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Ozark Highlands Trail: Days 18-20: Hiking with the OHTA and Completing Every Inch of Trail
Ozark Highlands Trail
Day 18: Sunday April 28: Hiking with members of the OHTA
Hiking plans for the day:
8:30ish- meet Roy at Red Bank Recreational Area, get a ride to Barren Creek Trail Head
9:00ish- Meet the rest of the group at Barren Creek, hike 3.5 miles to the Northern Terminus of the OHT on the border of Arkansas and Missouri, snacks
11:00ish- Hike back to Barren Creek
12:00ish- lunch and then continue south on un-built trail for 2 miles
14:00ish- rejoin newly built trail at Bean Bluff and continue south 4 miles to Red Bank
Total miles hiked: 13
Total trail miles: 9.5
The map of our plans for the day. This one is not on the OHTA website, we got it from Roy himself.
9:47
Barren Creek Trail Head. The newest stretch of trail extending north to the Missouri Border.
10:25
The group walks along trail through an old rock bed between bits of forest.
11:18
Freshly carved out trail. There are still a lot of roots sticking out. I did not know that the single track I am used to walking on is smoothed out over time. Fresh trail is a bit chunky but better than nothing! We learned that trail was built double wide to accommodate groups of school children on field trips. There is an initiative in the state to get kids outside and people in the OHTA felt it was important to make it easier for school buses and large groups of kids to have access to wilderness.
Large blue blazes painted on the trees lead the way in this stretch.
11:30
We made it to the very northern end of the OHT!
A view of Bean Bluff from the northern terminus. That house in the distance belongs to a huge patron of the OHT who happily gave permissions for trail to be built along the edge of his property- called Bean Bluff.
The house in the distance lives on Bean Bluff. From the Barren Creek TH to Bean Bluff is a two mile bushwhack for Washerrr and I. That part of trail will be dug out by this summer, so Washerrr and I get a little sneak preview before anyone else.
13:13
A group photo with the beautiful landscape in the background. From left to right: Washerrr, PocketSnacks, Phil (the OHTA president), Elizabeth and Josh (OHTA members and trail maintainers of a stretch in the western part of trail). Roy is the one taking the photo and is in our featured photo.
14:51
Pink ribbons lead the way on our short but sweet 2 mile bushwhack.
This stretch of trail leads us past 3 old and historic zinc mines. In WW2 zinc was harvested from the area to help create ammunition for the war. Once the war was over the mines were abandoned. They are about 6.5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The deepest mine only went in 25 feet or so. Such a cool history lesson!
16:11
We see a HUGE GOLDEN EAGLE FLY ABOVE/ NEXT to us right after Bean Bluff. It was almost eye level. WOW.
I’m loving these double wide trails.
I have learned what bald eagles sound like.
A photo of Bean Bluff (on the right) and Norfork Lake to the left. We met this friendly dog who lives in the house above the bluff. She followed us for a few miles and then went back home. I hope you are doing well buddy!
17:43
Arrive back at at Red Bank. We hang out on the pier for a little bit watching the cool ripples on the water. They cross-sect themselves creating this special kind of ripple wave. It is mesmerizing.
A view from the dock at Red Bank Recreation Area, which has a public boat ramp, a dock, and access to David’s Trail.
19:00
Dinner at Live Edge. A sports bar. The atmosphere is horrendous compared to the woods, over stimulating to the extreme. The food, however, is impeccable. I get the bacon cheese burger and Washerrr gets the honey something breaded chicken with bbq and honey mustard. It is also amazing.
Reflections
Today is indescribable. This is my favourite day on trail. Between sharing the hike this morning with Phil, Roy, Josh and Elizabeth, to bushwhacking a 2 mile stretch that is supposed to be complete by summer, to strolling on double wide trail for four miles along the lake coast…. Everything was pure magic.
The bushwhack was nothing like the Lower Buffalo Wilderness Bushwhack. There were pink ribbons tied to the trees so often we couldn’t get lost. Except when Ted, the main trail digger for the area, decided to put a fork in the trail. We got a little lost, then decided to back track and we found our way again. It was raining a bit in and off during this time but that didn’t stop us from carefully inspecting the historic zinc mines and the rock formations in the area. Absolutely fascinating. All because of meeting some folx at a park last night.
We reached the northern terminus today! We skipped up to do this section with the OHTA today instead of making this part of our second contiguous stretch. We wanted to experience the community and the trail today. We walked from Barren Creek up to the border of Arkansas and Missouri. Today we reached the farthest point in Arkansas and we edged a little into the state above.
We wound our way back to the trail head learning more about the environment, trees, wildlife, and old homestead from Josh as we walked through. A fuller picture of the area painted by the people who knew the rich history and wanted to share. It made this section that much more magical adding context and community to what has been mostly a purely aesthetically pleasing trail. There is so much to see in every section. Sure, the views are lacking, but what this trail does not have in large sweeping views, it has quadruple in the details.
We were so honored to hike with these folx today, just as they seemed honored to hike with us. The liminal meeting point where each party held the same reverence for the other, with gratitude and respecting know we only existed because of each other. A true symbiotic relationship.
I can already feel my legs starting to get sore. We haven’t been hiking as much and I started to hobble after dinner. We’re going to have to stretch a lot when we are done. Lest we fall victim to a very delayed stress response.
We have 25 miles left to complete and then we will have hiked every single mile of completed OHT. This is very exciting.
Day 19: Monday April 29: Starting the Final Stretch
Our final hiking plans:
8.2 miles- Panther Creek section
6.7 miles- Robison Point to Panther Bay- also known as David’s Trail pt. 1
9.6 miles- Bidwell Point to Red Bank- also known as David’s Trail pt. 2
Plus the bridge walk to get from panther bay to bidwell point. Will use AllTrails to track our mileage today and tomorrow.
Total miles: 24.5
Packing up our car after our last night at Fish and Fiddle. This is the last cabin to be renovated and we enjoyed the old-timey aesthetic. It will soon be painted over with white with black trim and newer appliances will be inside. For now, this was perfect for two pieces of hiker trash.
6:30
I wake up naturally and do not want to squander our extra time. I stay in bed to stretch my hips and legs before taking my last shower on this trip.
It’s funny, the more experienced I become as a thru hiker the less it annoys me when I have to take a shower knowing that I will be hiking it off in a few hours. It has become part of the deal and I am just grateful to get clean one more time. It took 3 showers to wash away the grime and dirt from our 18 days with stream baths only.
It’s a cool and humid morning, making it feel colder than normal. The sky is still overcast, threatening rain. It rained all night and I am glad we stayed at the resort one last time. Nothing lasts forever and our chapter here is almost closed. I feel some sadness at this ending but more I feel immense gratitude for the incredible journey life has taken us on this hike.
9:15
We head to the office to meet Jasclyn. She and Bosco are on a short walk around the resort, so we meet them when they are done.
9:30
We head to Red Bank with Jaclyn behind us.
10:00ish
We arrive at Red Bank and park our car. Jasclyn is shuttling us to Panther Creek Trailhead. Our goal is to hike back to Red Bank by tomorrow.
10:45
We arrive at the trailhead and we talk to Jasclyn for 10 minutes. We were both so grateful to have met the other, I cried. She cried. We got our group photo before saying goodbye and thank you one last time. This trail is filled with magical people. We head out and my tears dry.
24.5 miles left to go, I can almost taste it.
The TH to Panther Creek Bridge is just a pull off on the side of the road. The surrounding neighborhood is quiet and peaceful, making this small parking spot less intimidating.
14:00
We stop at the Robinson Point trail head for lunch. The Panther Creek section of 7.6 miles is now complete! Now we have an alleged 17 miles of David’s Trail to Red Bank. We are unsure of actual mileage due to the AllTrails maps being so weirdly loopy. We are tracking our miles through the app today so we can have a more accurate count of this section 🙂 (hopefully)
14:30
We gets started on the second half of the day- to Bidwell Point and just beyond, to great camping with picnic tables and clear skies…
18:00
We land at Bidwell point RV camp. We just walked over the longest bridge… there was so little room for walking and the guard rail made of cement was only waist high. This is my least favourite part of trail. This was such a scary road walk. There were not that many cars out but still, my heart is pounding so fast right now. I am glad it is over. We heard rumors that there is decent camping up ahead so we take a moment to refill our water bottles at this camp ground.
We are 7.51 miles from the beginning of David’s Trail according to the AllTrails tracking.
18:46
It turns out the camp ground was the best place to sleep. We did not want to turn back so we hike 1.2 miles further and found a flat spot right on trail. There are no other tenting options, but the double wide trail means there is camping anywhere, kinda. We find a decent enough spot and stop for the night. It was a decent day, we think, in terms of miles. The jumbled mess of AllTrails maps that we are using has not been accurate with miles. We have been trying to keep track but we will know for sure until we get back to cell service. Oh well.
It’s daal, pumpkin, red beans, and rice for dinner. The second time we’ve had it and it’s been my favourite meal so far. I love town food but I feel better when I eat the healthy gluten and dairy free meals we made for trail. This one Washerrrs mom made for us! Thank you!
Reflections:
Today was a surprisingly more difficult day than anticipated. There were non stop ups and downs, never too long, but incessant. All. Day. Long. We pushed at least 16 miles today despite the late start. Feels good.
We have about 8.5 miles to go to Red Bank and the end of our thru hike. It’s been an incredible journey AND I am ready to get home. It’s been 19 days with no zero days. A fun and physically demanding adventure.
I love my Thermarest but at that point it deflates so fast it’s hardly worth using. It continues to leak at a surprising rate. It’s worse when I’m sitting up, and better when I’m laying down but still. This is a nuisance. Alas. There are worst things in the world.
Time for bed, and one final sleep on trail. Thank you trail for all the gifts you have given us.
More freshly carved out trail, still rocky and still easier than a bushwhack to navigate. This section is filled with steep ups and downs just like this one.
The beginning of David’s Trail.
David’s Trail has several educational placards placed on tree’s throughout certain sections. I enjoyed learning about the local flora and fauna as we hiked through this area.
Washerrr and I on the bridge walk.. my least favourite part of trail but I will say, it has a pretty view. We happened to cross as day was giving way to dusk. Stunning!
Day 20: Tuesday April 30: Finishing Trail and Retracing our Steps
6:00
Alarm. Snoozed thrice. It has been drizzling for hours. We are next to the lake so everything is condensation station. We have 8.5 miles to go. I tell Washerrr it’s time to get up and he barely stirs. My sleeping pad deflated the most times last night. I kept waking up with my butt on the ground. I would feel around, find the inflation valve, and push 8 breaths into the pad. I could feel it rise beneath me, filling out. Ah, comfort once again. Back to sleep, once again.
I guess this is what Ryan (our siamese cat) was training me for with his nighttime snuggle needs. I do not feel rested today but that does not matter. We are almost done with trail! I am a mixture of emotions. Mainly I am driven to get up and get going before it starts to really rain.
The misty and dew covered morning. The expanse of white is where the lake would be, if we could see it.
The dew covered spider webs made them easier to photograph. Usually I am not a spider enthusiast but these webs are so cool! And the spiders are so small.
A fun part of trail involving climbing up and down these rocks.
More cool spiderwebs. These ground spider webs littered the forest floor everywhere we went. It was hard to photograph until our last day, when they stood out in the overcast light against the soft and lush mossy ground.
We took some time to explore this abandoned house on the lake. We know nothing of its history but we still enjoyed poking about.
11:40
Anddd we arrive back at Red Bank! Our thru hike is complete 🙂 No rain, the mist cleared up and even gave way to the sun. It is such a beautiful day. We spend some time drying out our wet gear in the sun as we sit in the back of Milie and revel in our most recent accomplishment- finishing the Ozark Highlands Trail in its entirety.
302.6 miles complete!
Drying off by the lake and giving our feet a little rest before continuing on. You can see the abandoned house in the background on the left.
13:05- Post Trail Rewind
We stop at Matney Knob to drop off Washerrr’s walking stick. It came into his life when he needed it and now it will be there for someone else. Thank you stick!
And we’re off to get our food caches and see Wendell at the General Store 🙂
Washerrr returning the walking stick to trail at Matney Knob, on the left. On the right is the trail log at Matney Knob. I was surprised to see that our trail entries were back to back, from when we left our car to when we completed that 254 mile stretch.
13:47
We pick up our cache at Moccasin Springs TH and are off to Dillard’s ferry. It is WILD how recently we were just at these places picking up our food.. it is also wild how long ago that felt like.
17:22
We return to the Sand Gap General Store aka Hankins Country Store to see Wendell!!
His wife Jessica was there instead. We talk to her for a bit about Wendell. He is doing better on new meds! We relay that we are happy to hear the news and to let Wendell know that we appreciate all his help on this trip.
We order our pizza and then do our shopping. We acquire all the things we wanted on our wish list. We eat the pizza at our usual spot and then! Wendell shows up. We talk to him for a while, expressing our gratitude in person once again. We ask for a picture this time, to commemorate another beautiful human who is integral to our experience on this trail. Thank you Wendell!
Wendell from the Sand Gap General Store. The kindest and most generous man. If you are ever in Arkansas, make your way to Pelsor to pay them a visit!
Washerrr and I spend the last daylight hours unpacking our caches, throwing away the trash, and gathering the leftover goods into one bucket. We have 2 more caches to pick up still andddd we need to reclaim some space so we can sleep in the car tonight.
18:35
With full bellies and full hearts Washerrr and I head out to pick up our last two caches.
20:08
We depart from the Ozone Trail head heading towards Morgan fields. We have to look at a map to find our way. Cell service is non-existent. I try everything in my power to stay awake and help Washerrr navigate.
21:05
We arrive successfully at the Morgan Fields trail head using a map! And our brains! I did not want to get the cache in the dark so Washerrr bravely wandering off into the night. I get Milie ready for sleep mode in the mean time. He gets safely back to the car and we open it immediately to find our things dry and safe. I was a little worried leaving my puffy and other fabric items inside the bucket as we didn’t know if it was fully sealed. Even though we put tape around it, I was still curious if moisture could get in at all. Turns out our plan worked!
Soon I am in my jammies and crawling into the back of our car. We do our last nightly tick check. It has become the standard routine as you know. It feels weird that this is our last one, as we will be out of Arkansas and on our way home by tomorrow night. I’ll probably keep checking for ticks for a few days…. just to be sure.
The sadness settles in as this part of our adventure comes to a close. I do not like transitions like this. It feels abrupt and I don’t feel like I had enough time on trail and at the same time… I am ready to go home. I am a mixed bag of emotions and that is ok. It has been a long and very filled day.
It’s time for bed and in the morning, our drive home.
21:45
Sleep.
Stats
Miles hiked: 8.5
Total Miles on Trail: 302.6
Final reflections:
I am not great with transitions and this one was hard. I was ready to be done with trail and also ready to hike another 300 miles by the end. Words do not come easily to describe this experience. I sit with immense gratitude for every bit of this adventure.
A shoutout to everyone who followed along on our journey, and anyone we met along the way. I am eternally grateful for this journey, this trail, and all the people who made this possible.
A special shoutout to Wendell and Jessica of the Sand Gap General Store. Since the completion of our hike back in April we have learned of Wendell’s passing. My you rest in God’s arms Wendell, May you rest in the same love and light you brought to this earth. Thank you for everything. I know we are not alone in expressing our deepest gratitude for your presence on trail. You will live forever as an integral part of every thru-hikers adventure on the OHT. If you find yourself on the OHT or in Arkansas, visit Pelsor and help support this amazing local family run business. It is truly a place that feels like home.
With love and gratitude, PocketSnacks
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Comments 1
Is this the section where yous guys hiked Space Mountain and Splash Mountain?
Where Disney meets Twin Peaks.
Ba-dum CH.🙌🏾