Day 1 of the Ouachita Trail

Had a bit of a fitful night and got up at 5:30AM. Grabbed breakfast at the motel which was quite good, eggs, sausage, waffles, the whole nine yards. Then it was back to my room to pack up my backpack. Mike texted me that he was on the way and arrived a couple minutes before eight as promised.

It’s over an hour drive to the trailhead and we did not lack for things to talk about. What a great and accomplished guy. Anyway, the time flew, and before I knew it we were pulling into Talimena Park where the Ouashita Trail starts. I paid him, bid him farewell, and then I was alone at the trailhead. Nothing to do but get started.

In general, I would say you are always climbing along the side of a ridge. Once you finally get to the top of a ridge, you go down the other side and then start climbing it again. It’s not quite that bad but it kind of seems that way. It was a pleasant cool day with some high overcast and periods of blue sky. there were gentle breezes in the morning, but freshening in the afternoon. All in all a perfect day to hike. Although I didn’t get started until 9:30 AM, I did make 12 miles by 5 in the afternoon. I will say that the walking was pretty difficult the last half of the day. There were a lot of of “rock gardens“ That had to be traversed. Out west we’d call them scree or Boulder fields. Along with 6 to 10 inches of leaf cover on the ground, the boulders, rocks and leaves made for difficult footing and slow going.

Everybody said it was a pretty rocky trail and everybody was right. They also said it gets better after the first 30 or 50 miles, so we’ll have to see.

My next major concern is the Kaimichi River in about 30 miles. It looks like there’s 8 to 10 fords of the river, and it also looks like there’s going to be half an inch of rain the day I need to do those fords. Not something I’m necessarily looking forward to. Previous hikers have described it as thigh deep sometimes. But that’s a worry for later.

All in all a good day of hiking. I’m certainly tired, but I don’t think I injured myself today, which, given the rocky terrain, is kind of remarkable. I am ensconced in my hammock tonight and looking forward to hitting a trail tomorrow morning.

So until tomorrow, happy trails…