Boggy Creek Aerial Reconnaissance, Photos of Boggy Creek, Mercer Bayou & Sulphur River Options

[foukeflyer]

I grew up in rural Northeast Texas about 60 miles – as a crow flies – from Fouke, Arkansas. I was ten when my parents dropped me off at my town’s theater to see The Legend of Boggy Creek. It scared me more than I thought it would, and I didn’t realize the movie’s impact until one evening I had to walk through the big woods of my father’s farm – at dusk – by myself. I kept thinking what I would do if I saw the creature. Part of me wanted to see it – another was afraid to see it.

Fast forward. Last month, my buddy and I decided to go camping at my father’s large tree farm. The subject of the Fouke Monster came up and we thought about driving to Fouke to see Boggy Creek for ourselves and perhaps drop by Smokey’s place to buy his book. We finally decided we didn’t have enough time to make a meaningful visit, but we came up with another idea.

I’m a private pilot, so we planned an aerial reconnaissance of Boggy Creek and the Sulphur River Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Our mission was to see if the area could still provide a secluded habitat for the Fouke Monster and family.

I had read that the WMA was over 16,000 acres, but I expected it to be riddled with roads and for the river not to have a lot of seclusion. I was dead wrong. From the air, few trails were visible. The bottomland was approximately 25 miles long and 6-8 miles wide – a perfect place for hard-to-find animals to live undetected. I also discovered that Boggy Creek actually runs into the Sulphur River. Yet, the most interesting portion of the WMA was Mercer Bayou, an old river channel that parallels the Sulphur River. It was here that looked to be the most hospitable place for the legend of Boggy Creek to live.

I’m attaching some of the more interesting photos. They were taken October 22nd. Of course, we knew the photos probably wouldn’t capture an image of the Fouke Monster, but that didn’t keep us from reviewing the photos carefully. I thought the members of this group might find them enjoyable – especially if they live in the Fouke area.

One last note. My buddy & I are planning a trip back to the area this February (after hunting season). We do not have a canoe, but would like to rent one from a local if possible. If anyone knows someone that could rent us one, please let me know. We would like to search Mercer Bayou for clues, using our aerial photos as a guide to some of the places that peaked our interest.

Sasquatchingly Yours,
Ken

A very large wilderness.


My favorite photo.


A beautiful picture.


I would appreciate it if someone could tell me what kind of yellow flowers grow along the river.


Boggy Creek bridge






This post has been edited by foukeflyer: Nov 8 2006, 09:27 PM