Ouachita Trail Thru Hike 3 of 4

On March 16, 2022, I set out on my longest thru hike yet. The Ouachita Trail is a 223 mile footpath that begins in eastern Oklahoma at Talimena State Park and heads east through the Ouachita National Forest to Pinnacle Mountain State Park near Little Rock Arkansas.
In this video, the third video in the four part series, I walk 42 miles over 2 days. I start at the Highway 27 Trailhead and walk to Sugar Creek. I develop knee pain that gets worse and worse. The pain gets bad enough to the point I tried to call a shuttle to quit.
Previous videos of this hike:
Planning a Thru Hike: Ouachita Trail: • Planning a Thru Hike: ...
Gear Load Out - Ouachita Trail Thru Hike: • Gear Loadout: Ouachita...
Ouachita Trail Thru Hike 1 of 4 - • Ouachita Trail Thru Hi...
Ouachita Trail Thru Hike 2 of 4 - • Ouachita Trail Thru Hi...
Midwest Backpacker Merch:
midwest-backpacker.creator-sp...
Follow Midwest Backpacker on Facebook
/ midwestbackpacker
Follow Midwest Backpacker on Instagram
/ midwest_backpacker
Ouachita Trail Shuttling Options:
Bluebell Store and Cafe (Lori)
870-867-3999 (Bluebell Store) or 870-867-3999 (cell)
Will shuttle the entire trail. Located mid-trail (~mm 122) 5 miles south of the Hwy 27/OT junction in Story, AR. The Bluebell has awesome breakfast and lunch!
A big thank you to Bo for shuttling me a the beginning of my hike. Check out his youtube:
Arkansas Outdoors Channel - / @arkansasoutdoorschann...
A big thank you to Underwood Graphics for providing maps for this video. If hiking the OT or the OHT, I highly recommend purchasing their maps. www.ugeographics.com/shop
Gear I frequently Use:
Backpack - Lite AF Curve 40L with Full Suspension -
liteaf.com/ultralight-packs/4...
Hammock - Warbonnet Ridgerunner -
www.warbonnetoutdoors.com​
Rain Fly - Custom 13' Warbonnet Mountain Fly -
www.warbonnetoutdoors.com​
Tent - Zpacks Duplex -
zpacks.com/products/duplex-tent
Top Quilts-
UGQ Outdoors 20 Degree Bandit -
ugqoutdoor.com/top-quilts/ban...
Hammock Gear O, 20, and 40 Degree Burrows-
hammockgear.com​
Under Quilts-
Loco Libre 20 and -20 Degree Ridge Reapers with 900 - fill power goose down - www.locolibregear.com​
COSCO DIY - 40 Under Quilt
Garmin In-Reach Mini Communicator
amzn.to/3A29lxJ
MSR Mini Groundhog Stakes -
amzn.to/35w1Wwd
Underwood Graphics Maps-
www.ugeographics.com/
Brooks Cascadia 15 Trail Runners -
amzn.to/3pKo50A
Anker Power Banks -
amzn.to/2Uxx2xv
Nitecore NU25 Headlamp -
amzn.to/3vPU9Ao
Hilltop Packs Custom Printed Food Bag and Custom Printed Dual Pocket Gadget Bag -
www.hilltoppacks.com/#/
REI Magma 850 Hooded Down Jacket (seasonal) -
www.rei.com​
Sea to Summit Compression Dry Sack
www.rei.com/product/867058/se...
Cascade Mountain Tech Hiking Poles-
amzn.to/35PfrDr
Toaks 550ML Cook Pot-
amzn.to/3qycNfb
Fancy Feast Stove-
• Fancy Feast Stove - DI... ​
Toaks Long Handle Spoon
amzn.to/3j30HJ8
REI Rainpants -
www.rei.com/product/137186/re...
Enlightened Equiptment Visp Rain Jacket -
enlightenedequipment.com/mens...
Sealskinz Waterproof Socks -
amzn.to/2PAEEfZ
CNOC 2 Liter Water Bag -
currently unavailable
Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter -
amzn.to/2TYmPK6
Sit Pad -
amzn.to/3hOliz2
Camera- iphone 12 Pro Max
External Microphone - Shure AMV88-
amzn.to/38GEuut
Ultrapod Lightweight Camera Tripod-
amzn.to/3qm3wq6
Noxgear39g Bluetooth Speaker -
www.noxgear.com/39g
Pump-
amzn.to/3HtFzUZ
Peak Refuel Freeze Dried Meals (Used BCE15 Discount Code for 15% off)
peakrefuel.com/
Split Peanut Butter and Jelly-
amzn.to/3tFQGoH
Down Socks-
www.garagegrowngear.com/produ...
Water Proof Gloves-
www.go2marine.com/showa-282-t...
Lite AF Fanny Pack-
liteaf.com/product/fanny-pack/
Permethrin-
www.thetickterminator.com
My Winter Camping Sleep System when tenting:
Marchway Ultralight Folding Cot:
amzn.to/3rxZfkv
Invoker Camping 3 Inch Sleeping Pad:
amzn.to/3GWhXbS
#ouachitatrail #thruhike #arkansasbackpacking

[@marylaw9024]

Wow, what a rollercoaster. I'm glad it stopped hurting!!

[@Toots807]

Oh man. I know the stress we can put ourselves through. Your an athlete competing against yourself. On our own challenging grounds, we ptch our body and skills versus our ego and ultimately our goals.

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Well said.

[@NoFeeArea]

Preservation is the most important thing at our age. I push myself too far and have realized that it is more important to listen to our bodies. I have had swollen knees from running heavy equipment for 35 years and couldn't walk. But I switched gears and without surgery it's close to normal. Now a capsulitis issue from pushing the limits hiking back to the Lakes Basin in the Wallowas up from and down to the Two Pan TH and then some in one day (pushing the extreme). I shifted to the bike for a while and canoes. Time will heal those things (most of the time) but we need to let it. Good luck with your healing. Your adventures are great to watch no matter which gear you need to shift it into! So keep rocken old man!!.

[@Droptineful]

Hang in there! Listen to what your body is telling you. Rest when you can. We’re all very proud of you!👍🏻🇺🇸

[@IamMuddy]

You got heart and perseverance!

[@charley1409]

Awesome push to keep going!! Great video of perseverance!

[@jamieschardt9127]

What an emotional roller coaster! Looking forward to part 4.

[@freeman47]

Dang man thinking of you. What an EPIC adventure.

[@kmcgoeshiking27]

A really good video! You battled hard against your injury. Sometime the emotions on a long hike are hard enough but injury on top of it makes it so darn much harder. Thank you again for sharing your journey!

[@robpelton]

I am glad that you paid attention to your body and actually considered the worst case scenario. Good to see some of that emotion as well. I sit in anticipation for the next one! Cheers buddy.

[@BluegrassBackcountry]

You’re almost there!! You passed some amazing vistas along the trail in this episode. That, along with all the great shelters, is making me more and more interested in doing this trail sometime!

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Thanks. Those shelters are very nice!

[@melindaadams6520]

As someone who's had to leave a through hike three times in as many years I feel your pain. Almost cried for you as you were trying not to cry on camera. I'm sure you finished your hike by now but I'm hoping it next episode does better and you get to finish your hike. But if not, I think people need to see that not everything is flowers and rainbows on the trail and sometimes you got to call it.

[@DaveCollierCamping]

Awesome video- new friend here

[@wazoologist]

Enjoying your hike vids. As I sit here watching this I have a similar sore knee, with a two day hike starting tomorrow. Not sure how it will go.

[@SailingAround]

The highest point on the Ouachita Trail is on Rich Mtn near the Arkansas/Oklahoma State line.

[@DavidonEarth]

IT band issue? Sounds very similar to what I've been nursing for a couple years now.

[@MiyagiontheTrail]

Curious if you used ibuprofen and soaked it in the cold stream whenever you could?

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Vitamin I, yes. Cold stream no. Might have been a good idea, but it was cool out and I wanted to stay warm.

[@kenwbrenner]

RE: Praying Appropriate in ALL situations...

[@safromnc8616]

Those little 'mystery tweaks' are hard to deal with - and absolutely suck. Hard to watch you not going at pace !

[@rungavagairun]

Okay, question for you about your knee issue here. Did you get this checked out when you got home? I am about to do my first (ever) thru hike and it will be on the OT. However, just this past weekend, I had a knee issue that seemed somewhat similar to what you experienced on your OT trip. My orthopedic guy thinks it might be inflammation of my meniscus. Did you get your knee checked out? Did you ever find out what caused your knee pain? Has it come back?

[@MidwestBackpacker]

I never got it checked out and I haven’t had any issues. If the pain continued to pop up I would have had it checked out. Thanks for asking. ✌️

[@gregorylclark889]

What Bluetooth speaker is that ?

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Backpacking Safely with Music kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ_FZKuGeMeli80

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Noxgear 39g. Check out this video. Backpacking Safely with Music kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ_FZKuGeMeli80

[@chanelbrewer9810]

Apreciando a una mujer tan hermosa. 2:3 sentadillas son unos PORNTINDER.Uno muchas y un buen ejercicio. 5:25 Se deja ver que hay muy buenos resultados 😍👍 Saludos desde la Cd.. de world losj mortales abian apreciado tan hermosa mujer