Buffalo River Trail building – Spring 2015 kickoff

Work will soon resume on the 15-mile stretch of the Buffalo River Trail between Tyler Bend and South Maumee Road.  The current estimate is that only 2.4 miles remain to be built in 8 small areas, but I don’t yet know whether we can work in those areas or whether we will have to find work elsewhere.

The trail building camp will be set up in the Tyler Bend group campground March 14 through April 5 2015.  Look for the big white canvas wall tent – our headquarters.  As usual, everyone is welcome to contribute whatever effort you can for a day, a weekend, or longer.  The National Park Service provides tools and free camping.  The campground has potable water, flush toilets, and showers.

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Ouachita Trail – AR 298 to AR 27

I couldn’t have asked for better weather to complete section 6 of the Ouachita Trail – a 17.1-mile stretch from AR 27 to AR 298 (miles 121.7 to 138.8 [and back to 121.7 for shuttle-less me]).  I expected to see lots of other people out taking advantage of the sunny 65-degree days but there was just one day hiker.

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Wildcat Mountain Trails

Officially open to mountain bikers and hikers, the Wildcat Mountain trails are a nice place to spend a day or even a weekend in the Ouachitas.  Situated west of AR9 and a couple miles south of Lake Sylvia, the trail is mostly on old logging roads which are visible on USGS topo maps.  My aim was to explore the outer perimeter as shown on the USFS map and then see what else I could find.

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East Fork Wilderness

The East Fork Wilderness is about 11000 acres of Ozarky goodness located less than an hour NE of Russellville on the east side of AR 27.  It’s been on my to-do list for a long while and a friend and I were able to spend a day there exploring a small part of it.East Fork Wilderness.2015-01-03.001The name comes from the East Fork of the Illinois Bayou – one of the big rivers of the area.  It becomes a kayaker magnet after big rains, and I guess we had that as all the creeks & rivers were flowing fast and furious.  The wilderness encompasses much of the headwaters area of the East Fork and features some steep and dramatic scenery.

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Little Blakely Loops

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 a bit north of the State Park.  A friend and I spent New Year’s Day and following one exploring much of the area.

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Ouachita Trail – Ouachita Pinnacle to AR 298

I hiked the 8.2 mile segment from Ouachita Pinnacle to AR 298.  I wasn’t on the trail long before heavy fog moved in and then 2-3 hours of light rain.  I intended to spend some time at the top looking for more photogenic views than I had on the last trip, but the fog prevented that.

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Devil’s Canyon SIA

Devil’s Canyon Special Interest Area is a couple miles southwest of Fern AR and features a canyon carved by tributaries of Mill Creek to a depth of 200+ feet and numerous waterfalls – one with a height of 63 feet.  Shores Lake and White Rock Mountain are a few miles northeast of Fern.

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Ouachita Trail – AR-7 to Ouachita Pinnacle

Rain most of the day Friday left me with a short weekend but I managed to hike the Ouachita Trail from the AR-7 trail head to Ouachita Pinnacle – miles 160.4 to 147.0 and back.   At 1961 feet, Ouachita Pinnacle is the highest point on the eastern part of the trail (the highest point for the whole trail is on Rich Mountain near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border at about 2630 feet).

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Ouachita Trail – AR-9 to AR-7

I managed to turn Thanksgiving into a 5-day weekend and I chose to spend it thanking mother nature for the Ouachita Mountains.  So begins my section hike of the 233-mile Ouachita Trail.

Ouachita Trail - AR7 to AR9.2014-11-26.051

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Ponca Wilderness

A friend and I hiked in the Ponca Wilderness from the Schermerhorn trail head over to the Centerpoint trail head this weekend.  This route includes the Bench, Hemmed-In-Hollow, Old River, and Centerpoint trails.  I’ve seen some of this area before on two previous trips but have now filled the gaps.

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