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  1. #1
    ObdewlaX's Avatar
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    VIDEO: Back On The Ozark Highlands Trail

    My son and I had been talking about getting out on the trail and decided we'd go back to the Ozark Highlands Trail and hike another section of the trail or as much of one as we could over a weekend. Our jumping off point would be the White Rock trailhead, which is close to where I made it on my first hike there this past New Years. Like I did then, we'd hike as far as we could for a couple of days, then turn around and hike back the way we came.

    The White Rock trailhead is located inside the White Rock Recreation Area and when we got there, the gate was closed and everything shutdown because of the Wuhan. **** the Wuhan! Hmmm... what to do? Rather than bail or go somewhere else, we decided to drive around a bit and look for anything that might be a trail that crossed the road. After about 30 minutes, we finally hit pay dirt!

    After parking the car, we set off with our trusty trail companion, Indy. I was using my new to me ZPacks ArcHaul pack and hit the trail at 15.6 lbs. My son chose to use his favorite pack, the Golite Breeze and his pack weight was 17.2 lbs. Indy had to haul all his own food, ground pad, trail leash and a few other odds and ends with his pack weighing in at 7.9 lbs. Temps were supposed to be in the low-40’s at night and in the mid-70’s during the day with no rain in the forecast... we hit the weather window perfectly!

    Due to a late afternoon start, we only managed to get in about 4-5 miles, making camp at Salt Fork Creek in Bear Hollow. This was my first chance to try out my new DIY Climashield 2.5 top quilt and I was anxious to see how it performed. My son was using my old BPL quilt and we were both using Loco Libre Operator 50 under quilts. By 8pm, the temps were dropping a little quicker than we expected and the low for the night wound up being 40°. We really stretched the limits of our Operator under quilts & synth top quilts for sure. Both of us were layered up and our sit pads came in handy in our quilt footboxes, but it was still a bit cool. This scenario would repeat itself for 2 more nights.

    The next morning began quietly and it was still pretty chilly when we woke up, but with Indy around, nobody gets to sleep in for too long! It wasn’t long before we were getting up for breakfast and then packing up so we could get back on the trail. The first part of our hike went through a really cool area along Spirit’s Creek that featured lots of water and waterfalls. Spirit’s Creek Falls is somewhere around there but we didn’t take the time to check it out, so we’ll have to do that on our next trip. Not long after that, we hit a 2.5 mile section that used to be a railroad bed from the days there was logging operations in the area. We spotted some old steel cables and an old kerosene can that were left behind from those days.

    By days end, we’d hiked 10-11 miles, making it to Fane Creek. We found a good campsite by the creek and after surveying our digs for the night, we collected some wood for a fire. We enjoy sitting around the fire pit, watching the fire and talking... I mean, who doesn’t? After dinner, we got a good little fire going and talked about many things. I really enjoy being with my son on the trail... it makes for some good quality alone time and now that he’s out of the house, I have to take advantage of it when I can. Indy was pretty pooped and sometimes I wonder if he may be getting too old to get out with us. Like me and as I get older, it takes some time to get going but he’s always ready to do it again the next day. He’s fun to have around and on the trail.

    After another chilly night followed by a leisurely breakfast, we got packed and on the trail heading back the way we came and another 10 mile day. It was another picture perfect day too on the trail with our final destination being back to Bear Hollow and Salt Fork Creek for our last night on the trail. We got into camp around 6pm and it was good to get off our feet. After setting up the Trail Lair, I laid in the hammock relaxing with some coffee and listening to the sounds of the woods. As we finished dinner, it was looking like it might rain and we got ready for another cold night in the hammocks. It never did rain and it wasn’t long before we were sawing logs. Around 2am, I was awakened by coyotes and they sounded really close by. Indy was on full alert, so I grabbed him by the collar to keep him from chasing them if they actually got too close to camp. But after a few minutes, it was all quiet again.

    When morning came, we woke to cold temps and cloudy skies. As we ate our last breakfast, we sat in silence listening to the sounds of the woods and all the wildlife coming to life and beginning their day. After packing up, refilling our water bottles and a quick tick check, we were ready to hit the trail again and head back to the car. The morning’s hike was fairly easy with only a handful of serious hills to climb. About halfway into our hike, it started to sprinkle but never really amounted to much. Since we had only a few miles to get to the car, we made it right around lunch time. After taking a few selfies, dumping our packs and conducting our last tick check, it was time to hit the road for home. Once we were off the forest service roads, Indy settled in for the ride home, eventually drifting off to sleep, no doubt dreaming of getting back home and to his life of Riley. Another fun time in the woods for sure.

    On the Wild Kingdom front, we saw a fair number of critters and other things while we were out... a Great Blue Heron, garden snake, ticks, a millipede, lots of butterflies, a Pileated Woodpecker (very BIG and had to look him up), ticks, some kind of owl, coyotes (heard not seen), tadpoles, frogs and LOTS and LOTS of ticks. Holy crap! Those little guys were absolutely everywhere. We’d have to do regular tick checks on the trail, during breaks and in camp, it was that bad. We joked about them... “grab ‘em, pick ‘em, flick ‘em!” I really don’t think I’ve ever seen them that bad. And just as bad, maybe worse, was all the poison ivy... it was in abundance and there was just no way to avoid contact over the course of 3 days and it was pointless to even try.

    I was able to try out a few new pieces of gear too. The DIY synthetic top quilt I finished just before our trip worked very well and I’m pleased with its performance. I think I’ll probably end up redoing the footbox draft collar as it’s a little too much insulation than I think is needed, if at all. My cook kit included my new MLD 950 ML cook pot, MLD 520 ML cup and Toaks Siphon stove, which all worked great. And it was my first chance to try my Montbell EX Light wind shirt too. Uber light, very effective in wind and light rain and packs down to nothing. Last but not least, I finally took my DIY tarp into the field and it work great with the exception of proving itself in the rain, but I have no doubt it would shine there as well.

    And if I may, I’d like to throw in a quick plug for Wolf Pack dog packs... I am very pleased with the Bonzai pack I got for Indy. Other than adding a grab handle and leash ring, it’s been a really great pack. The grab handle came in handy during the hike a few times, having to lift him over some pretty big trees that had fallen across the trail recently. And he doesn’t seem to mind carrying all our trash either!

    All in all, it was a great trip and the weather, although cold at times, couldn’t have been much better. Very pleasant during the day and tolerably cold at night. This was a trip where everything seemed to work and all we had to do was have fun. Our meal planning worked out great too, having nothing left in our food bags except half a meal for Indy.

    I think it would be fun to do an OHT thru-hike this Fall sometime in November maybe. It’s a good time of year to do it too... no bugs, fewer people on the trial and cooler temps. I think by then, Indy will be ready too.

    Hope you enjoy this short video...

    Last edited by ObdewlaX; 06-23-2020 at 21:20.

  2. #2
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Looks like an excellent trip — great video!!
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  3. #3
    Senior Member twentybelow's Avatar
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    Glad to see that you didn't let a little trailhead closure stop you from enjoying the forest. Nicely edited video. Thanks for posting.

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