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Ozark Highlands Trail

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    • Actually got some decent views without trees at one point.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Glad I did not have to ford the Little Mulberry. But did my shoes a little wet at Lick Branch at the end of the day.

      Found the tree with the two holes interesting, along with the rock wall someone had built.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Astro ().

    • Sunday morning instead of hiking back 15 miles, I started down the Forrest Service/County Road a little over a mile before I caught a ride down to AR 215. After a few more miles I got lucky again as a couple of hikers headed to Arbaugh Road Trail Head took me right to my car. :thumbup:

      So by 8:30am I was back at my car and ready to head home as the fog moved in and the rain would eventually follow. Sometimes I guess you just get lucky. :)

      This picture is one took while walking down AR 215.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Another reason I was happy to try the roadwalking on Sunday was that I heard a lot of shots from hunters on Saturday. I started out with my orange jacket. But once it warmed up it was just my orange Astros hat and a red shirt. And it was clear Saturday, would hate to get confused for a deer in the fog on Sunday. :/
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • LIhikers wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      This boundary area marking was interesting.

      Astro wrote:

      .......Found the tree with the two holes interesting, along with the rock wall someone had built.
      I enjoy coming across old rock walls, foundations, and other reminders of an area's history. It makes me wonder what was going on and what people were doing.
      Some of the AT rock walls I believe are from the Civil War.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Lots of pioneer remains in that area.
      It has interesting history.....minimal settlement until after civil war....and still pretty minimal until 20th century. There's an old homestead at Turner bend that's a museum. Never heavily settled the homesteads were widely spaced in small subsistence farm operations. The people built corn cribs to hide their corn in the woods, so that yankees or Indians couldn't steal it.

      Old roads that are maintained today.....still ford creeks.....roads are impassable after rain. Maybe 6" - 3 ft feet deep normally.... The Woolum Ford is one that can be 4+ feet deep.... Jeeps with snorkels as high as the windshield aren't uncommon.......Some pioneer road remnants remain....wagon ruts.

      It was an incredible wildlife filled hunting ground. One settlers record in the early 1800s recorded him killing 80 deer and bear in one week.

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • Muddywaters wrote:

      Lots of pioneer remains in that area.
      It has interesting history.....minimal settlement until after civil war....and still pretty minimal until 20th century.

      Old roads that are maintained today.....still ford creeks.....roads are impassable after rain. Some pioneer road remnants remain....wagon ruts.

      It was an incredible wildlife filled hunting ground. One settlers record in the early 1800s recorded him killing 80 deer and bear in one week.
      That guy's family was definitely not going to starve. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      There's there's also remnants of some places that were small communities, that totally disappeared after they built the railroad and everybody moved to be closer to the railroad.
      I always tell my students you can see a path of migration of the American population from the water ways (rivers/canals) to the railroads to the highways/interstates.

      A key purpose of the Corps of Discovery (Lewis & Clark Expedition) was to find a water path from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      I thought this mushroom was interesting. It was growing out of the bottom of a trre a storm had knocked over.
      That is a very cool looking mushroom. I cannot figure out what it is.


      Astro wrote:

      After a few more miles I got lucky again as a couple of hikers headed to Arbaugh Road Trail Head took me right to my car. :thumbup:
      At the end of a section hike I always make sure I am extra friendly with any hikers I meet, just in case they are walking towards their car :)
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • When my children were younger I took them at separate times to Black Friday sales, even sitting bundled up outside waiting in camp chairs.

      But nothing I really need now and not too keen on hanging out in crowds of strangers at this time. So heading out in the morning for a couple more days on the OHT. Originally planned three days but Sunday forecast is rain with temperatures eventually below freezing. Not my favorite combination. :S

      Picking up a few more pounds this trip with 20* bag and winter clothing (puffy, gloves, beanie, long underwear, thick wool socks to sleep in).
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Trail can have a few spots on eastern end that get hard to follow once leaves ares down due to poor blazing. Its a bit frustrating. Not for long distance is just 20 or 30 yards but still......thats enough Two people have a big advantage can one can stand in a spot while the other wanders around and looks for the trail...... But if one person gets off the trail he may take awhile to find again. When I hit spots like that I tie my bright orange bandana on a tree so I can see where I was....while i wander a bit.

      Guthook and plenty of battery is good idea.
    • max.patch wrote:

      Muddywaters wrote:

      When I hit spots like that I tie my bright orange bandana on a tree so I can see where I was....while i wander a bit.
      Never thot of that; good idea.
      Most I've done when I get "confused" is start the stopwatch on my watch so I know how long I've walked if I need to return to my starting point.

      Well, right now about this time on the OHT, much of the trail is barely discernible. Particularly on the eastern end that gets the least traffic. Just a slight depression in the leaves where they've been stepped on, about 1 ft wide. How well you can see it or not may depend on the angle of the Sun. If the sun is shining straight into your eyes, through the leafless trees, like in the morning you might not even be able to see it. You follow the trail much by intuition just knowing how the trail would be routed, looking for a lack of little sticks sticking up from leaves to be a sign of a trail corridor, occasionally logs that are sawn, etc. You can be standing right on the trail, and not know it, unless you're looking just right in the direction that you came from or are heading and can see that very very subtle sign of a trail. Aside from that, it may all look the same, woods with leaves on the ground. time or even counting steps isn't going to reliably locate where the trail is again once you leave it. Without blazes visible.... It just simply vanishes.

      When I hiked it in the fall much of the last 25 or so miles was like that. And honestly it's kind of mentally tiring to me to have to focus so hard on where's the trail constantly, and not daydream or think about other things. To the point I actually found it not enjoyable.

      That time I recall about twice I lost the trail just at a blaze and could not see which direction it went...at all. Obviously I found it but took maybe 10 minutes or such each time. Too much of that gets very old. Just not enjoyable.

      The post was edited 4 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • Muddywaters wrote:

      Trail can have a few spots on eastern end that get hard to follow once leaves ares down due to poor blazing. Its a bit frustrating. Not for long distance is just 20 or 30 yards but still......thats enough Two people have a big advantage can one can stand in a spot while the other wanders around and looks for the trail...... But if one person gets off the trail he may take awhile to find again. When I hit spots like that I tie my bright orange bandana on a tree so I can see where I was....while i wander a bit.

      Guthook and plenty of battery is good idea.
      Guthook is my hiking partner. :)

      Helped quite a few times the past couple of days.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • After family get together for Thanksgiving I stayed up a little later than I intended, causing me to sart a little later than intended Friday. Started at Ozone Trailhead and hiked only 7.8 miles, but there were lots of river/stream crossings (nearly a dozen I had to ford in the two days). After less than 2 miles I was fording the Mulberry River where New York Supreme Court Justice James Boomer drowned in 1993. Often I would look for places shallower than where the white plazes would lead you to cross.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Astro ().

    • Around 4pm I stopped at a campsite where 3 people were already setup, got water and cooked supper. After that I hiked until dark and found the best spot I could past Waterfall Hollow Falls. Was guide my wife asked me to save my new tent for Christmas, as I would have hated to tear a whole into it the first night. Was glad I brought my 20* bag as it was below freezing in the morning.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • About 2.5 miles in Saturday morning I had to ford Lewis Prong for the first of three times. Definitely was not going across where the white blaze was. Was probably more than four feet deep with the land higher than that off the water. Best option appeared to be to double cross where it looked shallower. Since I needed to take my wool long underwear off, decided to just leave my pants off too.
      I deveoped 3 levels of fording.
      1. Take trail runners and socks off, put on Vivobarefeet, and roll up pant's leggs
      2. Unzip switchbacks
      3. Take pants completely off
      Once on the otherside all the leaves were still covered with frost. Yes the water was definitely cold.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Astro ().

    • Hiked 6.9 miles to get to Arbaugh Trailhead for 14.7 miles total. And yes it was the third time I hiked that last mile, but the first time in daylight. Now have 84.7 of 253 miles, and completed the first of three maps.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I had intenended to get 12.7 miles the first day, and then just have 2 miles to hike before the 18 mile road walk back to my car. But with the late start, fords, wet leaves, slippery rocks, and sometimes the trail being a stream it took longer than I planned. Was looking like I was going to be walking quite a bit in the dark.

      But fortunately I caught a ride a couple miles in with a couple going to eat at the Oark Cafe. Then after not walking very far was picked by some women going to the Catalapa Cafe. One of them had section hiked the OHT, and was now working on hiking in all 14 states of the AT (7 down).
      So now I headed down CR 5440 for about a mile when I got the best treat yet. A guy, his son, and dog picked me up in his 68 Mercury Park Lane red convertible. Great story behind it. His dad bought it the day he was born and missed his birth (only 1 out of 6 kids). Hid it in a storage garage (and from his wife) for 14 years, and then gave it to his son for his birthday (the one driving in the Santa Claus hat). It only has 33,000 miles on it. I was just lucky that this was the day he decided to take for a ride out in the country. I went from walking hours in the dark to actually sitting down to eat at Cracker Barrel before the sun went down. 8)
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Had two great wildlife sightings. White tail deer with a very bushy tail. And as I was trying to determine the best place to ford the third crossing of Lewis Prong an otter surfaced, and I quickly grabbed my phone, but by then it had gone back under. And I never got to see it resurface again.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Great photos and great trip report Astro.
      Beautiful car, what a B-day present!
      Still trying to figure out how you can hide a car for years from your wife :)
      That water must have been cold...

      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Based upon the rest of the conversation with him, I believe we are talking about a lot more disposable income than our families grew up with. I know my father could not even have dreamed of being able to pull something like that off. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      Still trying to figure out how you can hide a car for years from your wife
      People hide all kinds of stuff. Apartments, money, debt, girlfriends, kids, second families, criminal records.... real identitys.....a car sounds easy by comparison to me.
      Says a lot about the marriage though.
      Claimed it was only thing his dad ever held secret from his mother. Well at least for 14 years.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      Muddywaters wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      Still trying to figure out how you can hide a car for years from your wife
      People hide all kinds of stuff. Apartments, money, debt, girlfriends, kids, second families, criminal records.... real identitys.....a car sounds easy by comparison to me.Says a lot about the marriage though.
      Claimed it was only thing his dad ever held secret from his mother. Well at least for 14 years.
      I wouldnt believe that ..... You don't just hide a car from your wife for 14 years.

      It's like making your first crime a bank robbery. You always start small and go bigger over time.

      Pretty much means that the wife wasn't involved in household finances.......or credit card statements.....or checkbook..... So she was in the dark about a lot of stuff. Like a mushroom.
    • The three trips I have taken on the OHT I have heard gun shots, but this was the first time I actually saw a deer stand on the trail.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I know my pictures are not doing justice to what I am seeing. So if you want you can watch the first 10 minutes of this video and get a better respresentation of what I plan to do tomorrow. 8)

      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • OHT has good parts. And by that I don't mean awesome scenery.....but interesting trail....water crossings.... Even hazardous water crossings.... Waterfalls.....pioneer remnants.... Used to be quite a bit of solitude....I once went 5 days without seeing another person.....etc.

      But, it also quite a bit of what I would call some quite boring trail. Trail that seems to be laid out to gather as much distance between roads as possible. Many sections are eerily exactly 20 mi each........coincidence ?
      The trail can wind endlessly around drainage gullys on the flanks of ridges....in and out .... For five, seven, even nine miles..... With nary a view or interesting feature to see. Sometimes there's a road on the ridge.... and a creek in the drainage.... So the trail stays in between.


      ..... And the four mile gravel road walk at woolum is well ..a 4 mile road walk. The trail omits the Nars (narrows) of the Buffalo river... And passes right by it.......

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • Muddywaters wrote:

      OHT has good parts. And by that I don't mean awesome scenery.....but interesting trail....water crossings.... Even hazardous water crossings.... Waterfalls.....pioneer remnants.... Used to be quite a bit of solitude....I once went 5 days without seeing another person.....etc.

      But, it also quite a bit of what I would call some quite boring trail. Trail that seems to be laid out to gather as much distance between roads as possible. Many sections are eerily exactly 20 mi each........coincidence ?
      The trail can wind endlessly around drainage gullys on the flanks of ridges....in and out .... For five, seven, even nine miles..... With nary a view or interesting feature to see. Sometimes there's a road on the ridge.... and a creek in the drainage.... So the trail stays in between.


      ..... And the four mile gravel road walk at woolum is well ..a 4 mile road walk. The trail omits the Nars (narrows) of the Buffalo river... And passes right by it.......
      After hiking the AT in NH & ME the past three years (or even CO this year), I definitely miss the views. But hey it barely more than 2 hours away, so I will make the most of it.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • 9.6 from Ozone to Rosetta trailheads.
      Now completed 94.3 miles.
      Got up early Saturday morning to drive to Ozone to try and maximize winter daylight. Unfortunately did not go to bed as early Friday night as I should have, so it might have been counterproductive. Was planning on 11.8 miles Saturday, and then another 1.4 on Sunday before taking the County Roads back. But that would have also meant doing 2 more early morning fords with temperatures below freezing. I had already done 5 fords on Saturday, and was getting tired of swapping shoes. Plus going 2 weekends in a row and the end of the semester, I had plenty of work to get back to.

      Right off at the beginning there was the remains of a stone structure built by the CCC, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture. I did get a few of some bolders.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General