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  1. #1
    ObdewlaX's Avatar
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    VIDEO & Trip Report... Out & Back on the Ozark Highlands Trail

    I had an opportunity to get away for a few days on the trail over New Year’s and chose to do a hike on the Ozark Highlands Trail. The original plan was to start my hike at the trailhead at Lake Fort Smith State Park just outside Mountainburg, AR and wind up at Cherry Bend, approximately 38 miles east. My thought was to leave my car at the Cherry Bend trailhead and take a shuttle service back to Lake Fort Smith. But after getting quotes from several area shuttle extortionists, er, I mean shuttle service providers, I decided to do an out and back instead.

    I'd been wanting to get out for a while and towards the tail end of the year, customer and supplier activity had died down enough where I could make a clean getaway. After a few hasty days of meal prep, gear and insulation selection, I was pretty much ready to go. I chose to take my dog Indy along, who himself had a new dog pack to try out. He carried all his own food, his ground pad, my Crocs, our trash and a handful of other small items he could manage to take along on the trail.

    By the time we got to Lake Fort Smith State Park, we had just enough daylight left to get camp set up, cook some food and make a lazy evening of it. The Park has a Visitor Center and features recreational activities like fishing, boating and car camping. For dinner, I did another Chicken Cranberry and Rice meal and it turned out great. Before we turned in, I took Indy for a walk around the little loop through the camping area, then called it a night. This was my first chance to try out my HG Phoenix 20° underquilt and the new HG 20° Burrow topquilt I bought during their last 20% off sale. Both worked great handling a low for the night of around 28° - 30°.


    Indy At Ft. Smith State Park


    Dinner!

    Day 1

    Our first day out was a good one... temps were in the 50’s, the sun was out and the trail was pretty easy and well-marked. Other than crossing Frog Bayou Creek that flows into Lake Fort Smith, it was a pretty uneventful hike. Indy was wearing his new Banzai dog pack made by Wolf Packs and it worked really well right from the start. It holds quite a bit of stuff and weighed just under 9 lbs. when we hit the trail. There was great access to water too with numerous creeks, streams and springs all along the trail right up until we made camp. Miles for the day was about 9 and change.


    Indy & His Pack


    Old Chimney in the Woods


    Break Time!

    Once in camp, I got the Trail Lair set up and did some chores to get things ready for the evening. This was my first trip out with my Velvicut Hudson Bay hatchet and Suluk46 Uki buck saw and they were a big help prepping firewood and clearing some scrub brush from underneath the hammock. The hatchet with mask is 27 oz. and the buck saw is 4.9 oz., so there was a bit of a weight penalty but their usefulness made it a wash, IMO. I really liked the Velvicut and it made quick work of splitting wood for kindling and small pieces for the small fire ring that was at our campsite. Not so sure about the performance of the Uki saw and think I’ll have to practice with it a bit to get a better feel for it.


    End of the Day


    Indy & the Trail Lair on the OHT

    We had to portage water to our campsite from a little spring about 200 yards back down the trail, so having my gravity filter came in real handy for that task. I wound up having to back flush the filter, which was no big deal as the style filter screwed onto my water bottle top... just force water back through it and voilà! Of course where the gravity filter doesn't shine so much is on the trail... I am gonna have to pick up a Sawyer squeeze style filter so I can "dip and go" rather than have to pull off my pack, whip out the gravity filter and fiddle with all that for a quick refill.

    My dinner for this night was a new recipe for me I got off Andrew Skurka’s website, Rice and Beans w/Fritos and Cheese, and it was pretty darn good. Gonna add that one to my regular meal lineup! The cook kit I put together was my SP 900 cook pot, Four Dog Bushcooker LT II Ti stove, diffuser and windscreen and an old Brasslite alcohol stove w/Ti windscreen. Other than using the FD stove and diffuser the night before when we car camped, I never used either them on the trail. The Brasslite performed great and it was small enough to nest inside the FD stove.


    Days One & Three Campsite Location

    Day 2

    We woke up to a rather gloomy morning and got a late start getting on the trail. It was still pretty cool when we broke camp and I had my rain jacket handy in case it started raining. The forecast called for a 40% chance for rain throughout the day but it never did.


    Boston Mtns. View


    Fungi... BIG Fungi!

    After a few miles, the trail began to climb steadily in elevation and we were running across fewer and fewer creeks and springs as we hiked. After lunch, we didn’t see a creek or spring for the rest of the day. By 4pm, we had reached the White Rock Mountain Recreation Area and were still climbing. The weather was looking pretty crappy, there was no water anywhere except back down the trail past where we stopped for lunch and it was getting dark.




    More Fungi!

    We came upon a mostly flat area along the trail where someone had camped before and left a fire ring. There was barely a spot big enough for a tent and very poor tree selection. The first set of trees I chose just couldn’t handle the load, so I had to choose the only other 2 trees that could support me & one of them was dead! It took me about 15 minutes to clear all the scrub brush out from under the hammock and by the time I got it up, the sun had gone down leaving a pink sky behind off in the distance. The tarp ridgeline I brought turned out to be one I goofed on the length and was too short to span my new trees... doah! Thankfully, I had some spare cordage and just barely enough!


    Pink Sky At Night, Sailor's Delight...

    By this time it was dark, so after all that and with the weather looking bad, all I wanted to do was make a quick dinner and get in the hammock. Since we never had an opportunity to refill my water bottle and being pretty miserly on the trail staying hydrated, I had just enough water for our dinner, a cup and a half for Indy and a cup for coffee the following morning. Judging from the dark clouds, I thought for sure it was going to rain but it didn’t and the temps only got down into the low 40’s, so I had to shed some layers during the night. Indy was content and settled in under the hammock for the night after another 9 mile day... not long after that, he was snoring!


    Indy Snoozing


    Day Two Campsite Location

    Day 3

    We woke up to another dreary morning and were up high enough that we were in a cloud to boot, so everything was a little damp. After getting packed up, Indy had his breakfast, I had my coffee and we were off on the trail back the way we came.


    Our Crummy Campsite

    After an hour or so, the sun began to slowly peek out from behind the clouds and before long, it was shaping up to be a bright and sunny day. That’s always a good way to make the day... after some crummy weather, it gets nice and pretty on the trail. I guess the pink sky from the night before was a good sign after all! At about the same time, we came across the last spring we passed by the day before when we ran low on agua. Good thing too... we were getting pretty dry.


    Neon Trail



    It’s interesting when you’re hiking in the opposite direction you’d been hiking just days before, everything looks different. After a few more miles, we came on an area on a ridge where we had great unobstructed views of the Boston Mountains off in the distance. As we continued to descend, streams, creeks & springs became more numerous and Indy was having fun getting in all of it. He’s fun to watch swimming and playing in the water.


    Hillside Boulders


    Weird Fungi!

    Our ultimate destination was the campsite we had 2 nights before and we made it around 4pm. I set up the hammock & tarp and by the time I was done, the temps had dropped sharply, so I zipped on the top cover. As the temp continued to drop, I gathered some wood for another fire and again, my Velvicut hatchet came in really handy.


    Cowboy TV, Channel 5

    The night sky was clear and it was going to be another cold night below freezing. As the evening wore on, we began to hear coyotes yelping and that really had Indy on alert. When they’d stop all their crying and yelping, he’d get out from under the tarp and bark like he was letting them know he was on guard and don’t come around. I watched the fire until it died down, then climbed into the hammock. My new HG top quilt worked really well and kept me nice and toasty through the night.

    Day 4

    We woke to a pretty cold morning and it would be a while before the sun finally made its way over the mountain tops to warm things up. Since it was such a cold night, I chose not to hang my gravity filter for fear the filter would freeze, so I had to hike down the trail to the little spring and portage water back to our campsite for coffee and breakfast. After a leisurely breakfast enjoying our last morning in camp, it was time to pack up and head back to the car.


    Cold Morning


    Our Water Source For Nights 1 & 3


    Breakfast of Champions

    It wasn’t long before the sun began to warm things up and I had to shed my vest... it was shaping up to be another really nice day. The hike was pretty easy and by lunchtime, we had reached Frog Bayou Creek, which had to be crossed to get to the last leg of our hike and back to the car. After another 1.5 hours on the trail, we made it back to the car and the Visitor Center where we checked in.


    Wild Onions


    Frog Bayou Creek

    When we finally made it back to the car, Indy seemed ready to call it quits. Even though we walk a lot at home, he got quite a bit more exercise than he normally does. He travels well in the car too and like a lot of dogs, gets excited when he knows he's going somewhere. Since we were looking at a 5-6 hour car ride, I gave him half of his dinner a little early and after that, he was out like a light! Even though I usually do my trips solo, he's always fun to have along. Besides, he never complains, he listens to all my musings on and off the trail and he thinks I’m the smartest guy in the world!


    Bushed

    One of these days, I’d like to hike the entire OHT. It’s a pretty trail and goes through some of the most beautiful parts of Arkansas. It was a great 4 days and we had a great time. In the end, I estimate we hiked right around 36-38 miles round trip but I would’ve preferred to hike straight through to Cherry Bend like my original plan, but it was fun just the same.

    Can’t wait to get on the trail again!


    P.S. I've been editing video of my trip and while putting it together, I came up with a trailer I thought might be entertaining...

    Last edited by ObdewlaX; 01-28-2020 at 15:25.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Cabmanhang's Avatar
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    Great trip report! Looks like you had a fine hiking partner.

    How much were the shuttle folks asking for a 40 mile shuttle?

    I know a lot of the volunteer shuttles we've used let you decide how much to give, but we always consider the convenience factor and give at least $60+ if they help out with food drops, keep an eye out for us and give us a standby option if we need an early out.


    Oh, and that EPIC trailer is a remarkable piece of work!

  3. #3
    Dirtbaghiker's Avatar
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    Lmao @ " he thinks I'm the smartest guy in the world" hahaaa.. That's great. He is a big boy. Very cool! Nice trip report, great pictures.. Looking forward to the video next.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Dublinlin's Avatar
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    Thoroughly enjoyed your trip report, photos, and the video! You can’t beat hiking with a dog, IMHO!

  5. #5
    ObdewlaX's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cabmanhang View Post
    How much were the shuttle folks asking for a 40 mile shuttle?
    Around $120 as I recall. You had the option of having their driver drive your car to the trailhead, then back to where you wanted to finish for around $70.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cabmanhang View Post
    Oh, and that EPIC trailer is a remarkable piece of work!
    LOL... thanks. To be honest, iMovie makes it pretty easy to put something together by using templates and you just add the content.

  6. #6
    Senior Member twentybelow's Avatar
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    Nice trip report... thanks for posting! Looking forward to the video when it's released.

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