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New Discoveries Along Eagle Rock Loop
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Apr 24, 2013 at 10:38 am #1302130AnonymousGuest
My Christmas present to my Boy Scout cousins was and "I owe you" note for a backpacking trip on the Eagle Rock Loop in Arkansas.
In typical obnoxious cousin fashion I used a diabolical wrapping scheme. They unwrapped their package and inside was another, and inside that another, and another and another. The final package contained a note that told them to find another box under the tree and their present was inside it. After unwrapping five more packages inside packages they got their note.Because of my work we couldn't leave until late. We drove to the Winding Stair Trailhead and camped about a quarter mile into the woods.
We were up early the next morning. The guys were not going super light but I'd helped them eliminate most of their excess stuff. Their packs were probably about 25 pounds.
On this trip I was testing and Exped Lighting 60 pack. It was really more space then I needed and the compression straps weren't doing enough so I'd added two more strap in the center and at the bottom.
We hiked down from the ridge and began following the Little Missouri River.
Most creek crossings were like this one, but one required wading. For my cousins this was a new experience. Most of their trips have been in Texas were the water (if there is any) is nasty and you have to carry all your drinking water.
At a ford we were pleasantly surprised to see BPL member Leigh Baker. She and I chatted for a while about packs, shoes and other gear geek topics before she continued on ahead of us.
Apr 24, 2013 at 6:28 pm #1980239Luke, nice report; I missed the date?
Those road traces are 'way better' than most trails, so keep at it. Many of them (on the quads) are worth exploring…
Good fotos. Thx.
You're a Bro for taking ur buddies and letting them off the hook when they got tired.
I mean, 'too tired to eat' –we all remember that, OUCH !
Cool.
SO, iff U don't get outta bigD soon enuff, -continue north and check the Ozarks. Good stuff!
Both are awesome Oct/Nov for foliage.
Thank you 4 rpt.Apr 24, 2013 at 10:46 pm #1980307Thanks for the kind words Casey. The date was this past weekend (April 20-21).
If you knew my cousins you'd know how impressive it was for them to be too tired to eat! Actually what they ate was a loaf of poppyseed bread my aunt sent. It was great but Steven decided to carry it in a metal ammo can to keep it from getting squashed! As you can see I have some work to do on their packing!
I saw some other old road traces that were much fainter then the one we followed. There was one going down from the ridge north of Brier Creek that was really old. It had trees growing in the middle of it but you could still see the flattened area on the mountainside. I would love to follow some of those really old road but I think I'll save that for winter when there isn't so much poison ivy. I also thought just following a ridgeline in winter might be a cool thing to try.
Apr 25, 2013 at 4:20 am #1980341Luke, great report. It was great seeing you on the trail and meeting your cousins. Thanks again for letting me try out the pack. I'm really intrigued now about that old road. I'm looking forward to exploring it sometime early next spring before things get grown up, and after hunting season ends.
Mar 30, 2014 at 8:12 am #2087664My wife and I are looking for a hike the weekend of May 16-19. We have some friends that may not be able to complete the 26-27 mile hike. Are there other options or is Eagle Rock Loop the one to go to?
We live in Houston so we are looking for something 7 hrs or less.
Apr 1, 2014 at 8:36 am #2088385Tim Ernst has a great book on Arkansas Hiking trails. Lots of other options in the Ouchitas, also along the Buffalo River near Ponca. The book is available on Amazon. Has an obvious title, not sure what it is.
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