Off To Arkansas
2:45AM- Awaiting Uber to airport. I’m taking a 5:30 flight to Phoenix where I have a tight connection to Dallas. Then, in Big D, a three hour wait for my flight into Fort Smith,...
Category: Ouachita Trail
One Week Left
4:45AM: I was climbing the hill in a driving rain, hoping that my pack cover was doing its job. The temperature was hovering in the mid 30s as I zipped my rain jacket up...
Three Weeks To Go
I’m just back from a trip down to Southern California to visit my sister and brother and their spouses. Nancy and I had a great time and it was good to see them all....
Ouachita Trail- Arkansas
This post is a bit earlier than I expected. But, it turns out that I have a scheduling conflict that interferes with the timing of my Ouachita Trail trek, forcing me to move the...
6 responses to “Ouachita Trail- Arkansas”
I love the puzzle nature of planning stops and appropriate accommodations that you describe. I don’t remember you describing whether you use your medical training on the trail. And of course, happy birthday Nancy. Hannah’s 77th is in February. I have 1000′ of elevation gain for you next Tuesday at the East Fork of the Cold Spring Trail. A creek trail we couldn’t cross last year because of all the rain. This year it’ll be a piece of cake, let’s make it birthday cake for Nancy!
Hey Dan, looking forward to getting together for a hike. 1000’ up sounds great. I’ll take all the training opportunities I can get.
As to using my medical training on the trail… when I used to carry a pretty substantial medical kit, I did put in some stitches and of course treated assorted cuts and scrapes. But now, my first aid kit consists of a couple of Band-Aids and some ibuprofen. Maybe a little steroid cream if I’m going through areas with lots of poison ivy. On the continental divide trail I fell and dislocated my right shoulder and being the only person around, I had to reduce my own shoulder. It actually happened twice on that trip. On the PCT I had to assess one of my hiking partners for a heart attack. Fortunately, he wasn’t having one and we were able to self evacuate him the 20 miles back to civilization.
There is no doubt in my mind that you will be able to do this hike!
Cappuccino, thanks for the vote of confidence and I appreciate your good wishes.
I always try to approach these things with a certain amount of humbleness. Luckily, most of the time, I’ve been successful, but it’s not guaranteed. Nature, it seems, doesn’t care at all about human hubris. But I will take your good wishes and tuck them into my brain, in a place where I go when I need a little extra, and it will nudge me forward a little further down the trail.
yes, I’d say that a good reason to change plans….So when you plot out the miles per days do you take into consideration elevation gains?
OZ- Great question! Do I consider elevation in planning? Yes and no.
First of all, for easy of calculation, I try and settle on some average daily mileage then knowing the distance I just do the math. That gives me the number of days. I may even plan camping spots based on my presumed daily mileage. But once on the trail I often adjust based on the amount of climbing and the difficulty of the terrain. That is usually day by day. I look at what’s coming up tomorrow and adjust accordingly.
That said, at this point, I haven’t ever had much trouble hiking 14 miles in a day on trail. (Cross country is another matter) as my friend Spiderwoman told me, “All miles are not equal.” Some 14 mile days will take everything you’ve got, and others might be a walk in the park. But, it kind of all evens out. For longer mileage days (20+) I have to pay much more attention to the elevation. So, like I said, the answer is yes and no.