Lingering fall color photo walk slated

Hobbs State Park enjoys a working partnership with the Photographic Society of Northwest Arkansas. Coming soon will be a Fall Photography "Photo Walk" led by Cleeo Wright, nature photographer and other members of PSNWA at 7 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.

The theme of this event is "Lingering Fall Colors," focusing on the final changing colors of the foliage at Hobbs State Park. Bring whatever camera gear you are comfortable with, be it a full-frame DSLR or a smartphone. If you are familiar with the manual settings of your camera, and like fall color/nature photography -- this photo walk is for you.

All participants will meet at the parking lot of the historic Van Winkle and Sinking Stream Trailheads, to begin the photo walk promptly at 7 a.m. concluding as the morning light begins to shift.

The photo walk will take place rain or shine. Overcast and wet mornings create some of the best photographic fall color opportunities.

The trails are described as "easy" in difficulty, yet it is suggested to bring sturdy shoes suitable for hiking. Sinking Stream Trail has one small elevation. The Historic Van Winkle Trail is wheelchair accessible. Each trail is 0.5 miles in length.

Traveling east out of Rogers on Arkansas Highway 12, about 10 miles from downtown, is a paved parking lot on your right with restrooms. This is the site of both the Historic Van Winkle and Sinking Stream trailheads.

For seasoned photographers, as well as beginners, this will be a lovely photo walk of lingering fall color photography.

Where: Parking lot on Ark. Hwy. 12 at the beginning of the Historic Van Winkle and Sinking Stream Trailheads.

GPS: N36 17.810' - W093 57.494' (1 ½ miles west of the Hobbs State Park visitor center)

When: 7 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018

Cost: Free, All levels of ability welcomed.

To learn more about the Photographic Society of NW Arkansas, go to the website: http://www.psnwa.org

"I See Dead People" at Hobbs State Park

Do dead people just pop up here and there? Abby Burnett said she sees them often.

Abby Burnett is an independent researcher who studies all aspects of burial in the Arkansas Ozarks. Her book, "Gone to the Grave; Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850 -1950," was featured on AETN's cemetery documentary, "Silent Storytellers." She lives in a log cabin in the Boston Mountains, when she's not out photographing tombstones in rural cemeteries.

Tombstone portraits, popular in this country since the 1700s, depict how the deceased looked in life, or occasionally, after death. Abby tells us, "Though somewhat scarce in Arkansas, it is possible to find photos, cameos and statues adorning tombstones, and to learn about the lives these images represent. Whatever form they take, these portraits have stories to tell -- some of them quite gothic."

Burnett's upcoming program at Hobbs State Park, "I See Dead People", will give the stories behind a few of the most unusual portraits found in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky. Come live a day in the life of Abby Burnett, but don't be scared.

Where: Hobbs State Park visitor center on Ark. Hwy. 12 just east of the State Hwy. 12/War Eagle Road intersection

When: 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct.14, 2018

Cost: Free -- The public is invited