Ozark Highlands Trail

Day 15: Thursday April 25, 2024: Our First Blaze in 20 Miles and 3000 Trail Miles

6:00

Alarm. Bah..

6:30

Wake up..!

7:00

Hear rain..

Pack up and get out at 7:25 …it’s starting to rain!

7:35

We pass our first white blaze in 20 miles. What an incredible accomplishment. Shortly after we dump out at the Spring Creek Trail Head. The signage says 16 miles to Dillard’s Ferry via GPS. We know we hiked roughly 20 miles to get here. Perhaps we shall never know the exact mileage and that is OK. A lesson in non-attachment. At this point it is enough knowing we made it safely through the bushwhack! *leveling up noises*

We continue on to the Moccasin Spring Trail head to find our 6th food cache. The rain let up enough while we pick up our last stash and of course as we start to hike again, the rain continues to come down.

19:21

Pad Thai for dinner. Salvation!

We are sleeping on a hill top that is very windy. There is much wind and a possible rain storm brewing.

Reflections:

Cold and windy day. Nothing much to report. My hands were a little frozen at the beginning. It got better as the rain let up more. The scenery was more of the same rolling hills with little sight past all of the leaves. At mile 228.1 today.. I reached my 3000 total trail miles! An amalgamation of several trails, an accomplishment I am very proud of.

It hardly feels like anything compared to the plans I had in my head when I was hiking the AT. I thought I would have triple crowned by now but the TBI and subsequent unemployment meant I had to curtail my ambitions. Yet some how despite all the setbacks… I have reached 3000 miles. That is pretty darn cool. 

There were a lot more steep climbs today, away from the shared equestrian paths. It was a nice change of pace. We ploughed along nicely today as there was nothing else to do. We stopped twice under some rocks for protection from the wind and rain as we ate our snacks and planned our next moves.

The day felt slow but went by quickly. I was ready to crawl into bed immediately upon arrival and set up. My hiking outfit was not meant for the cold rain , my wool buff is the thing that kept me warm all day. Wrapped around my neck and sometimes pulling it up over my hair like a thin but effective beanie.

We hiked more miles in fewer hours than normal today. It was nice getting into camp early— meaning into bed and warmth. I dreamed of this moment all day. Temporary discomfort is tolerable.

Now it is 19:48 and I am ready for bed. We have 13.5 miles left to Matney Knob, Milie (our Prius), more food, and some freedom as we plan our last two legs- the Norfork Section and David’s Trail.

Tonight is the first night in awhile that there are no whippoorwills whipping us to sleep.

The wind died down and one chirped up.

Stats:

Ended: 240.1

Traveled: 18.5 miles

Water crossings: 13 dry/0 wet

Day 16: Friday April 26, 2024: “There is a huge thunderstorm rolling in”

6:00

Alarm- bah!

8:00

It is finally time to start hiking for the day and so I put on my cold wet socks and shoes. I think putting them on is the worst part. Once they are on they start to warm up a bit because I have to start moving around. They are not as sopping as yesterday so that’s good. We have 13.8 miles to get to Milie at Matney Knob. 

There is an OHTA event happening this weekend at Norfork Dam! We’re going to try to make it there to meet some people and hopefully get some help with these last two sections. We have a tentative plan but it would be nice to have a concrete plan for the shuttles.

Matney Knob is the official ending according to some people we’ve talked too so far. However, the website has the Norfork Section and David’s Trail as two more sections of the OHT. They are two separate trails that are hard to get to without a car– which means the end of our continuous foot path. This is one reason planning has been so difficult. We are going to do all we can to finish every inch of official trail while where out here.

My headlamp batteries died last night. It is a good thing I have been carrying an extra set.. just for this occasion! My batteries drained more quickly this time probably because I needed to use the white light to check for ticks every night. Usually I just use the red mode and my batteries will last just over a month. A much needed sacrifice so I could make sure I was safe from the tiny vampires.

11:00

We arrive at a junction with a dirt road. There are two trucks and a couple of hunters. They are packing up their gear and the tell us there is a huge storm cell moving in. We knew it was going to rain later in the day, but they tell us the storm is going to hit within 20 minutes. One of them asks where our car is and we respond that it is 8 miles away up trail.

He offers us a ride and we laugh and point at the sign on the tree that says mile marker 245 “Thank you for the offer but we walked 245 miles to get here and we have 8 to go. No rain will stop us now”. He shrugs and tells us to be safe. Next thing we know we are walking up the dirt road as the clouds darken in the sky above. 

11:11

The rain starts to fall. Light at first, it quickly morphs into monsoon like weather. We hear the crack of lightening and within seconds we feel the rumble of thunder reverberate around us. As we get out our umbrella’s, Washerrr asks me if we made a mistake not pitching our tent to wait it out, he wonders if it is too late to set up the Duplex to crawl inside and play it safe. I remind him that we hiked through hurricanes on the AT.. we can hike through this too. So on we go, out of the frying pan and into the fire.

11:42

The storm rages on around us as we continue to plough forward, trail is a river, this river is trail. For peace of mind Washerrr calls the Fish and Fiddle Resort to book a room for the night. We huddle under our umbrellas and wait for someone on the other end to answer the phone. A kind lady picks up and asks how she can help us. We have to speak loudly for the sound of heavy rain is drowning out our voices. Washerrr explains our situation, that we are thru-hiking the OHT and are near the end of trail, that we are hiking through a thunderstorm and need a place to stay this evening.

A large boom of thunder engulfs our conversation and the lady on the other end asks if she can call us back, she needs to make another phone call to see if there are any cabins available tonight. We ask to stay on the phone, out of fear of losing service. She obliges and within minutes offers us a 2 bedroom cabin. It is more than we need but we accept. Any bed under any roof will serve us well this evening. We express our gratitude and hang up. With a dry place to sleep waiting for us, we continue our trek through the tempest.

As we plod along I wonder to myself if this is karma for all the wet crossings I managed to avoid. If for some reason the universe felt I had shorted myself of the wet feet experience that this trail was supposed to provide. There is nothing to do but laugh as I wade through the ankle deep water. Pain is unavoidable, suffering however, is optional.

14:02

The sky lightens up as the sun peaks its head through the dissipating clouds, filtering its way down through the leaves above, towards the ground below. In the quiet calm after the storm, I see our car in the distance. I immediately tap Washerrr on the shoulder and yell “tag you’re it!” as I dash towards Milie. Washerrr trails behind me as I reach our Prius. I touch our car and turn around to see him sauntering up slowly, a big grin on his face. We both laugh, reveling in the completion of our continuous footpath.

In all my excitement to beat Washerrr to the finish line I forgot to stop at our final mile marker sign. We go back and take a few photos to commemorate how far we just walked (254.9 miles) in 16 days. Not bad, not bad. 

14:30

We arrive at the Y gas station and order bacon pizza with extra. We sit at the tiny table inside amongst all the fishing gear to devour half the pizza in about 5 minutes. We save the rest for later, it is time to go find a shower.

15:45

We find our way to the the Fish and Fiddle resort. As our car pulls in we are greeted by a friendly man named Bill. After checking in we are escorted to our 2 bedroom cabin. The place is huge and luxurious. The rain begins to fall again as we inquire about laundry. There is no guest laundry on site but Bill and Jasclyn, the caretakers, allow us to use their laundry room in the main house. They express interest in helping future thru-hikers. We tell them that we found the Fish and Fiddle resort because one of the segments of trail called the Norfork Trail pops out just down the road from the resort.

Apparently someone from the OHTA had already talked to the owner of the resort about running the OHT through the property. Washerrr and I tell them this is an ideal place for hikers to stop and rest or resupply as there is not much access resources for miles around this part of trail.

We tell them that we’d love to answer any questions about thru-hiker needs down the line. It seems like they already have a general store in the works. Additionally, Jasclyn has already offered to shuttle us for the next two days so we can finish up these last segmented bits of trail.

Bill lets us know that there are beautiful sunrises on the lake if we can make it down there, weather permitting.

This place already feels like home.

16:46

The thunderstorms roar all around us as we finish up our laundry. We spent the last hour in the game room playing pool while our clothes got a much needed wash. We rush back to our cabin down the hill and take turns showering for the first time in 18 days.

19:55

Showered and fresh we head into town to try and catch some OHTA folx at the brewery. We don’t run into any trail people but we do get some goooooooood food! The storms have passed so we sit outside in the perfect and balmy weather. A slug joins us on the table, slowly meandering its way up my glass. Silly slug, I comment as I move it back to the table.

We spend time figuring out our plans for tomorrow, unsure of how many miles we will have to hike. The map we have from the OHTA website says 12 miles while the website itself says 12 miles. The AllTrails maps we have say 25 miles total.. So we may have to run a marathon tomorrow?! Or just about. We mentally prepare to hike our biggest mile day. And if we need to get off- Jasclyn will pick us up.

We’ve run into another small slice of heaven out here. There is so much kindness, even in the remotest of areas. But maybe that’s why people are so kind, there aren’t many and kindness goes a long way.

At that, I am pooped. It’s been a long day and it’s past my bed time.

22:08

In a warm and dry cabin, we get ready for bed and fall asleep to the sound of thunder rumblings outside.

Stats

Finished: mile 254.9

Hiked: 13.8 miles

Water crossings: 6 dry/1 wet