Spring Break Backpacking: Destination

From WildWiki

1 2006

2006

This year we're searching for hiking areas in the Ozarks, in both Missouri and Arkansas.

ozarkbackpacking.com - excellent beta for a wide selection of trails in the Ozarks

Missouri

Missouri is closer, so it's our first choice. We're looking mostly in the Mark Twain National Forest and its wilderness areas. The ozarkbackpacking.com link above has some great info about trails in this forest.

Mark Twain National Forest - official web site

Finding maps online was mostly less than successful, so we ordered the Forest Visitor Maps (4) that the Forest Service supplies. They've been very helpful thus far.

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Hercules Glades Wilderness

We almost decided on the Hercules Glades Wilderness in the Mark Twain National Forest (Ava Ranger District). All of this wilderness area is included in the HILDA USGS topo (ordered and on its way). Driving directions are in the works. You can also explore this area on Google Local.

This area is a bit small for a 5-6 day hike; we're looking for something else. Would be great for a 3 day weekend trip, though (and we have all the maps for it already).

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Ozark Trail

The Ozark Trail is being built to connect St. Louis with the Ozark Highlands trail at the MO/AR border. There are significant sections of it that look promising, in particular, the Blair Creek, Current River, Between the Rivers, and Eleven Point River sections.

Official Website
Good pictures and trail info (ozarkbackpacking.com)
Ozark Trail Map

This trail is closer to Earlham than the OHT, but seems to involve more travel along forest roads, ATV trails, etc. We're going for the OHT instead.

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Arkansas

There are supposed to be excellent hiking trails with many loop options in the Ouachitas, but they're too far from Earlham. We also looked at the Ozark Highlands Trail and the trail along the Buffalo National River.

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Ozark Highlands Trail

Ian at the Arkansas Trails Committee was very helpful (501-682-1301). Notes from our phone conversation of Mar. 6, 2006:

not really any good loop trails of the length we need in Arkansas; they're all linear
the OHT is probably our best bet; good trail with access to National Forest campgrounds every 8-10 miles
they're in a drought now, water may be sparse this time of year (but available at campgrounds)
the weather is entirely unpredictable
the west end of the trail was taken over for development, unclear about proper start location (we're probably more interested in the east end anyway)
doesn't know of any good shuttle options in the area (possibly try the outfitters around the Buffalo river)
- TM - there is lots of good shuttle info in Tim Ernst's book. I called around, they range mostly from $100-$140 for a 40-60 mile hike
will send us some literature on hiking the trail
also highly recommended the OHT Guide, 4th ed., by Tim Ernst (we already have a copy)

Mary at the Forest Service (479-968-2354 or 479-964-7200) was also super helpful. She had a lot of things to say and stayed on with me for a long time to help figure out the needed topos, etc. Notes from our conversation Mar 8, 2006:

call the district office at 479-284-3150 to make sure there will be no prescribed burns (they are just starting them now)
- check out this map for an overview of the burns -- it looks like we're safe
there have been bears sighted in the area; it is recommended to hang food (but they have had no incidents)
the eastern half of the OHT is one of the most beautiful parts, but has more mellow terrain than the western half
the eastern half also has more water than the west
they forecast rain for the next week, so the streams and waterfalls should be flowing when we get there.
the Richland Creek Wilderness, which we want to explore in addition to the OHT, is almost all included on the Moore quad; the western tip of the wilderness area extends onto the Lurton quad
the OHT is probably not marked on the quads; we will have to figure that out
I ordered 2 copies each of the following USGS quads: Eula, Moore, Lurton, Sand Gap, and Fort Douglas ($60 total)
she recommended finding shuttle service from the following folks:
- Moore Outdoors, 479-331-3606
  - $125 from Richland Creek Campground to Big Piney Trailhead and that's as far as they go but they could work something out if we wanted to go from Stack Rock Trailhead (7 mi further on trail) instead
- Rivertech, 479-890-6980
  - does not run a shuttle service
- Byrd's Canoe (479-667-4066)
  - $100 from Richland Creek Campground to Big Piney Trailhead
  - $110 from Stack Rock Trailhead to Big Piney Trailhead
- Buffalo Outdoor Center (800-582-2244)
  - $165 from Richland Creek Campground to Big Piney Trailhead
- Hankins Store (870-294-5324) is probably not a good bet; Don is dealing with cancer and doesn't keep a very regular schedule as a consequence.
  - TM update - I had left a message at his place earlier and Don just called me back. He can do the shuttle for $60, but all he has is a pickup truck. He suggested we all just hop in the back. Not sure we'll all fit. Might still work, e.g., if we leave students + 1-2 of us at the trail head, then go drop off the van at the other end. Will call Don a couple days before trip if we want a shuttle. We probably should find something else, unless it's real expensive.
we don't need permits, but we should let the district office (# above) know what our itinerary is
we can camp anywhere along the trail

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North Carolina/Tennessee

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Great Smoky Mountains

We also explored other possibilities: In particular, Tova Boehm recommended the Smokies along the North Carolina/Tennessee border. The following e-mail from Tova's dad, Bruce, outlines the specifics:

"I recall that when the family hiked the AT we started in Waterville, NC which is right at the intersection of Interstate 40 and the NC-Tennessee border. You'll find Waterville in the upper right section of this map: http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_national_park/tn/m_eastsm.htm. (I think we actually parked our car at Davenport Gap Campground.)

"Getting to Waterville looks like it's about a 7 hour drive, mostly on Interstates, from Richmond.

"The National Park Service has an online trail map of the whole Great Smoky Mountains Park at: Media:GRSM_Trail_Map_2005.pdf. If you go to the upper right corner you'll see all the trails. I believe we hiked the AT southwest to Tri-Corner Knob campground, then we headed east to Mt Sterling (where there is a fire tower we climbed) and then to Big Creek Campground where we got a ride back to Davenport Gap.

"With all the trails, it looks like you can put together a 35 mile loop pretty easily. The NPS site has other links that might be helpful."

After talking with a couple folks it became apparent that weather will be a big issue this time of year. It can range anywhere from 70 degrees and sunny to blizzards accumulating 1-2 feet of snow.

Current GRSM Weather

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Virginia

Talked to Gil at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports (434-977-4400) about Jefferson and Shenandoah. He indicated that it's unlikely we will find a loop trail of significant length in either location. It's probably possible, though, to some hiking and then hike back to the car on the AT (not sure what this would look like on a map -- some figure 8 type stuff maybe). He recommended the Big Run and Brown Mountain trails in Shenandoah (no luck finding info on these yet).

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