Ouachita Trail Thru Hike 1 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, I get my feet wet (both figuratively and literally)on the first three days of my hike and travel 51 miles from Talimena State Park to Queen Wilhemina State Park. At Queen Wilhelmina, I picked up a resupply, real food, and a warm hotel room.
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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...
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 #Oklahomabackpacking

[@SawyerProducts]

Casually watching your video and sad to hear about the calcium buildup! A good reminder for us to encourage folks to test their filters before going out this season. A good ol soak in warm water, vinegar backflush, & repeat will restore your off-season filter for in-season use!

[@JoshuaAubrey]

I've had this happen. I'm starting to backflush the sawyer squeeze with white vinegar before each trip, and bringing an extra mini just in case as backup.

[@kmcgoeshiking27]

Great video !! I did sections 1-3 a week before you started. Loved it. Stayed at the lodge great place. Thank you for sharing.

[@BackpackingwithBuckley]

That Karen was HUGE. You're a beast my friend! I'll be thinking twice about my filter now. Anxiety inducing stuff!

[@kristalann1973]

Pretty trail…never heard of it before…70s sounds lovely…I’m definitely flushing my Sawyer before my first trip after watching this and Miyagi’s video…we can always learn something…looking forward to the next video!! Strangely I’m craving Doritos😋

[@brendar.8185]

Great video can’t wait to see the next section.

[@mountainwanderer]

Love it! I hope someday I can hike this one as well! Nice job!

[@happyfuntimereviews5600]

Excited to follow along with your hike!

[@robpelton]

Excellent segment thus far. Keep er rolling bud.

[@derekferguson4242]

Great video! I love that section of the OT. Way to go, looking forward to the next video!

[@BackpackingWithJason]

Beautiful sunrise. That is definitely the biggest rock cairns I’ve ever seen. Cool hiking trail my friend

[@ervinslens]

Lovely trail and very pleasant walk. Some shots are just stunning bud. Wonderful views and your music makes the hike just stunning.

[@AbundantAdventures]

Excellent video. Trail conditions look awesome. I can't wait until the weather truly breaks up north so I can enjoy a trail! Spring Fever! I guess it's better than beaver fever. Haha

[@BluegrassBackcountry]

Oh man, I can’t imagine having my water filter fail on me during a Thru hike! A person has to be flexible when on trips like this, because there’s always something bound to go wrong haha. Great video, man! Excited for Epi 2!

[@RiverbendlongbowsOutdoors]

That was good 👍🏻

[@coreyralls1]

Nice video! Your day 3 was imour day 5. That was a chili day. 2nd dinner wow! My burger was so big I didn't finish the last bite. Great meeting you. Look forward to your next videos.

[@gabeswiatkiewicz3725]

Just made it to the lodge on Sunday with my son. We've been hiking the trail in small sections. I had the same thing happen with my water filter last summer on a weekend trip.

[@bkmantzey]

Enjoyed the video. You likely saw Armadillo forage in leaves. They forage by using their nose to move leaves loosen soil hunting for grubs and other insects.

[@dtj7995]

Not enough eye rolls from Kim!

[@BobCorsaro]

those rocks in the scree field remind me of mt washington!

[@mattmcconnell6703]

Just needed a good soak, Prob

[@arkansasoutdoorschannel1867]

It was nice to meet you and I hope I didnt talk your ear off on the ride to the trailhead. I wish my hike would have went better but there is always next time. Great video by the way.

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Thanks again for the ride Bo! I was so excited to start hiking, I didn’t get any video of you. Back to work now, huh? I hope you can get back out and finish the trail. Have fun with that cycle!

[@TheMrhoneycutt]

I'm not exactly an ultralight guy, so I've always carried a few redundancies and comfort items. One of which is some Katadyn MP1 tabs, because you never know.

[@rungavagairun]

So, I have watched this video, probably more than once. I thought to myself "I can learn from Jeremy's mistake and not have the same issue with my water filter!" Nope. I did the exact same stupid thing this past weekend, trying to hike the Eagle Rock Loop here in Arkansas. I ended up bailing after hiking in about 7 miles. That trail is busy enough I was able to find someone to let me fill up my water bottles with their filter at a creek. When I got home, I found another YT video about filter locking with the Sawyer Squeezes. The guy on that channel recommended to backwash, backwash rinse, backwash sanitize (with some bleach solution), then backwash rinse again ....but for long term storage, he recommended wet storage. He used a damp paper towel (wet with distilled water) and stored in a ziplock.

[@RickStoneTravels]

My sawyer clogged on me on the River to River last year

[@mbikesrulee]

I knew Miyagi was talking about you

[@Bryan24k8]

🙌💪

[@garnetnard4284]

Serious question: are the hiking poles a necessity?

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Yes

[@Ontrail82]

I don’t know what I showed cuz I haven’t done it yet 😂😂😂 that was good lol

[@ToddShelley]

The Oklahoma section is the best section. 👍

[@soulslosher]

For the love of God, don't ever set a tent or hammock up in a shelter!

[@jasonjudd4]

From Pashubbee shelter up to Stateline has some crazy climbs. Hardest part.

[@OutLan]

Second dinner...nice :-)

[@MetroOnTheMove]

I buy all this gear to act like I'm homeless. Classic.