On the trail in the Ouachitas
I got back yesterday from my trip to the Ouachitas, where the drought conditions cut my trip short.
Unfortunately, the northern leg of the trip (Old Military Road/Boardstand Trails) was completely dry. Streams that usually flow year-round were all dry. That meant I had no water to purify on the trail, and only the 4.1 liters I was carrying. THAT meant that I was forced away from preparing my freeze-dried food for dinner, and instead conserving my water for the trip out.
I covered about 8 miles on day one, with a lot of downhill, no bad ascents. Set up camp and crashed hard (sundown a little before 8:00 pm). Up the next day, and covering good ground when I began climbing up towards the Talimena Drive. I'd forgotten how bad the final mile or two of the Boardstand Trail ascent is. The elevation change is bad, but the trail is also bad. Really rocky and overgrown in parts. Definitely no fun when you're low on water. And for the final half mile I was out of water. That lightened the climb out, but probably wasn't ideal (especially given my goofy calorie situation that resulted from dinner and breakfast being my dry "snacks").
So, I finally hit the Talimena Drive and it was decision time. I could cross and head on over to the Ouachita Trail and to Dead Man's Gap, which is a perennial water source (always a seep there, even in drought conditions like these). At that point, I weenied out and decided to hitch a ride to my Jeep, about 5 miles down the road (because the trail is winding, it would have been a little longer and much rougher on the Ouachita Trail side, with a terrible ascent at the end).
The road is not heavily traveled, so it took me a while to catch a ride. A nice older couple from Texas made room for me and my pack. It was their first visit to the Ouchitas. They told me they travel a lot by car in February (when they both have birthdays) and around October (their anniversary). It was their 46th anniversary, and they had visited family in Iowa, and tripped through Missouri and Arkansas on their trip. It was awfully nice of them to give a tired hiker a ride. I tried to give them a few bucks for an anniversary lunch in Talihina (where they were headed), but they wouldn't take it. Anyway, many thanks to a couple of mighty nice Texans!
Quick trip assessment: It was a good time, other than being so damn dry. In retrospect, I should have hiked the thing backwards from what I tried to do this trip (Talimena Drive dropping to Ouchita National Trail to Dead Man's Gap across Talimena Drive and down Boardstand Trail to the old Military Trail and back up to Talimena). It's much easier to climb DOWN really bad trail than up, and that Boardstand ascent to Talimena Drive is a beyotch. That wouldn't have helped my water situation overall, but it would have had me running out at the end of my trip instead of the middle, which would have been better.
As gear goes, I liked a lot about the new pack, but unfortunately, it fits too big, and must go back to REI. The poor fit caused the shoulder straps to dig into my collarbone, which left some really nice bruises by the end. The smaller-sized pack is too small, so the Osprey Atmos series just isn't going to work for me. I'll have to look at other lightweight carriers in the 3,000 cubic inch range.
The tiny little stove was a nice replacement for my older, heavier stove, although I obviously didn't get to use it much because of the water situation (grr). I have concerns about its long-term durability versus the GigaPeak standard bearer, but we'll see.
I took out my old one-person tent (a Eureka Zephyr discontinued years ago) because I still haven't found a replacement that is much better, but this poor tent is kind of on its last legs. I'll have to find something else before long.
I've posted some photos from the trip on Flickr. Nothing too exciting. I like to get photos of signs along the trail just as proof I've been there. I didn't see another person on the trail, although I did see a one-person bivy tent set up about 7 miles in the first day. I stopped for a second, but nobody seemed to be around, so I moved on.
Anyway, no major physical breakdowns. I wasn't sucking wind too badly, so I guess the Stairmaster regimen worked out. I was sore yesterday, but nothing out of the ordinary, and am not bad at all today. I think the hiking pole helped (I haven't used one in the past). In all, it was a good outing. I'll have to get back out again soon, although probably closer to home this time (maybe 4-Cs Trails in Davy Crockett Forest a couple of hours northeast).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/01/06 16:33 | Outdoors | Technorati
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Comments
If there was no water in the Ouachitas, what do Bigfoot and the giant wolves drink?
Posted by Mr. Hutchison @ 11:29 on 10/03/06
I would think such creatures have their own water supply and do not wish to share with humans?
Posted by whilo @ 13:17 on 10/03/06
couldn't you just drink the blood of the wild animals you slew rather than worry about water?
oh, no hunting allowed out there, i guess.
well, welcome home.
Posted by banjo jones @ 15:50 on 10/06/06
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