https://i.imgur.com/CTqpCwn.jpg
Photo: Near the edge of the overlook to Holsom Valley Vista, 2nd Night.
A friend and I hiked the first section of the Ouachita Trail from Saturday into Tuesday of this week, starting at Talimena State Park in Oklahoma and hiking East. We had originally planned to hike through most of Section 2 as well, however the difficulty of the trail presented some challenges that helped us decide to take it easy and enjoy the trip, then go back again soon to complete Section 2 (and more in the future).
Length: 24.9 miles
Terrain Rating: Difficult
We first drove to our intended ending point, Queen Wilhelmina State Park, Arkansas, and hired a shuttle (thanks Richard!) to take us to Talimena State Park where we started our journey. Due to the drive from Central Texas to Arkansas, then the shuttle to the Western trail head, we arrived on the trail at 2:30pm Saturday and immediately began the hike. The first 1.5 miles is a steep climb, followed by a few more miles of gradual climb, reaching the top of the mountain in roughly five miles. This posed a challenge for my friend who had sprained his foot a few days prior, and had it not been for all of the rocks and boulders on the trail, he would have been fine. However, the uneven steps every foot or so created additional pain. On top of that, I thought I had worn in my Lowa tall boots already (which I brought due to the trail difficulty and to prevent rolling an ankle), however I quickly found out that wearing them out in Texas is not the same as in Oklahoma. After only a mile I already had blisters on both heels (I wear Darn Tough socks, so it wasn't that), with the left heel already having rubbed a few layers of skin down and exposing the underskin. Luko tape to the rescue! I applied a few layers on each heel and though the pain never fully went away, it never got worse and never impeded my trip.
Day 1: 9.3 miles | 5.5 hours hiking | two 5-10 minute breaks total
We intended to stop just after 7 miles at a tent site since we were starting the day so late, however a large Scouts of America pack had already set up about eight tents, had a blazing fire going, and there was "no room at the inn" for us. The time was 6:30pm, we had 30 minutes of light left, and we continued on to Rock Garden Shelter at mile 9.3. Darkness hit pretty quickly, so we had our first experience of night hiking. The cool breeze, temperature drop, and the other factors that g
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