Day Nine of the Ouachita Trail

Apparently the wind scheduled for last night must have stopped at the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge and stayed for breakfast. Because there was no wind last night and only a little this AM. This morning I did avail myself of the shelter for its breeze blocking ability. But it was also kind of a comfy place to make breakfast.

Once again I was about 15 minutes ahead of the sun when I hit the trail. And first up was crossing Fiddler Creek. Turns out it had a bridge so it was easy. After about a mile there was a tributary to cross, but there were enough stepping stones to get across dry footed. Then it was time to climb up through great pine forests that were graced with splashes of white dogwood flowers. The exuberant white against the dark green of the pine boughs was a visual delight.

After a long glide through the pines on top of the ridge, the trail descended to the next stream crossing. Rainy Creek had good flow and more importantly, a bridge. I was able to take the picture below mid-span.

From Rainy Creek it was a very long uphill journey to the top of Suck Mountain. (Yep, Suck is not a typo.) Anyway, the map showed an old jeep road for the trail. I usually like the old jeep roads as they are often well graded, and easy walking. And this one was, except for one problem. The first couple miles were through a swamp. Not literally, but long sections were filled with water, some areas were running streams, others had several hundred feet of muddy tread. And the areas on either side were not much better. It was a long couple of miles.

After finally leaving the boggy trail behind, the day suddenly turned from blue sky and sunshine to dark. I mean really dark and all in just a couple minutes. Then I heard thunder to the north and then to the south, behind me only blackness. The winds started whipping from behind. The storms of last night had apparently finished breakfast at the lodge and had moved east. They had arrived! Unfortunately, we were all going the same direction, east.

I sped up my pace along the trail, practically running. I was hoping to make it to the shelter before the heavens opened. I had 2 miles to go, which normally might take me an hour or more, but I got there in 30 minutes. I was just ducking into the shelter when it started to pour. Like someone had dumped a bucket. The thunder was passing to my left and right, nothing too close, but still concerning and the rain had held off until I was safe.

The rain moved on after only about 15 minutes, the thunder became more distant, but the clouds continued to look ominous. Hence, my new plan. Originally I was to walk down the trail to the base of Suck Mountain and camp tonight. Then I would walk the 6 miles to the road tomorrow and a trail angel named Lori would pick me up and take me to the town of Story. But wouldn’t it be nice to be there tonight? My map showed a trail to a forest service road that I could take down to Story. The road was 3 miles shorter and would be a lot faster to travel on than the trail. So I called Lori and arranged for her to pick me up from the forest service road. Just a couple miles from town.

So once again, I bailed from the trail and took an alternate route just to spend an extra night in town. I seem to be doing this more often. However, it is fun to see if I can figure my way out of predicaments. And who doesn’t like real food and real bed every once in a while.

Well, I will be taking a zero tomorrow in Story and then continue my trip the day after as scheduled. So, until tomorrow, happy trails…