Day Six of the Ouachita Trail

The restaurant was open at 7AM and I was there. Two eggs, ham, hash browns, toast and a coffee later, I was heading out the door to the trail. The sun was just peaking over the horizon and the temperature was 49°.

The first few miles were still a bit rocky, but once I had hiked down off Rich Mountain the trail smoothed out. In fact the trail was quite nice with a notable exception, which I will get to.

Hiking through forest most of the day, it was often pine and looked like the Rockies. Other times the pines would give way to leafless hardwoods like oaks and walnuts. Sometimes it was a mixture of both. Still they were very pleasant woods to travel through.

I meet Granddaddydos who was thru-hiking the trail west bound. And a short time later a German couple each with monster packs and going very slowly. Not a lot of folks on this trail.

Toward the end of the day there was about 3 miles of Ankle Turning Stick Tripping Rocky Junk that they were calling trail, but you can’t fool me. I stumbled along, barely keeping my balance and somehow avoided injury, making it through unscathed. I was rewarded with some beautiful streams at the end of the misery, which was good because I needed water.

After about 17 miles I end the day at Foran Gap shelter where I will be camping tonight. It was a great day of hiking with good weather and mostly good trail.

Until tomorrow, happy trails…