...because these were the last miles of the OT
You don't have to listen to the song.
You don't have to listen to the song.
On February 29th, 2024, I picked up the trail where I left off at Highway 7, just north of Jessieville, Arkansas, to finish the remaining 62.6 miles of the Ouachita Trail (OT).
What Came Before
I won't go into detail here, but I will link to the previous articles that do have the details. I initially intended to hike the OT as a single thru hike from end to end. I started at Talimena State Park in Oklahoma back on November 26th. Over the course of nine days, I hiked 121.7 miles, all the way to Highway 27 in Story, Arkansas (you can read the detailed account here). At that (roughly) halfway point, I decided I needed to take a break and allow my body to recover. My feet and toes were bruised and battered, and I had severe chaffing.
When I returned home, I looked at the remaining sections and decided to break the eastern half into two separate trips. The nice thing about the eastern half is it is closer to where I live, so logistics are a bit easier. Sections six and seven are between Highway 27 and Highway 7; a total of 38.7 miles. I completed that stretch of trail over three days from February 2nd to February 4th, 2024. You can read the detailed account of that trip here.
Plan A and Plan B
One of the challenges of the last stretch of trail is that it leaves the boundaries of the Ouachita National Forest. Instead, it passes through some privately owned land, some wildlife management land, and the state park. Approved locations for camping are severely limited. In my initial draft of the plan split the miles between four days: Day one, 17.6 miles, Day two, 11.5 miles, Day three, 16.5 miles, and 17 miles on Day four. The positive part of this plan is that it involved shorter days. However, the 11.5-mile day was really too short, especially being in the middle. Being alone on the trail, there isn't that much to do at camp, so 11.5 miles is about a half day's trip. At the end of that trip, I set up camp, read until I'm bored, eat dinner, read some more, twiddle my thumbs, and then sleep. If I was traveling with one or more friends, I'm sure 11.5 miles would be fine, but on my own, there isn't enough to do at camp.
The alternative plan was three grueling days. Day one would be 22.1 miles, Day two, 23.5, and Day three, 17. Way back in March of 2023, I did my first ever shakedown hike with some of my new backpacking gear and tried some new skills. As I look back at that article, it's interesting to contemplate how much I have learned and how much more experience I have had with backpacking since that time. I wouldn't say I'm a seasoned backpacker now. There are many people with far more experience than I have. But I was very green back then.
Day 1: Thursday 29 Feb 2024
The Highway 7 trailhead is only about 50 minutes from where we live in Arkansas, so logistics to get there were much easier. I have also hiked from that trailhead in both directions on multiple occasions now as well as the nearby Lake Ouachita State Park area, the Little Blakely Loop trails, and Hunts Loop, which is just south of the OT trailhead on Highway 7. If I had a home stomping grounds on the Ouachita Trail, I would argue this is the section.
Gavagai Junior dropped me at the trailhead on Thursday morning, and I was ready to hit the trail just before 8 am.
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| Selfie with drop off driver |
Heading east on the trail from the Hwy 7 trailhead, there is a creek crossing. Last year, when I came through this section, the creek was much higher. I attempted to rock hop across, but one of the rocks I tried to step on rolled over and my right foot got wet out of the gate. This year, the creek was low and dry crossing was relatively easy.
There were trade-offs, going through this section in drier conditions. Water crossings are made easier, but you don't get the scenic flowing cascades in the mountains. I got the water show on my first time through this section a year ago, so I was okay with the idea that I was missing on some of that this time through in exchange for a drier and easier water crossings.
Sugar Creek
I'm greatly condensing the first few miles. It's generally a pretty hike through the forest. It's mostly a climb. Close to two miles in, you cross a dirt forest road, and shortly after that, you begin to descend into the Sugar Creek valley. Sugar Creek remains one of my favorite locations on the OT, though the waterworks were not flowing this time.
Coming from Hwy 7, this is what it looked like last year. This cascade is on the east side of the creek. This is the drainage you encounter as you climb back up and out of the valley. I got wet on the crossing last year. I stayed dry this year.
On that first trip through the area, I would stop to take a photo and video, walk a bit further, and I would be awed again and film a bit more. It's a steep climb, but you hardly notice because it's so pretty. This time through, there was barely a trickle of water, and some parts of the drainage were bone dry. I hustled through this area quickly on that Thursday morning.
Prescribed Burn Area: Do Not Enter
There is another forest road crossing at the top of that mountain ridge. Where the trail picks up on the opposite side of the road that day, there was a sign and caution tape stretched across the trailhead.
So, I was faced with a choice here. I could smell and see smoke in the distance. I decided to proceed knowing that there was a forest road that ran parallel to the trail. I figured I could bail out and bushwhack up to the road if the fire got too close. Here is a map snippet of the trail in that section.
In the map above, the red line is the OT. You can see Sugar Creek on the left. The "A" is road access. That is where the sign and caution tape was located. The forest road runs along the same mountain ridge. Just past the shelter, there is "P" on the map for "parking". That is another trail access point with a place for vehicles to park, and that is also the end of the section for the prescribed burn. So, the whole area was about 3.4 miles of trail. I didn't want to road walk for that distance. I was also somewhat curious to see what a prescribed burn was like. I envisioned Forestry Service people standing by with a flame thrower type device to light the underbrush and other personnel with some kind of extinguisher. I worried a bit that I might get in trouble for crossing the caution tape, but my curiosity and interest in continuing the hike on the actual trail for as far as I could won out over caution.
As I continued along the trail, the smoke got closer and thicker. I wondered when I would see Forestry personnel. The answer was, not before I saw flames and the smoke got thicker than I was willing to tolerate. There were flames just on the north side of the trail and, and I could feel the heat. Time to bail. Apparently, they light a fire and keep a distant eye on it to make sure it doesn't get out of control. I thought for sure they would be there babysitting it. Nope.
Anyway, I headed uphill toward the road. Bushwhacking through thick forest and underbrush is not fun, but it was necessary. I walked for what I would guess was about a quarter mile, just west of the Oak Mountain Shelter trail spur, at a point where the trail ran very near to the road, and there was also an old trace that runs between the forest road and the trail, making passage across that divide both shorter and much easier. The smoke and active fire now appeared to be behind me, so I decided to get back on trail. There were some still smoldering stumps and logs along the way in this area, but the fire was done. The trail was blocked by a number of tree-falls that evidently happened as a result of the burn. I was able to climb over and/or around them, but it slowed my pace. Exiting that section, I had to walk around caution tape on the other side of that section, but I was glad the fires were behind me now.
Anyway, I headed uphill toward the road. Bushwhacking through thick forest and underbrush is not fun, but it was necessary. I walked for what I would guess was about a quarter mile, just west of the Oak Mountain Shelter trail spur, at a point where the trail ran very near to the road, and there was also an old trace that runs between the forest road and the trail, making passage across that divide both shorter and much easier. The smoke and active fire now appeared to be behind me, so I decided to get back on trail. There were some still smoldering stumps and logs along the way in this area, but the fire was done. The trail was blocked by a number of tree-falls that evidently happened as a result of the burn. I was able to climb over and/or around them, but it slowed my pace. Exiting that section, I had to walk around caution tape on the other side of that section, but I was glad the fires were behind me now.
Flatside Wilderness: Crystal Prong Creek
The next portion of the trail runs through Flatside Wilderness. Flatside Wilderness is part of the Ouachita National Forest. It was designated as a Federal Wilderness Area by Congress in 1984. It is rugged and scenic. I saw a coyote just below me. It was sniffing something on the ground. I yelled "Hey!" because I wasn't 100% sure what it was at first and thought it might be someone's dog. The coyote looked up at me and then bolted back down the hill in the opposite direction. It is also my understanding that bear hunting is allowed in this area. I did not see any bears there, but I would love to see one from a safe distance one day.
At some point in this section, I stopped for lunch. My plan was to stop by a small pond where I had stopped the year before to eat my lunch and refill my water. The pond is a little gross itself, but there is a spring below that evidently drains from the pond water, so it gets filtered through the soil and sand. However, when I got to that pond, the water levels were low, the pond was very gross, and the spring below it was barely trickling at all. I didn't even want to eat near it, so I pressed on for a little while and just found a place with some rocks where I could rest and eat. I still needed water though.
In any case, the trail continues mostly along a ridge through Flatside Wilderness until it descends into the Crystal Prong valley. Crystal Prong is a creek. It flows relatively fast, and it has unique rock formations that can make it a challenging river crossing. Again, the benefit of the dry conditions this year meant my anxiety levels at the crossing were minimal compared to the previous year. The one thing that added mild trepidation to the crossing this time was the fact that it had started sprinkling. I haven't discussed the weather conditions up till this point. In my opinion, the weather was nearly perfect for a trip of this kind. It was pleasantly cool for an activity that requires significant physical exertion. I believe the high temperature that day was just below 50°F. Skies were overcast and there was a slight breeze. My only real complaint was that it was starting to sprinkle. However, the rain never became steady enough that I felt I needed to put on my poncho.
Still, as I approached the Crystal Prong crossing, I knew the ground was becoming wet, which meant the rocks on which I needed to cross would also be wet and therefore, potentially slick. Here is a photo I took of Crystal Prong in 2023 followed by a photo another backpacker took of the same creek on the same weekend I passed through.
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| Crystal Prong March 2023 |
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| Crystal Prong Feb/Mar 2024 |
Walking along the ridges of those rocks is like walking a balance beam in gym class, except you've already hiked up and down mountains for a few hours, you're carrying a pack that weighs more than 20 lbs. and when I crossed, the rocks were wet.
None the less, I made it safely across, and I was very glad the water levels were that low. I'm not 100% sure why I decided to push on past Crystal Prong to look for water elsewhere. I'm guessing because I still wasn't super low on water. Something like a mile after Crystal Prong, there is another small creek drainage area that is also very scenic. It reminds me of Sugar Creek a bit. There was a small cascade that spills into a couple of pools here and I stopped to filter my water here.
Okay, looking at the maps now, I'm thinking this section I described immediately above actually comes just before Crystal Prong. I believe it's called Moccasin Springs (if I'm right about the location now ...and Tim Ernst is to be believed 😉). If that is the case, that would explain why I didn't need to fill my water at Crystal Prong and I also recall now, seeing some droplets hitting the pools of water when I was filling up and realizing for the first time that day, that it was beginning to sprinkle. Once again, this is a particularly beautiful location with rock formations, some small slough waterfalls, and it descends down into a valley below. It eventually flows into Crystal Prong below. I may need to return to this area to camp and explore around in the future. I should have taken some photos.
In any case, after crossing Crystal Prong, it's a steady climb out of the valley and up to Flatside Pinnacle Mountain, which also marks the eastern boundary of the Flatside Wilderness. There is a spur trail that leads to an overlook. I've seen it before. I'm big on overlooks, but this one is worth it. Having said that, on a 22-mile day, when I've already it, it's raining, and I want to get to camp before dark, I passed through without stopping for the view.
Crack[ed rib] Kills
It was probably midafternoon by the time I passed Flatside Pinnacle. The rain was still sprinkling and fall leaves still blanketed the trail, and being wet, they were also slippery. Even so, I decided to pick up my pace a bit in the hope that I would make it to my destination for the day with plenty of time to set up, do camp chores, and relax for a bit before going to sleep for the night. I was planning to spend the night at the trail shelter (the same shelter I stayed at a year before), and I was wondering if I would have company there. Being a Thursday, cool and rainy, I figured not, but I also read that several people had been talking about starting their own OT thru-hikes in February and March in the OT facebook group. You never know who will or will not be at a shelter or campsite.
As I hurried along the trail, there was a branch. I saw the branch and tried to step over it with my right foot, but some combination of tired feet and possibly a shoelace that snagged on the branch and wouldn't let go caused me to lose my balance. Knowing that I was going to take the fall, I instinctively pulled my right arm into my side to brace for the fall. All my weight, plus the weight of my pack, and my momentum came down on that arm which crunched into my rib cage. It knocked the wind out of me, and pain seared in my rib cage. I don't know for sure if I cracked a rib, but if not, it sure felt like it. I would be dealing with this injury for the remainder of the trip and still, four days later, as I type this, it's tender and causing me discomfort. Sometimes hurrying makes you slower.
I think I had about two miles remaining for the day. I got myself up, brushed myself off, and got back to it.
Brown Creek Shelter and Hammock Struggles
Brown Creek Shelter was empty when I arrived, and I would spend the night alone there. My arrival was later than I had hoped, a little past 6pm. The trip had presented a few unexpected challenges, including fire hazards, an unusual number of tree falls blocking the trail, I brought my hammock with me on this trip instead of the tent and ground sleeping setup I have used for every other backpacking and camping trip I have taken in my life. At this point, I had done a few practice hangs, I have spent a night camping in my hammock (in colder temperatures than were forecast for this night). However, I have never hung my hammock inside a shelter. I have seen videos where other people have done it, and I got the gist of how they did it, but I have never seen anyone go through their setup in detail. Even if I had, there are so many kinds of hammock suspensions and variations on knots, cords, and hardware, it's just as likely that someone detailing their method of hanging inside a shelter would be completely different than the way I would need to because their gear was not the same as mine.
The benefit of hanging inside the shelter is that you don't have to also hang your tarp, and you also have a solid wood floor, benches, and generally more space and privacy. However, hanging a hammock from rafters in a shelter is not the same as hanging between two trees. This task would prove more difficult than I had hoped. Without boring you with more details about my specific issues, just know that I tried hanging in the back of the shelter, furthest from the door opening first (because this would give me the most protection from wind and rain), but my hammock and suspension were far too long for that to work. I turned so my head was inside the shelter and my feet were hanging into the covered porch area. I was so completely exhausted, when I set about trying to secure my hammock to the suspension, I honestly could not recall the knot system I have practiced and used to hang it multiple times. I was completely drawing a blank. It finally occurred to me that I had purchased a piece of hardware that I was using for my hang, so I dug into my bag and found my toggles for making a marlin spike hitch and that successfully kickstarted my brain.
I'm not a good photographer when I'm rested. I'm worse when I'm fatigued. Framing? Rule of thirds? Lighting? What are those? Haha.
I cooked and ate dinner that night, cleaned up, hung my food, tried to stretch my sore and achy muscles, then I crawled into bed. I believe it was between 8 or 9pm that night, but I fell asleep hard and fast. I didn't stir much that night. ...except when I had visitors.
At the top of this section, I said that I would be alone all night in the shelter. That wasn't entirely true. Most of the shelters are in locations that can be accessed by vehicle from a forest road. There is a forest road just north of Brown Creek Shelter and a very rough access road trace that leads down to the shelter from that forest road. I sleep with earplugs so that I don't stir with the sound of every scratching chipmunk, squirrel, or critter around the camp, but when there are multiple off road vehicles driving around, you hear that. I dreamed that there was an offroad race going on. I now believe this dream was not because of vehicles driving around the shelter, but instead due to the sound of my own snoring. Poor Mrs. Gavagai, right?
Data
I hiked 22.1 miles with 3309 feet of elevation gain.
Day 2: Friday 1 Mar 2024
Morning came relatively quickly. I think I started to rouse on day two, just before 5am. Ideally, I wanted to get moving a little before sunrise, but I was slower than intended. I knew I was going to need a decent breakfast, so I made and ate breakfast as I worked on breaking down and packing up. Day two would be longer than day one. This would be the longest distance I have ever hiked in a single day.
The Record to be Broken
There was one day back around 2012 or so when Mrs. Gavagai dropped me at the Hwy 10 trailhead where I proceeded to hike back toward Pinnacle Mountain, intending to spend the night on the trail at a location called Penney Campsite, however when I got to the spur trail leading to Penney Campsite, there was a sign saying it was temporarily closed. The biggest trouble with this last stretch of trail is that there are not many options for legitimate camping. At that time, I had not heard of "stealth camping" (I'll explain in a bit), so I decided to just press on and hike all the way through to Pinnacle Mountain State Park where my car was parked. Well, I lied. I just looked back at the mileage. I thought the Hwy 10 trailhead was at mile marker 200. It's actually mile marker 202, so the previous record was the stretch I just completed from Hwy 7 to Brown Creek Shelter, 22.1 miles. Man! I need an editor! Well, that record would be broken on this day.
A Toll on my Body
The shakedown hike I did in March of 2023 from Hwy 7 to Brown Creek gave me some big toe blisters. My initial plan on that trip was to hike back the way I came. Given my fatigued state, my hurt feet/toes, and the fact that Crystal Prong was more dangerous than I wanted to deal with again, I contacted Mrs. Gavagai and asked her to pick me up about six miles further up the trail at Lake Sylvia Recreation Area (which she did). These distances have also caused me issues with chaffing sores. Sorry if this is gross to read about, but it's a reality and part of the challenge out there on the trail. To deal with toe blisters, I was now using toe sock liners. That has helped reduce the issue. I had not yet done much in the way of chaffing reduction. I have had issues in my crotch and between my butt cheeks. Before heading out on Thursday, I found a source on the internet that suggested using petroleum jelly. I figured I would give it a shot. On the previous day, I had lubed myself up in the problem areas before driving to the trailhead. I packed some latex gloves so I could apply at camp in the morning if it worked. It seemed to work very well on day one, so on day two, I also greased my wheels before getting started.
Brown Creek to Lake Sylvia
I sent my "Starting my trip" check-in message on Friday morning just after 6:30am. Not too bad, but it was still a bit later than I had hoped. I didn't need my headlamp because the sun was high enough to see just fine without assistance. From the shelter, the trail shortly starts to descend into the actual Brown Creek valley. I had to stop at Brown Creek to filter and fill my water. From the creek, the trail crosses a forest road, then begins a long climb up to an overlook called North Fork Pinnacle. Whoever named these mountains in Arkansas was short on ideas. Not every mountain needs to be called "Pinnacle [something]" or "[something] Fork".
Up to the first spur leading to Lake Sylvia was trail I had covered on my trip in 2023. There are two spur trails leading from the OT back to Lake Sylvia making it a loop trail. So, for the portion of the trail where the Lake Sylvia Loop follows the OT, there are dual trail blazes; OT's blue blazes and white blazes for the Lake Sylvia loop. I also discovered a campsite above Lake Sylvia that is just off trail that has road access. I would like to go back to it as a starting point for a day hike, and possibly a car camping trip sometime.
Shortly after the Lake Sylvia loop splits off from the OT, you climb up to the last shelter on the OT, Nancy Mountain Shelter. It's a nice shelter located on a relatively flat saddle between two semi low mountains. There is plenty of room for tents or hammocks around the shelter as well. I didn't have cell phone service at Brown Creek the previous night and the last message I sent to Mrs. Gavagai via my GPS device was...
When I turned it on the next morning, her reply came through "Oh no! Are you okay?" To which she got radio silence because I was already asleep. Oops. Didn't mean to worry her. I texted her before I got to Nancy Mountain to let her know I was alive and not in danger, but I had a signal when I reached Nancy Mountain and just as I was about to leave, I got a message from her saying she could take a call at that time because it was her break at work. She wasn't too mad at me. She's patient with me.
It's not too far after Lake Sylvia that the OT leaves the Ouachita National Forest and proceeds through privately owned forest land. I was prepared for a dramatic change in the scenery or quality of the trail after leaving the National Forest land, but the trail was still very pretty. It follows the Maumelle River for a good distance and has some nice views. I believe parts of it are owned by lumber companies, parts by an oil/gas company, some of it is wildlife management land. But if you like walking through the forest, this is not a bad area to hike. If you like camping, not the best camping options. It was in one of these sections, I came across a possum. Not an amazing forest creature to see, given that I have seen them on the fence in my back yard, but wildlife, none the less. He was shy. I promise I didn't harass him too much. He didn't want to be my friend, so I left him to his tree and continued on my way.
Also interesting, one of the areas I passed through on Friday was where the wildlife management people had recently done a prescribed burn. How recently? The day before. Here is what that area looked like.
Stealth Camping
So, as I said previously, there really is only one designated campsite after Nancy Mountain Shelter. Stealth camping is when you're camped in a location where there is no designated campsite and where you're not supposed to camp. The biggest concern in these areas is that you need to not build a fire ring, and better yet, don't make any fire at all [stove cooking should leave no trace]. You should always pack out your trash and leave no trace, but here it's all that much more important. If people start leaving trash around and building fires, we're probably going to lose this end of the trail completely.
My plan for the end of the day on Friday was to stealth camp near mile 206. The trail drops down close to the lakeshore there so I would have access to water.
My plan for the end of the day on Friday was to stealth camp near mile 206. The trail drops down close to the lakeshore there so I would have access to water.
Hammocking in Pure Forest
It's interesting, my hammocking experience is so limited at this stage, it seems every location presents new challenges, new things for me to learn, and new experiences. This would be my third night ever sleeping in a hammock, but the first night with no alternative places to sit, to cook, to change clothes, or to organize and manage my gear. It was hammock and forest. That's all. No picnic table. No bench. No shelf. Unless I'm car camping or doing very low mileage backpacking, I don't typically have a chair. One of the reasons hammock camping appealed to me was the fact that a hammock works a seat, but this still feels alien to me. That night at camp, I was also so completely exhausted that I could not muster the will or energy to cook. I ate a breakfast bar, a couple bits of beef jerky, and a single bite of a cheese stick. I ate while sitting on the ground on a foam pad I carry. I did my best to rehydrate, I did a little stretching, and went to bed. I slept well that night.
Oh! One more fun thing. This was my first opportunity to use a set of new stakes for my tarp. I didn't use my tarp at Brown Creek Shelter, so this was their virgin tarp pitch moment.
The smaller blue stakes are the new ones. The red stake is 7.5 inches long. You can see in the photo that it had some issues when I pitched my tarp at Lake Ouachita State Park a few weeks prior to this trip. The blue stakes ZPacks 6 inch Sonic stakes. They are lighter weight and smaller. The compromise with the shorter length is that they may have slightly less holding power. I believe I now have some additional tricks up my sleeve to help address that issue if the wind ever whips up enough to pull out those stakes. Time will tell.
Also, the pull cord knots on the two blue stakes are different. The knot on the middle stake is just an overhand knot with the two strands. The stake on the bottom of the photo has a fisherman's bend knot. I like the fisherman's bend because it opens that loop as wide as possible, which makes it easy to slip one or more fingers into the loop to pull if the stake gets stuck. I redid the knots on all eight stake loops.
Data
Day two was 23.5 miles and 6930 feet of elevation gain. No wonder I was exhausted.
This seems a bit wild to me because the climbing elevation on this day is more than the climbing elevation figures for my first few days on the western end of the trail where I was climbing mountains that were higher. I'm guessing part of difference is the fact that those were shorter days and I think the climbing elevation figure is a running total. If you cover more miles, even if the ups and downs are not as extreme, they add up. Here is the same chart for my third day on trail back in November, a day where I hiked up Wilton Mountain. Miles on the trail were 15.7.
And one more, while I'm at it. This is the actual highest climbing elevation day on the trail. It was an 18 mile day and ended with the climb up to Suck Mountain Shelter.
I'm probably going to write an overview of the whole experience at some point in the future.
Day 3: Saturday 2 Mar 2024
Saturday morning came too quickly. It was after 5am when I started to rouse, and my sleep had been so sound that I didn't believe the time I was reading on my watch and fumbled around to get my glasses to confirm.
I knew I was going to need to eat an actual meal for breakfast to give me enough fuel for the day. I cooked the meal I was planning to eat the night before ...before I decided I was too exhausted to cook that meal.
That video shows my cookpot set on top of my stove and fuel cannister with my cup as the pot lid. All I was doing that morning was boiling water to add to my freeze-dried meal.
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| Chicken alfredo pasta; breakfast of champions |
I hit the "Starting my trip" check in message at 6:59am. That wasn't too bad given the fact that I woke up later than I wanted and had a couple of extra chores that morning. I also felt like I was moving more slowly.
Not Quite Lost, but Off Trail
Shortly after I left camp, there was an OT landmark. I resisted the urge to photograph it because I'm not a great photographer anyway and because no photo or video I have seen of it, does it justice. It's the stupidest thing when you hear what it is, but when you see it in person, you can't help but think "Wow! That's huge!" It's a giant pile of sawdust in the middle of the forest. It is said that there used to be a lumbermill at that location, and that sawdust pile is what remains. If it were a house, it would be a small one-story house, but I have never seen a sawdust pile as big as a house.
Shortly after that landmark, the trail took a turn, but I did not. I think this was the furthest off trail I have wandered. The trail had been following a trace road. The road continued, but the trail took a left turn. What I thought was the trail began to fade, so I checked my FarOut app, which shows my location. I was not on the trail. I used the app to navigate back to the trail. When I found it again, after wandering a few minutes to figure out where I was relative to the trail, I picked up my pace again, hoping to make up for lost time.
Before long, however, I noticed a familiar landmark rising over the horizon. Welcome back to the sawdust pile, Gavagai! So nice of you to come back so soon! I had gotten turned around and headed down the trail in the direction from whence I had come. More lost time.
I turned around again after checking to make sure the trail didn't loop back to show us the back side of the sawdust pile (it didn't), and I turned back the other direction. A few minutes down trail and I missed the exact same turn again. The trail was not well marked in this area. I did not get as far off trail this time, and I was able to backtrack to find where I had left the trail this time. Now it was a question of figuring out which way it turned. I found the turn and laid a branch across the road trace, hoping it might help the next hiker clue in that the trail was turning.
Blazes in this section were done with a much darker color blue. It was faded, it blended with the bark on some of the trees, and it was generally difficult to see or completely missing because it had been consumed by moss or the tree that once was marked had fallen. There were a couple of other turns where I knew the trail changed direction, but I had to stop to look very carefully for a few minutes to discern where the trail resumed. This issue persisted for a couple of miles, but ultimately, the trail had either been more recently refreshed with new blaze marks or the path was beaten well enough that it was easier to follow. I reported my experience on the OT facebook group, and I know the volunteer coordinators make notes on future maintenance projects. Maybe I can help with trail maintenance on the eastern end of the OT sometime. I would like that.
Key Points on the Final Day
Circumnavigating Lake Maumelle seemed to take up the majority of the day. There were a few pretty overlooks and views of the lake. There were other pretty areas where I had small creek crossings. I haven't made much fuss about mile markers on the trail in the second half, but this one was particularly meaningful.
Single digits remaining. Only nine miles left for the whole Ouachita Trail.
Another point of interest on this day was that I started encountering humans on the trail. It was Saturday, it was a pretty day, and people were out for some day hikes. I also bumped into a couple that was just beginning a through hike. Good luck to them!
As I stated earlier, this was a dry time. Much of this end of the trail can get very muddy when it's wet, but being dry, mud was not an issue for me. However, after leaving the Lake Maumelle area, other water sources also became scarcer. I had filled up that morning, and tried to drink enough with breakfast that I would be okay for as long as possible. But what ended up happening was that I was running out of water, just at the time when there weren't good water sources to be found. I got so desperate at one point that I crossed a street to knock on the door of a house, very close to the trail. I had expected a reliable water source just before coming across that house, and instead of flowing the water was stagnant pools and cloudy. Not ideal for filtering. I figured I would try the house, and if not, continue to see what I could find. No one appeared to be home, so I pressed on. Luckily, I found a small stream with a bit of a trickle. If I had not been so thirsty, I wouldn't have filtered from that source (it's safe, but can clog your filter). It got me through to the end.
In addition to thirst, I was also dealing with sun exposure. I had packed sunscreen and lip balm. They were in one of my hip belt pockets. Unfortunately, I neglected to zip it shut at some point and lost both the sunscreen and the lip balm. I'm glad this was the shortest of the days. I managed to finish just before 3:30pm.
I also recall my first view of Pinnacle Mountain. It is a familiar sight to me, and it made me feel like I was in the home stretch. There is a stretch of the OT that overlaps with the Base Trail at Pinnacle Mountain. I have hiked the Base Trail many times, with my wife and also by myself in preparation for my OT hiking adventure. Approaching the sign where the two trails joined for that portion of the Base Trail was also special.
I have seen that sign so many times, but never from the side on which I was approaching this afternoon.
And the final sign I cared about, of course...
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| Eastern terminus of the Ouachita Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park |
This was the most physically challenging thing I think I have ever done. It certainly required more endurance and persistence than anything I have done before. It didn't happen as I had initially planned, but that's okay. I am pleased that I was able to finish, and I am grateful to my wife and family for supporting and cheering me on. I've had two days of rest, and I am still not recovered.
Data
Day three was 17 miles on the trail and surprisingly 3394 feet of elevation gain. There were a lot of ups and downs over shoulder hills.
In total, the Ouachita Trail is 223 miles long and stretches from Talimena State Park in east Oklahoma, to Pinnacle Mountain State Park in Arkansas. I spent a total of 15 days on the trail, including a zero day at Queen Wilhelmina State Park, just over the Arkansas border.
I hope to go on more adventures, but I expect this one will likely remain the most epic for me.
Thank you for following me along on my journey. I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers,
Gavagai
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