Late into a Friday afternoon, a crew of 7 gathered at the Rental Shop to prepare for our trek to Arkansas. We quickly loaded up Rafiki the van, briefed the participants, and were out, finally leaving the shop at a little before 6 PM. While driving through the pretty East Texas countryside, we stopped in the great city of Paris for some nice Chick-Fil-A before making our final stretch to the Ouachita Mountains. Unfortunately, because of our late start, we didn’t make it to camp until sometime around 11 pm. Thankfully, we were able to get headlamps out and set up camp pretty quickly, staying in an improved backcountry site. The next morning, we had some truly fantastic, culinarily extraordinary egg and cheese tacos. It is undeniable that these would be enough to make a man cry after several days in the backcountry. It was also at this time we met Billy the campground supervisor. Appearing out of nowhere like a game character intent on offering us a quest, he came to share with us his wise words of wisdom, as well as jotting down the personal information of our trip leader for safety reasons.
We broke down camp and took Rafiki to the trailhead. Soon enough, we were off, keeping a rather brisk pace when considering the steep incline, we were forced to endure. Thankfully, the participants were all experienced hikers and were able to handle the strain. Out in the Ouachitas, it’s nothing but small, heavily forested mountains as far as the eye can see. What this meant was an up-and-down trek on the ridgeline for some time. While eating lunch atop one of the peaks, it started to sprinkle a little. Diego, being smart enough to have kept up with the weather forecasts, had warned us of afternoon showers, and we knew that their time had now come. But alas, luck was on our side! The sprinkles subsided with haste, and the rest of the day was bright, sunny, and extraordinarily pleasant. When we set up camp, everyone decided to make the most of our precious time and take a several hour-long nap. Armed with hammocks and crazy creek chairs, we were perfectly poised to take full advantage of our leisurely opportunities in the woods. We also took a quick dip in the waterfall and got some nice pictures on disposable cameras. Once night had come, we made some extraordinary marinara pasta with chicken. We managed to eat quite well in the backcountry!
As for our last day, we made exceptional time, breaking camp faster than anticipated. We also got back to the van in what was almost record time. According to Diego’s tracker, at certain points, we had a pace of around 7 miles an hour! We then began the journey home. We stopped at Panda Express along the way and listened to excellent music on our way back. The participants were all exhausted at the end but seemed very satisfied with the experience! They were able to learn about LNT principles, how to operate a backpacking stove, how to poop in the backcountry, how to purify water, and how to safely use bear bags and practice bear safety during the trip. All of the participants had experience hiking and camping, but few had experience in the backcountry. So, while they were able to learn a great deal about backcountry safety, they already came in with a decent bit of knowledge. It was a fun trip, and a productive one too!
Dillon Quicksall
SMU OA Trip Leader in Training
