I decided to take a few days off this past week and did a quick trip to the Ouachita Nat'l Forest and hiked the Eagle Rock Loop. I went with a buddy who had never been backpacking or hammocked, who wanted to give it a try. And it wouldn't be near as much fun if I didn't take my trusty companion, Indy.
We got to the trailhead at 2:30pm and spent the next 2 days completing the Loop. I think my buddy had a good time and the weather really cooperated too with afternoon temps in the mid 70's and overnight lows from 43 deg & the low 50's, with clear skies and lots of stars.
I like the ERL because it's a really pretty place and trail, plus, it's the closest challenging trail to Dallas. However, in the 20 years I've been hiking the ERL, I've never seen it so crowded. Over 2 days and 29 miles, I'm guessing we saw over 50 to 60 people or more. There's been plenty of times in years past I've been out there by myself or encountered only a handful of people, but this was staggering. It almost made it unenjoyable to a degree. I know this is becoming more of a normal occurrence on trails with people getting outside more because of the Covid, but dang. And of course, not everybody practices the 'leave no trace' mantra judging from all the trash and left behinds I spotted. I'll pick up a plastic bottle or two and paper trash but a tent, sleeping bag & air mattress? Seriously? Very aggravating.
Okay, rant over. :)
On our 2nd day, we had finished hiking up Brush Heap Mountain & we'd pretty much run out of gas, so my thought was to make camp at East Saline Creek. When we got there, there were already 6 tents set up and crammed into a really small area, with a solo hiker & a couple hunting for spots to throw up their tents. The one guy gave up & hiked on but the couple were bound & determined to find a spot. They finally wound up camping right next to the creek and if it had rained, they might've been in trouble at some point during the night.
That's the great thing about being in the hammock, all you need are trees. We wound up crossing the creek & had the whole place to ourselves and were far enough away from tent city, we had some privacy. Booyah! It was a nice night too with clear skies & like the night before, I didn't put up the tarp.
All in all, it was a good trip but not sure when I may go back if the overcrowding continues, maybe when it gets colder. That usually means less people and no bugs!
Day 1 - The Little Missouri Trail
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Spider!
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BIG Spider!!
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Peaceful
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Night 1 Campsite
https://www.relive.cc/view/vxOQn7w3k26
Day 2 - The Little Missouri & Athens Big Fork Trail
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Morning Mist
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On Top of the World
https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvEZrVoZwO
Day 3 - Athens Big Fork/Viles Branch/Winding Stairs
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Eagle Rock Vista Pano
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Little Missouri River at Viles Branch Trail
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Trail Cat!!
https://www.relive.cc/view/vdvmQyWP4xv
I forgot to turn off the app on the last video... we hiked a little over 8 miles getting back to the car, not 14 as it shows on the video. My bad.
