The Compulsive Hiker

My first hike on the Black Fork Mountain Trail was more than 2 years ago and I decided it was time for another visit.  This is in the western part of the Ouachitas – in Arkansas but pretty near the state line.  This time it was an overnight trip, with the night being spent at the new Black Fork Mountain shelter, just 0.2 miles from the junction with the Ouachita Trail.  As usual, there was much familiar and some not so much.  With a high temp in the low 70’s and an overnight low of 55, it was another January trip that sure didn’t feel like January.

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Part 2 consisted of hiking the Womble Trail west from the AR-298 trail head, where part 1 left off, to the end at North Fork Lake, then back.  A central feature of this segment is Mauldin Mountain.  On the south side of the mountain, near the east end, was the old town of Mauldin, which figures prominently in Sawmill: The Story of Cutting the Last Great Virgin Forest East of the Rockies.  It was the population center of Montgomery County and the hub of operations for the Caddo River Lumber Company for many years but was basically disassembled and moved elsewhere after the last tree was cut in 1937.  Only some concrete footings remain.

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The Womble Trail runs southwest for 37 miles from its intersection with the Ouachita Trail near mile 117 to North Fork Lake south of Oden.  Legend has it that it was originally intended to be part of the Ouachita Trail before a reroute moved the OT further north.  Nowadays, it’s mostly known as an IMBA Epic mountain bike trail and home to the Ouachita Challenge.

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