Lake Fayetteville Trail damage from ice storm

The rains kept us indoors for 2 days, and the cold blast that hit the South prevented us from biking, but yesterday we put on our winter jackets (from when we left Chicago in early January) and ventured out to my favorite area here, the Lake Fayetteville Trail. We drove to Veteran's Park to begin our hike, but it was closed due to storm damage. So we drove to the Botanic Garden to start there, but signs declared the trail closed due to danger from falling limbs. So we drove to the marina lot and hiked the paved trail which had been cleared. The carnage from the ice storm of late January was rampant. Tops of nearly all trees are gone as well as many branches, and piles of tree debris lined the paved path, awaiting removal.



The State of Arkansas' oldest and largest Black Oak Tree survived but sustained damage as seen here...


Here is the same tree on January 12, 2009 when we hiked here...



... but signs of incipient Spring blossom, even around the carnage the storm inflicted on them...



When we reached the end of the paved segment, we noticed the dirt trail (my favorite and the longest segment of the trail) had been cleared, so we continued hiking the 6 mile loop. As it turned out, the entire trail had been cleared by workers and volunteers, though evidence of the destruction surrounded us as we hiked...



Dozens of whole trees were felled by the storm when their shallow root systems couldn't support the added weight. Seven such downed trees lined the trail here, with root balls sporting bright yellow dirt...

Despite the carnage, we were pleased more damage hadn't been incurred, and in a month when green replaces the brown, the forest will again beam with life, and as the years advance, the damaged trees will recover their height and breadth, for Mother Nature miraculously heals what she injures, just as She heals the damage constantly wrought by Man.