Why I Chose the Trail

I had quite a few constraints going into my first thruhike. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to have the time to do any of the truly large thruhikes, but I wanted so desperately to be able to call myself a thruhiker. The trail had to satisfy a few conditions for me to choose it:

  1. Short enough for me to complete in its entirety with 14 days

  2. Long enough to feel it was actually an accomplishment

  3. Within driving distance

  4. No terrain too far outside of my comfort zone - An 11 day hike was more than enough.

  5. Warm enough to hike in December without dedicated 4 season gear - In the initial version.

There weren’t many trails that could satisfy those criteria, so the Ouachita it was. Initially I had wanted to hike the trail during the winter break of my senior year of college. Unfortunately after totaling a car a few days before I was supposed to go the plan fell through. Luckily a few months later I graduated and had a few weeks before starting my first job. I briefly skimmed over the trail research and prep I had done, switched up the gear a little bit and headed off on the 14 hour drive from Washington D.C. to Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

My Time on the Ouachita Trail

This was my first thruhike! I remember pulling up to Talimena State Park, the western terminus of the trail. My ride snapped a picture of me, and I was off, hauling like a jack rabbit! No later than 12 minutes into my initial ascent I curled over exhausted as I threw my pack next to me. Too far, too fast and in under 15 minutes, in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma, I was wondering if I had the metal to survive the next 10 days.

The next 10 days taught me more than I could have imagined about backpacking. Very few people hike the Ouachita, and there were few day hikers out and about. Some of the most notable challenges:

  • Ticks - The trail was wildly overgrown due the lateness in the season and lack of use. I must have pulled 120+ ticks off of me every day.

  • Blisters - I thought I was badass enough for some simple sock liners. I ended up spending 35-40 minutes every morning patching my blister's blisters up.

  • Extreme hunger - I packed about 3500 calories a day for the trip. Hiking 20+ miles a day, I burned probably closer to 4500. My body was constantly demanding more food that I could not give it. I had lost nearly a pound a day by the end of the trip.

  • Gear failure - One trekking pole snapped a few hours into my trip, the second snapped a few days after that. I spilled my chlorine-dioxide water treatment. My phone charging cord broke. My shoes were way too tight. My pack was too heavy. etc... This is why there are shakedown hikes.

  • Dangerous bear encounters - A few days into the trip I turned a corner and found myself 25 feet away, face to face, with a full grown black bear. Luckily it ran off but I was paranoid for quite some time after that!

Needless to say the trail was a trial and I was very happy to get off by the end of it. It humbled me but also left me with countless learning experiences that I am very grateful for and that have informed my backpacking ever since. You can't learn everything from an armchair.

I loved the Ouachita, not because it was easy, but because it was a true challenge for me and it left me with many stories and a very unique trail conquered.

 

Notes for Next Time

I don’t have the original trail notes, but many of the lessons from the trail are seared into my mind:

  • Never neglect your feet - I have since upgraded my shoes and switched to toe sock and not had a single blister since.

  • Lighten your pack - I had always been a little into ultralight, but this hike taught me that your weight truly makes a huge difference in quality of experience. I had a 16lb base weight on this trip, I am now down around 8lbs.

  • More food - Don’t underestimate my own metabolism.

  • Sleeping in shelters is overrated - The wood is hard and there are mice.

  • There is no pomp and circumstance - When you start and when you end, the journey is for you. There is no grand ceremony when it is all over. Most people won’t even know what you have done. The journey is the destination.

Gear

On my first hike I carried much of the gear that I pieced together over my college years. Except for a few notable pieces, the gear I took on this trip was less critically selected and more of a hodgepodge of affordable backpacking gear that I could piece together to be a full kit while in school. My base weight was 16.2lbs.

This format is taken from Andrew Skurka, his blog is incredible, you can download a copy of the list format here.