them in the photo above to the right. So I went to check them out.
Somebody had put in some balanced rock art in the river and the shore. I had never seen anything like this and I was enthralled.They were both in the river and the shore.
I thought it was cool. There were also people nearby sitting around campfires and just having a good time. I had never seen that either. I’ve seen homeless people with campfires but never just regular people. I’m sure they were violating some rule or another but they were not bothering anybody.
So reading up on balanced rocks, I guess they are kind of controversial because some places they do way too many of them. Plus they are not welcome in National Parks where you are not supposed to gather anything natural like rocks, sticks, wood or anything else.
But on the banks of the Arkansas River last week they were a welcome addition to the scene.