It was almost 6 years to the day (04/29/01) when Haley Zega and her grandparents and friends visited the Hawsbill Crag area and in a matter of minutes the outing would turn out to be a search for a little six year girl which would span for three days and two nights and would be one of the largest search and rescue missions in Arkansas history. You can read about the amazing story in Tim Ernst's book "The Search for Haley". We decided we would retrace Haley's footstep into the Buffalo River Wilderness and found an amazing story of our own ...... HOW DID SHE DO IT?
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Arriving at the Faddis Cabin on Cave Mt. where Haley began her hike. |
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From the Crag, the view of the wilderness is overwhelming |
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Heading down to the Crag |
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Where had Haley go from here? |
The rock where Haley was last seen |
We began the retracing of Haley's Hike |
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Hiking below Cloudland |
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and the Buffalo River way down there |
After hiking around the bench we head down into Dug Hollow |
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We had to cross back and forth in Dug Hollow, again how did she do it? |
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The terrain was a killer, how did a six year old little girl do it? |
This could have been the place Haley spent the first night! |
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There was a lot of water |
...and a lot of pools like this |
We cross near McNamara Falls |
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As you can see, Dug Hollow was not very friendly |
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This was the way we got across several crossing |
It was difficult deciding how to get through all this. How did Haley decide? |
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Again, crossing several times just to make our way down Dug Hollow, it wasn't easy at all. |
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Our friend Bob Williams from Joplin joined us on this adventure |
But after about 2 hours we arrive at the Buffalo River. This is where Haley crossed to the other side. |
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We were tired, hungry and thirsty. We felt guilty at this point. Haley had neither food nor water. |
We took time to reflect on how little Haley had any strength at all by the time she reached the Buffalo. We had to replenish our strength just to go any further. |
There probably was not this much water in the river for Haley but crossing is always a little dangerous. |
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We headed on down the river to try and find the rescue spot, this was not easy either. |
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We found where Lytle James and William Jeff Villines found Haley. The search had finally ended. |
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This is what the river looked like as we arrived at the "spot" |
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Wm Jeff with Haley-her first drink in three days |
W. Jeff, Haley, Copper & Big Mamma at the rescue site |
Haley heading home |
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Lytle and Wm. Jeff tell their story on Dateline |
Pointing to the spot where they found Haley |
Map of Haley's Hike |
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We had accomplished our mission. |
...but tired and weary |
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So, now to get out of here |
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We were reminded of the beauty that the wilderness has, even when at times the wilderness can be very frightening and "ugly". |
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Our steps were slow up the mountain |
We needed all the help we could get |
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Arriving at Cloudland, safe and sound |
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We will remember this day, for a long time, and what a little six year old girl did six years ago. Surviving the wilderness for three days and two nights. We now appreciate Haley even more and those that gave sacrificially those three days. No one was willing to give up and it proved to be a wise decision. Haley was out there waiting for someone to find her and take her to her mommy and daddy. What a glorious day that was. Thanks to all. |
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Tim Ernst asking how our adventure went. Little did he know, we would not soon do this again. The hike proved to be almost more than we could do, so how did Haley do it? |
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Steve Zega saying thanks |
Little Haley |
Haley and her mom-reflecting on the good things. |
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