This Christmas, I was in the market for new hiking shoes. I had toyed with the idea of going minimalist for quite some time. When it came down to purchasing them, I made the leap with Merrell Tough Gloves. They are stylish enough to wear to work, but “tough” enough for the trail. At least that is what the name wants you to believe. Not wanting to find out that this is simple marketing while on a long trip, and wanting to make sure my feet could handle backpacking in minimalist shoes, I decided to make a day trip first chance I could.
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Ozark Highlands Trail Section 6 days 2 and 3
My intention was to get up at 530 for day two of my hike on Section 6 of the OHT. My alarm did not go off though, or if it did it didn’t wake me up. At shortly past 6am the light of dawn did the trick though and started moving around. To warm up in the morning I stuff my sleeping bag back into the compression bag even before getting out of the tent. This little ritual saves some time later on and gets my blood flowing. Once out of the tent I considered stirring a fire back up but since I had already overslept opted against it. I did not want to take time for it to die back out.
The falls I had camped by the night before were certainly a pretty sight. Haws Creek Falls is not too high but it is wide and very comforting. I downed a liter of water then got some pictures of the falls. I decided to wait until I got to the meeting spot with my friends before doing breakfast expecting that I would beat them there. I packed up camp and grabbed some peanut butter crackers then moved on down the trail.
Ozark Highlands Trail Section 6 Day 1
It had been over two months since I was last on a good trail and I picked up where I left off on New Year’s Eve at mile marker 99.5 on the OHT. I got out of work at noon on a Friday and pointed my truck down Hwy 16, down 7 and then up 123 at Pelsor. The weather was really beautiful and I couldn’t ask for better at this time of year. I enjoy the drive out through this part of the country. Everything seems so spread out and far from the next thing. There is a little church here or there but beyond that even gas stations are hard to come by after a bit. Meanwhile the drive twists and turns, rises and lowers over the hills and scenic beauty of the Ozarks. It always makes me smile when in the middle of seemingly nowhere I run across a quilt or craft store, with advertising billboards and all. Of course this is way out here in the boondocks. No grocery. No gas. No schools. But hallelujah we have a craft store and how would we survive without it.
I pulled onto the dirt roads that led to 99.5 on the OHT around 4pm. A note to those using the guidebook out there. This road is marked on the guidebook and most other maps as FR 1003 I believe. This is no longer accurate. I think the correct road number is 5447. Even if that is wrong though it has two entrances, an east and west entrance, with a little island in between them where some drilling trucks were parked when I drove through. It is easy to find but not if you’re looking for 1003.
Family Hike at Hemmed in Hollow
For the past few years at Christmas we have tried to downplay the gifts and up play the time together. We still do gifts for the kids and such but on a smaller level. We take the savings we have and get a cabin off in the woods all to ourselves for a couple of days. In the past we have usually gone up to Eureka Springs for our cabins and have had nothing but good things to say. This year we wanted to be closer to the Buffalo River and found a great little cabin run by Candy over at Cove Creek Cabin. It is fully furnished, sits right in the thick of the hills around the Buffalo and came at a great price. I told Candy I would talk up the cabin on the site here so there it is. Check out the link to reserve.
Join the forum discussion on this post Wild Sport: Rambling and Hunting Trips Through the United States of North America
“We entered the Mississippi the second day, and soon left the state of Arkansas far behind us. Of all I had seen in America is was the one which pleased me most; I may perhaps never see it again, but I shall never forget the happy days I passed there, where many a true heart beats under a coarse frock or leather hunting shirt.” Wild Sport chapter 12, Friedrick Gerstacker
I have never done a book review here on the site but this one I just completed is pretty unique and I think will be of specific interest to those hikers out there who have hiked around Arkansas.
Wild Sport: Rambling and Hunting Trips through the United States of North America is the true recollections of Friedrich Gerstacker and his trip to the US in the 1830’s-40’s. Gerstacker was a sportsman and travelled throughout the Arkansas and Louisiana areas hunting bear, turkey, deer and more during his seven years over here before returning back home to Germany. Much of the book is spent in various areas of Arkansas eastern, southern and northwestern. Any hiker who is familiar with the layout of the land will recognize a lot of the locations he writes about.
