This past weekend, I headed back to the Ouachita Trail here in Arkansas. I picked up my west to east trek where I left the trail, in December (2023). As I have noted in my OT Thru Hike posts [you can read Part 1 of my OT adventure here and Part 2 of my journey here], I definitely intend to complete the full east to west 223 mile trail. Looking ahead at the weather forecast, leading up to that weekend, I knew there would be some rain, but in those two sections, there is really only one true river crossing that could get sketchy in a downpour, and it comes near the start of the trip, before I would get serious rain. There were no expected storms with lightning. Temperatures and wind were manageable with the gear I have, so I decided to go for it. Little did I know I would never be heard from again!
Not really. I survived just fine.
The Plan
I made plans to do sections 6 and 7 together over a slightly longer weekend trip. It's 38.7 miles long (for both sections combined) and the trail runs from Hwy 27, just north of Story, Arkansas, out to Hwy 7, north of Jessieville.
There are a couple interesting points about this section that needed to be considered when planning mileage. First, there are more shelters in these sections than designated campsites. The other interesting thing is the spacing between the shelters. Between the Hwy 27 and Hwy 298 trailheads (Section 6) there are three shelters: John Archer, Bill Potter, and Big Branch. The FarOut app shows only two designated campsites for the same stretch of trail.
Archer shelter is located just under a mile, heading east from Hwy 27. Potter shelter is less than 6 miles in, so not even 5 miles apart from Archer. And Big Branch shelter is 12.3 miles in from Hwy 27. Given that the shelter spacing on the rest of the trail is ten or more miles apart, this just seems odd. It makes me wonder if they were planning to build shelters that close all along the whole trail. It is nice to have that option. Perhaps one day, if the OT becomes a super popular trail like the AT, they will need that many shelters along the way.
There are a couple interesting points about this section that needed to be considered when planning mileage. First, there are more shelters in these sections than designated campsites. The other interesting thing is the spacing between the shelters. Between the Hwy 27 and Hwy 298 trailheads (Section 6) there are three shelters: John Archer, Bill Potter, and Big Branch. The FarOut app shows only two designated campsites for the same stretch of trail.
Archer shelter is located just under a mile, heading east from Hwy 27. Potter shelter is less than 6 miles in, so not even 5 miles apart from Archer. And Big Branch shelter is 12.3 miles in from Hwy 27. Given that the shelter spacing on the rest of the trail is ten or more miles apart, this just seems odd. It makes me wonder if they were planning to build shelters that close all along the whole trail. It is nice to have that option. Perhaps one day, if the OT becomes a super popular trail like the AT, they will need that many shelters along the way.
Initially, I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to start on my first day until the afternoon. I had planned Hwy 27 to Potter, 5.8 miles for Friday, Potter to Blue Mountain Saturday, 15.7 miles, then 17.2 miles on Sunday. That would have been a long and painful Sunday with little time to recover before work on Monday.
Fortunately, a friend of mine was kind enough to help me with logistics, and I got an early start (thank you Joe!). Starting before 10 am, meant I could hike further on the first day. I did adjust and instead of stopping at Potter shelter, I hiked all the way to Big Branch, 12.3 miles in. Day two would become my long day, 16.7 mile, though still shorter than the long day on the initial plan, and Sunday would then be my half day. This plan was much better.
Having shelters so close together definitely makes it easier to adjust your plans. I think swapping out my tent kit for a hammock kit will also help me to better balance distances from one day to the next (on trails like the OT) because I can camp essentially anywhere I can find two adequately spaced trees. We will soon find out!
Day 1: 2 Feb 2024
The trail was nice. None of the hills were too terribly steep. It was well marked and maintained. I will say, some sections probably get overgrown in the summer months, but this time of year was great. For the westernmost trail sections, I was carrying water capacity of 4.75 liters. I had 2 one-liter bottles, a 750 ml bottle, plus a two-liter collection bladder. I carried less water capacity for this section because I knew there were several places to get water, that the shelters I was planning to stay at had water sources nearby, and Saturday and Sunday were going to be wet, so all of the mountain drainage places would be flowing. I had a one-liter bottle and a 750 ml bottle, plus my CNOC collection bag. There was no need for me to carry full capacity at any point during the whole weekend.
Friday was also the only day I would get very good views. This one was my favorite. It's a very short spur trail off to the right (hiking east) and it's marked "Lake View Overlook" (mile 125.8), located just before Potter Shelter. Just over the ridge of the mountain, there is a flat clearing. The Tim Ernst guidebook says it used to be a helicopter landing spot for the Forest Service.
The high temperature that day was in the mid-60s F. I was hiking in a t-shirt for most of the day. I arrived at the largest river crossing, Irons Fork creek, around noon. Irons Fork is just over seven miles from Hwy 27. I still had not consumed all the water I had packed, but the timing was right to take a break, eat some lunch, and filter a bit of water. Irons Fork is a pretty creek crossing. There is a concrete walkway, all the way across the creek, so unless the river is completely flooding, you can easily cross with dry feet.
I also took a few minutes while I was stopped to put a bandage on my left big toe, which had been getting a hot spot on it. I put a band-aid on it, then wrapped it in Leukotape. I don't know for certain, but I feel confident that if I had not protected that toe, I would have gotten a blister on it.
When I started that day, I had been thinking I might take my lunch break at Potter shelter, but there is a longer spur trail to get to the shelter than I cared to hike just to eat lunch. Irons Fork was a great place to rest.
I arrived at the spur trail for Big Branch shelter, much earlier than I would have preferred normally. It was a little after 2 pm. I stopped by the sign pointing to the shelter spur to consider my options. I wouldn't normally stop hiking at 2 in the afternoon, but the next option along the trail appeared to be Blue Mountain shelter. There were no tent sites showing on the FarOut app and Blue Mountain would be almost ten more miles with another descent and then an uphill climb to the shelter. At best, that meant my arrival would be 6 or 7 pm, the last bit would be night hiking. Weather was another consideration. I knew the forecast called for rain to begin overnight. If I found a semi decent tent site along the way, it might not be great as a tent site when there was rain. And at Big Branch, I was going to have access to water. That was the clincher.
The spur trail from the OT down to Big Branch shelter was the longest spur trail I have ever seen. I don't know for sure if it's the absolute longest spur for a shelter along the whole trail, but it has to be among the top 3 or 4. And it's all downhill (until you have to climb back out the next day). I remember walking down and thinking, "Okay, surely I'll see the shelter as I come around this next curve." Nope. The next one? Nope. It must be 3/4 of a mile at least.
In any case, the hike down into the valley was pretty. There was a ravine that drains the mountain down into Big Branch creek there in that valley. You cross the ravine drainage near the bottom, and that is where you find the shelter.
The ground around the shelter was a bit mushy, even before the rain. There were some puddles I had to navigate around when I went down to the creek to get water. There was also a place that had been used as a campsite on the creek bank.
I had a novel downloaded onto my phone with which I was nearing the end. That kept me occupied after I finished filtering water, setting up camp, cooking and eating my dinner, hygiene routine, then hanging my bear bag for the night. Speaking of my bear hang, Santa (or the Birthday Horse?) brought me a new bear hang kit. This was the first time I was able to use it on trail, and in the coming days or weeks, I will be sharing information about that bear hang kit, plus other new gear and some updated reviews of gear that I have been using for a while.
Someone on a facebook group had mentioned Big Branch shelter as being creepy because she heard weird music during the night that seemed to be getting closer. I had no such experience. There was a brief moment as I was drifting off to sleep when I thought I heard a drum, but when I pulled out my earplug to listen, I realized, the sound had been my own heartbeat in my ear. Haha. Aside from that, I didn't find anything "creepy" about Big Branch shelter.
One last item I want to mention about that night. This was the first night I spent sleeping on a new sleeping pad. It is a Nemo Tensor All Season. It weighs slightly less than the Tensor Insulated, but it has a higher R value (so it provides better insulation - keeps you warmer). It is also thicker than the Tensor Insulated pad I have used previously. I will say more about this pad in a coming gear post, but I slept well.
Data
Mileage for day 1 was close to 13 if you include the spur. I would like to include the shelter spur.
Day 2: 3 Feb 2024
The rain started sometime in the early morning, but it wasn't a hard rain, and it let up before I woke. I started moving just before 5 am. I'm an early riser, and if I can get started early, I think it may relieve some of the worry that I will be caught somewhere on the trail in a bad situation without having reached my intended camp for the night.
I opted for a chicken jambalaya freeze-dried meal for breakfast that day. Freeze-dried eggs just didn't sound like the one for me on that particular morning. It was a little foggy that morning and it was still quite dark by the time I was ready to hit the trail. I donned my headlamp and started my climb out of the valley, back to the trail.
As I came up the last bit of the hill, I saw something reflecting my headlamp light, brightly through the forest. I could tell it was a manmade sign of one kind or another, but I wasn't sure what it was. The spur trail leading back to the main trail turned to the right before I reached the reflective sign. The junction between the spur and the trail was just a few yards after that. It turns out the shiny reflective sign was the mile marker, just on the far side of the shelter spur; Mile 134.
Oh, I should mention that in the morning, I didn't filter water at the shelter before I left. I figured I was adequately hydrated from the night before and the morning. I still had 750 ml when I began, and I knew that whatever water I was carrying, I was going to have to haul it up that big hill. That worked out well for me. I stopped for water at a nicely flowing mountain stream at mile 138, just before the road walk section to get across the North Fork Ouachita River on Hwy 298.
Hwy 298 is probably one of the longer road walking sections, but you would not want to have to cross that wide river, especially when the water is high. On the east side, where the forest trail picks back up, you go up hill for a bit, but down to your left, there are some beautiful views of the river down below. It reminds me of some of the Eagle Rock Loop trail, heading from the Winding Stair trailhead on the way to Winding Stair.
If you are using the FarOut app to help navigate and plan, you want to pay attention to the types of water sources it shows on the trail in this section because there are a few forest ponds. If you know why that matters, you can skip to the next paragraph here. For those who may not know (and who care), read on. Pond water can be filtered and made safe to drink by filter, just like river or creek water, but for many hikers who use squeeze filters, like the Sawyer Squeeze or the or the Katedyne BeFree, when water is cloudy or has suspended matter in it, the filter gets clogged up and needs to be backflushed or it becomes very slow or may not even work. Some ponds are worse than others. Ponds also may have high tannin content, due to decaying leaves and pine needles. A flowing source is nearly always preferable to me. Ponds are a last resort water source.
I got to the Blue Mountain shelter spur a little after 11 am, mile 143.2. I stopped there for lunch. It's a nice shelter and it is easily visible from the trail. The spur is short!
There are a couple of other things I need to mention. I believe by this time, the rain had begun to fall steadily enough that I put on my rain poncho. This was the first time for me to do any serious hiking in the rain. I anticipated the rain, and when I packed, I had the choice of a FroggToggs rain suit or a rain poncho I purchased on Amazon last year. The poncho was inexpensive. FroggToggs rain gear is also famously inexpensive. The advantage of the rainsuit is that if you really get cold, you can put it on and craw into your quilt and sleeping pad for an extra layer of protection. I didn't expect frigid temps on this particular weekend and the poncho is a little lighter weight than the suit. I had hoped it would also be easier to put on and take off (over my pack, even). I was able to put it on over my pack, but it was more difficult than I had hoped. I struggled with it as I walked on the trail, trying to reach behind my shoulders to toss the bunched-up backside of the poncho up and over my pack behind me.
The other advantage of the poncho is breathability. The poncho allows for more air to ventilate, which helps to keep you from sweating as much, which would get you just as wet as the rain. I suppose that part is probably true, but I still got hot in the poncho. I probably could have slowed my pace, but it's hard to force myself to do that. As soon as I felt like the rain wasn't going to get me soaking wet, I took the poncho off.
The other advantage of the poncho is breathability. The poncho allows for more air to ventilate, which helps to keep you from sweating as much, which would get you just as wet as the rain. I suppose that part is probably true, but I still got hot in the poncho. I probably could have slowed my pace, but it's hard to force myself to do that. As soon as I felt like the rain wasn't going to get me soaking wet, I took the poncho off.
I was glad to have it off while I stopped for lunch at Blue Mountain shelter. In addition to the spur trail back to the OT at Blue Mountain Shelter, there is a second spur trail that leads to a spring. The spring sometimes has flowing water and sometimes not. If it had not been rainy, I would have gone to have a look. Honestly, I wish I had looked even with the rain, because I had plenty of time and got to my camp for the night at Big Bear shelter early in the afternoon (again). I need to work on relaxing and exploring while I'm on trail. I am bit too laser focused on getting to the goal for the day and I miss out on some of the other interesting and beautiful side stops.
From Blue Mountain shelter, it is mostly downhill to Big Bear shelter, though there is one uphill push before you really begin to make the descent into the valley where Big Bear shelter is located. A good portion of the trail in this section consists of former mountain roads. The trail is wide, but still very rugged considering that vehicles have passed through it. It's a very pretty area with lichen covered rocks and drainage creeks. There is a creek with a footbridge at Mile 150. About a half mile later, there is another footbridge, and as you descend the hill toward it, you will likely notice Big Bear shelter below you on the left.
I have to say, Big Bear shelter is probably my favorite shelter on the whole trail. It is scenic, protected from wind, there is easy access to water, and it's right off the trail. The creek below the shelter (it's maybe 40 feet away) is spring fed, so I have never heard people say it was dry. There are also some cascades just up the creek from the shelter and some deeper pools of water, where you could take a dip on warmer days. This was my second visit to Big Bear shelter. The first time, I came from Hwy 7 (heading west on the trail) and I doubled back the next day, the same way I had gotten to the shelter. That trip was a shakedown hike testing out a few different gear items. Here is a link to the article I wrote about that trip if you are interested. That first trip was a warm weekend in April and the shelter was packed that night with 4 or 5 other guys. I was not there for the shelter anyway because I was testing out my new tent.
I think I rolled in just before 3 pm that day. I wasn't sure if I would have company at the shelter. I spread myself out a bit, trying to lay out wet clothing to dry, but I tried to do it in a way that I could easily move my things out of the way if other people did arrive. I was surprised to discover that I had cell service at the shelter. This meant more options for entertainment. It rained steadily that afternoon and evening. No one showed up that night, so I had that beautiful place all to myself. I fell asleep sometime before 6 pm that night. I was tired.
Data
This was the longest day of the weekend; 16.7 miles on the trail. Blue Mountain is a challenging climb.
I was wearing my poncho for much of this day. I was wondering if the GPS signal on my Garmin would send and receive through my poncho. The poncho is opaque and bright orange. Seems to have worked okay.
Day 3: 4 Feb 2024
On Sunday, I woke up just before 5 am. I was sore and tired from the previous day, but I was eager to get going. A shower, good food, and Mrs. Gavagai were waiting for me. There was thick fog that morning and I was starting before the sun was up (again, haha). I had hiked this trail section in April of last year going both directions, so I felt like I could move along at a decent clip. But not being able to see more than 15-20 feet ahead slows you down. Like the descent into that valley, the climb out of it in the other direction consists of a former mountain road trace. It's wide. The grade is not too steep, but it does go up and up and up for quite a while. When visibility is better, I think there are some nice views, but that morning, it was either darkness or a white sheet, when my headlamp shined into the darkness.
I feel like it's been a while since the trail blazes in this section have been refreshed. They were often faint on the trees and spaced far apart. In the daylight, I'm sure it would be much easier, but in the fog and dark, I found myself questioning if I was still on the trail. At one point, on the climb out of the valley, the trail took a left turn and started up a steep rocky drainage. I took about two steps up and was worried I might slip on the rocks. I stopped and reconsidered whether this was actually the trail. It was not. Taking a couple of steps backward, I looked to the right. The trail continued in that direction. What I perceived as the path turning was just washed out leaf litter from the drainage coming down the side of the hill above. It carved a path. Hanging clothing overnight in a cold damp valley doesn't dry them, so they were wet when I put them on that morning, but now they were sloppy soggy.
After a while, the trail levels out and there are a few miles of nice, mostly level trail. There is an uphill push to an overlook called "Scooter Point". Even though the sun was up by the time I reached that spot, there was nothing to see but fog this morning. After that, you descend to a forest road crossing, then back up to Moonshine shelter. After Moonshine, you ride the top of the ridge for a while. There is an intersection with the Hunt's Loop trail and Hunt's Loop and the OT overlap until you finally drop down to the trailhead at Hwy 7. Those last miles always seem longer than the others. Maybe it's just me.
Data
I was moving at a pretty good pace that day. I think I left Big Bear shelter around 6:30 am and I got to my car at Hwy 7 around 10:40. Ten miles in just over four hours. Not bad.
This was a successful trip. I completed 38.7 miles on the trail in total. I have 62.6 miles remaining to complete the Ouachita Trail, from Hwy 7 to Pinnacle Mountain. There is only a small portion of those final sections that I have never hiked before, from Lake Sylvia to Hwy 9. More than ten years ago, I hiked from Hwy 9 to Pinnacle, and last year I hiked from Hwy 7 to Lake Sylvia. I didn't see a single other person on the trail or at camp all weekend long. I was surprised, but didn't mind a bit.
Here is my tentative plan for the remaining sections, though the dates are TBD.
From Hwy 7 to Nancy Mountain shelter is a challenging section. Crystal Prong is a creek that is almost always a wet crossing. When water is high, it can be past your knees, the water moves fast, and the riverbed consists of sloped slick slate rock. When I hiked that section last year, I crossed it and I was honestly scared. If it was any higher than it was, I think I would have had to turn back. Hopefully, I can time my trip when it's low and calm.
Here is a link to a clip from another hiker crossing Crystal Prong when conditions were similar to the way it was when I crossed it last year. I didn't film myself. You have to go back and forth three times if you're going to film yourself crossing. Hard pass from me, but you can see this guy risk his safety if you are curious to see what it looks like. Haha.
**Update**
The final leg of my OT journey has been published. You can continue reading here.
Thanks, as always, for stopping by.
Gavagai
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