Miles Hiked 9.4
Elevation 1,316 feet
Miles Hiked Today 9.4
It’s been a long day. I was up at 2 AM and on my way to the airport 30 minutes later. Today I’m heading for Fort Smith Arkansas and finally the Ouachita Trail.
I tried something new at the Tampa Airport. Instead of taking an Uber to the airport, I drove my car and parked it at the West Shore Mall airport parking. There was a little anxiety present when I did that simply because I’ve never parked there before. Doing so at 3:00 AM with no one around to ask if I get into a problem accounted for the anxiety. However, it was pretty easy and I had the car parked and an Uber car to get to the airport within 5 minutes. I’ll definitely try that again.
Wonders of wonders, I flew American Airlines and for once they were on time. Just about every time I have flown them in the last couple years they have been late taking off.
There was a connection in Dallas and the connecting flight took off on time as well. I arrived in Fort Smith at 9:20 a.m. I needed stove fuel to cook, so I walked about 2 mi to an Academy Sports store and bought some fuel.
Next I had to get down to Talimena State Park, which is where the western terminus of the Ouachita Trail is. I caught an Uber for a very reasonable price. The drive was 60 miles and quite frankly I didn’t think any Uber driver would take it. The driver was a former long hall trucker who just likes to drive, so he was pleased to get such a long ride out of Fort Smith.
My ride got me to the State Park at 12:30 and I began preparing to head out to the trail. I had to change clothes repack my backpack along other things. I started the trail at 1:00 p.m. . True to all the information I had about the trail, it started off rocky and full of tree roots. It was definitely tough going.
Although the Ouachita Trail’s highest elevation is less than 3,000 ft, it was still a tough hike as the trail was very steep unlike the Pacific Crest Trail. Rocks didn’t help either. You couldn’t take one step without stepping on a rock or tree root. Not a good time for the ankles, but it was a good test for my right foot, which was fractured on the Pacific Crest Trail earlier in the year. Anyway, I don’t think I fractured my foot again so there’s that.
The goal of the day was to go about nine and a half miles to reach the first shelter on the trail. One of the reasons I wanted to hike this trail is because they have Appalachian Trail style shelters. It’s like returning to the days of my first hikes.
The fact that I didn’t start hiking until 1:00 p.m. was going to be a problem, I knew. I was correct. At mile 8 it was dark enough to stop and put my head lamp on. There was about one and a half miles to go to get to the shelter. Naturally, I hit some of the steepest and rockiest parts of the trail. It went down in elevation quickly. I lost the trail a couple of times in the dark, and then it was a case of trying to find the trail and continue.
Finally, I arrived at the shelter at 7:15 p.m. in pitch black darkness. There was nobody else in the shelter, and considering how late it is, it is on likely I’ll have company tonight.
So, it was a wild first day on the Ouachita Trail. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. I can tell you one thing it won’t bring. Me hiking at night.
