The Compulsive Hiker

I took a break from my westward section hike of the Ouachita Trail to go back and do the east end – Pinnacle Mountain State Park to AR 9 (miles 222.5 to 191.8) and once again, I did it both ways for a 61.4 mile total.

A big problem with the east end, and the biggest reason I’ve put it off, is that only the western 0.7 miles of this 30.7-mile stretch is in the National Forest.  The rest is on property owned or controlled by logging companies, Central Arkansas Water, and the state park.  There are restrictions on where you can camp and that made the logistics kinda complicated. In addition, the trail starts becoming very “urban” east of AR 10.

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My westward march on the Ouachita Trail continues with the completion of the eastern half of section 5 – between AR 27 and Rainy Creek.  Features of this section include Curtis, McGill, Chalybeate, Big Round Top, Owens, Rocky Creek, and Suck Mountains, plus Smith, Muddy, Story, Harris, and Rainy Creeks.  Suck Mountain didn’t, but certainly would if I were trying to pitch a tent up there.  I parked at the AR27 trail head and went west to Rainy Creek, then back.  I was expecting it to rain much of Sunday so I planned this as a two-day trip.

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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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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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