Rest

It is difficult to describe the sleep one gets after a tough first day of hiking compounded with really cold weather.  We crashed probably about 9 pm and slept something like 10 hours total.  I slept more soundly than Callie, who suffered from leg cramps in the middle of the night and also woke me up once hearing something scurrying in the woods (something small, maybe a coon, hard to tell, but certainly not a black bear, and too damn cold to care about getting out and seeing about anything smaller!).  It was a damn cold evening -- probably dropping below freezing -- but as usual, I stayed nice and toasty, even in my lightweight 35 degree bag.  Kev is the human heater in the woods.

Talk about SORE today!  This is pathetic, really.  We are walking around camp so gingerly we look like we belong in a rest home.  One can hit the gym diligently, but nothing really prepares one for the backpacking experience except backpacking, and it's been a long time since I've been out.  The cold probably doesn't help.  Today's just a designated lazy day.  It has heated up some, and I managed a nice nap in the sun in addition to exploring some (an old road trace becomes a road down the hill, and leads to the forest warden's home, about a 20 minute hike -- yet our basecamp feels completely isolated, aside from the nearby train tracks.  The train actually is kind of neat cutting through this rugged mountain area).  We hike the trail back to the Ouachita River to resupply our water, and the hike is approximately 36 minutes.  My old analog watch died in Poteau, so it got replaced with a nifty outdoors alarm chrono one -- and I'm driving Callie nuts by timing everything!  Ha!

A couple of hunters go walking by early in the evening.  This is sad.  I've now seen two groups of people on the trail this time, more than I've ever seen in the past.  One of the reasons I love the Ouachita Trail is because, unlike more established trails like the Appalachian Trail, this one sees little use.  People are discovering my hideaway, damn them!  Anyway, we're off to bed early, planning a hike up Black Fork Mountain tomorrow.  

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