It was my fourth time hiking this section but the first time in about 7 years so much of it felt new. It was my first time hiking any section of the OT with somebody else as I was accompanied by friends TC & PDC.

We planned the 17-mile trip as 4 days with a very short first and last day to accomodate T & P’s driving time, and went west from AR-298 to AR-27. The weather was good, with the first morning getting down to about 32 and the others warmer. It was sunny and near 60F except the last day was cloudy and cooler. We encountered 6 people east-bound on day #2 but none the rest of the trip. We also ran into that last person at The Shack in Jessieville where we were enjoying our post-trip cheeseburger.

The only reliable water for this section is Irons Fork near the middle and North Fork of the Ouachita River at the east end. There was a good flow in an intermittent stream at about mile 124.3 just south of the Irons Fork Rd crossing but the area had 2.5 inches of rain several days earlier so that flow might not be typical. Nevertheless, there has been some water there all 4 times I’ve crossed that creek.