Haha, yeah, September is prime time to get chigger bit. It's tough too because September can be just sweet out and the forests are just beautiful, but the chiggers own the forest then and they make you pay dearly for coming into it

I'm on the upper end of Bull Shoals (near Branson, MO) but I go visit Beaver Lake often. My wife and I visit Eureka Springs a couple times a year and we did some exploring around Beaver Lake again this Summer, but I've never hiked much around there yet.

I'm going to try and get a couple nights in the forest somewhere here this week. The weather here is pretty sweet right now, right in my temp range with highs in the low to mid 50ºs and lows in the low to mid 30ºs.

Last year here, in December, it was just nasty cold nearly all month long. This year it has been much better (so far), but I've not got out for anything more than a few day hikes so far. If nothing pops up today I should be able to head out for at least one or two nights. I'm keeping my fingers crossed