OT Mile 210.2
Miles Hiked 184.7
Elevation 358 feet
Miles Hiked Today 14.0
Sun up and time to hit the trail. It’s going to be tough leaving the luxurious Red Bluff Creek Shelter, but hey, two days to finish, so off I go.
The last 30 miles of the trail are supposed to be pretty easy. If you look at my navigation app, the trail looks flat with only a few gaps to go down and up. In reality, it isn’t that simple. A lot of the gaps at the start of the day were very steep. Had a few I kept backsliding down the incline of the gap. Eventually, by early afternoon, the trail flattened out and I was able to make some good time.
Water has always been a problem on this trail. Today it was an exceptional problem. The only reliable and good source of water was Lake Maumelle. Even so I took only a couple of liters rather than the three or four I could have used. Consequently, tonight I’m short of water and more importantly, will be short tomorrow.
The Scott Tarvin Shelter is a newer shelter. As I understand it, the shelter was built earlier this year. It’s one of the nicer shelters on the trail.
Tomorrow is the end. I have 13 miles to go and then I have to find a motel room.
