Penhook SIA

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Michael R

The Penhook Special Interest Area is a few miles north of Hector AR and encompasses Penhook Hollow – with its creeks, tall bluffs, and steep terrain creating a very scenic area.  The hollow opens onto the Middle Fork of the Illinois Bayou River not very far upstream from where the Middle Fork joins the East Fork.  The area was apparently considered for wilderness designation at one time.  The main attraction is 41′ Penhook Falls but there are at least 8 other waterfalls and with the recent rains, I figured this would be a good time to go looking for them.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Building a Bridge Beside the Buffalo

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Michael R

The Ozark Highlands Trail Association built a 20′ bridge across a gulley for the Middle Buffalo River Trail near the Grinders Ferry trail head.  On Nov 14 a small group set the footings and today a larger group – 6 of us – got much of the lumber moved, cut, and assembled.  We will need one more trip to finish the hand rails, build steps at each end, trim the deck boards, and tighten some screws, but it’s usable as is and will help prevent further erosion from hikers going through the gulley.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Moccasin Gap Trails

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Michael R

I’ve spent a couple days now hiking part of the Moccasin Gap Trails.  This is a 43-mile system on the west side of AR-7 about 30 minutes north of Russellville.  It’s open to equestrians, mountain bikes, and ATVs, in addition to hikers so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  The trails are located in a valley formed by Moccasin Creek and are basically divided by the creek into eastern and western sections with a couple connectors that cross the creek.  I have hiked all the official trails in the eastern part.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Buffalo River Trail – Dave Manes Bluff to Tyler Bend

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Michael R

I managed to do a little hiking on Wednesday and Thursday before a soggy Thanksgiving weekend, returning to a part of the middle Buffalo River I hadn’t seen since my first visit exactly 2 years ago – the area between Dave Manes Bluff and Tyler Bend.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Buffalo River Trail – AR-14 to S Maumee Road

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Michael R

I think it was about a year ago that I first hiked the Buffalo River Trail between highway  14 (Dillard’s Ferry) and South Maumee Road.  I was with other people and we had set up a shuttle so it was a simple day hike.  This time I was solo so it was a 22-mile two-day out-and-back.  This part of the trail features big views from the bluffs, similar to the section upstream between Wollum Ford and Tie Slide.  Of course, between those bluffs the trail drops way down to cross a creek before climbing up to the next bluff so it’s a workout.  Nearer the west end of this segment, the trail also skirts around a couple large box canyons that make for some impressive scenery.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Little Blakely Loops

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Michael R

The Little Blakely Loops are about 18 miles of interconnected loops on a peninsula at the eastern end of Lake Ouachita, in the national forest north of the State Park.  My previous visit was a wet and foggy New Year’s weekend but this time I had a clear sky, sunshine, some autumn color, and a fully-charged camera.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Friends of the Ouachita Trail annual meeting

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Michael R

I attended my first annual meeting of the Friends of the Ouachita Trail (FoOT) Saturday in Hot Springs.  I’ve been a member for several years, even before I moved to Arkansas, but this was basically the first time I’d met other members.  It was good to be able to attach faces to the names I’ve seen in emails and on the web site.

One news item is that the Black Fork Mountain shelter near mile 57.7 is on the verge of completion – that’s #9 of the 12 new shelters.  The Turner Gap shelter near mile 80 is next on the list.

Another interesting bit is that the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) has bestowed EPIC status on the Ouachita Trail, meaning it’s considered one of the top mountain bike trails in the country (world?).  This kind of attention surely can’t hurt.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Buffalo River Trail building – Fall 2015 wrap up

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Michael R

Another trail building season at the Buffalo River is over with no actual building to report.  This time it was all maintenance due to the private property and archaeological obstacles that remain.  We lopped brush and removed all the fallen trees we could from the Wollum Ford to AR-14 – about 35 miles in all.  Some big trees remain for the Park Service to deal with and a few other areas that need reconstruction were noted.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

OHTA work weekend

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Michael R

Another work weekend on the OHT with the Ozark Highlands Trail Association.  The primary target this time was a bunch of trees on the trail east of the Richland Creek Wilderness between mile markers 141 and 142 – south of the landslide area.  Seven of us were able to remove those trees, reroute about 100 yards of trail, and trim the brush along 1/2 mile of trail in that general area on Saturday, exceeding expectations.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hurricane Creek Wilderness

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Michael R

We’ve had a couple nice weekends since my trip to Wyoming and I spent them doing trail work on both the Ozark Highlands Trail and the Ouachita Trail.  This weekend, however, it was time to kick off the local backpacking season – with a one-nighter in the Hurricane Creek Wilderness.  The fall color was just starting in that area and added a bit of visual interest.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment