On Sunday morning, March 12, we gathered at the Outdoor Adventures office, introductions were made, and bags were packed. Around 11 AM we set out on the drive to Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas. We stopped for food on the way and found a nice spot to camp close to the trailhead of the Butterfield Trail. We went over campsite selection info before breaking out our backpacking stoves and cooking up some pasta. The next morning, we got a quick backpack packing class from Dr. Mitugo, one of the leaders, before heading over to a mile-long hike showcasing several caves. Next, we started the Butterfield trail, our main destination, and went an additional 4.5 miles before making camp next to a beautiful waterfall where the night sky was phenomenal!
We got up the next morning and got back on the trail for another 5 miles which went by surprisingly quick due to lack of elevation changes on that section of trail. We found an even cooler spot than we had the first two nights with cliffs, caves, another waterfall, and a makeshift living room with chairs made from rocks piled around a large firepit. We set up camp and later made dinner after which we made a campfire and hang out. The day after that we explored the area around our site and went on a hike to an old quarry. We ended with yoga at one of the two lookout spots we explored. We lounged around camp that afternoon and evening sharing stories and preparing to finish the trail.
The next day we got on the trail early breaking camp at 8 AM, by 10 AM it was raining but that didn’t bring us down, we hiked almost all the way to the road head before pitching our tents in one of the hike-in spots close to the main camping area. We huddled in our tents staying warm and dry before cooking quickly during a break in the rain.
The final morning the rain had ended, but we woke up to frozen backpacks because it was 28 degrees! We broke camp swiftly before heading to what would be our final obstacle, the raging thigh-deep river that stood between us and our van. In order from tallest to shortest and grabbing the packs of the person in front of us we waded through and came out the other side with a great feeling of accomplishment. 5 days, 17.5 miles, and 6 campfires later we returned to our trusty van “Rafiki”. Munching on food that was left in the van we hit the road and headed back to Dallas, arriving just before 6 PM.
Diego Olson, SMU OA Trip Leader
