Ouachita Trail Thru-Hike 2023 | Days 10 - 12: Good Vibes

[@shauncarter924]

Epic, amigo.

[@muddyfeethiking]

Enjoying the videos. Welcome to the rocks

[@DixonHikes]

Thanks man. The rocks weren’t as a bad as I remember 4 years ago, but the feet were good & seasoned by the time I hit them.

[@mitnwes]

Beautiful weather for this stretch.

[@DixonHikes]

Man, perfect weather. Couldn’t have asked for better weather the entire trip, really. If I was eastbound, like originally planned, wouldn’t have been so lucky. Like you said! Everything happens for a reason.

[@glennrgreen3778]

Nice videos of the trail & the trek. It seems that hiking east to west is the better way to make the trip. It give the legs time to acclimate before the longer climbs & rocks. Having the lodge right on the trail at the 3/4 mark makes for a good zero day. Lots of solitude, it seems. Good job!

[@DixonHikes]

Hey, thanks Glenn. Although this was a planned eastbound trek turned westbound due to a prescribed burn/trail closure. I agree with all that - plus, you’re saving the big mountains for last as the last 30 miles eastbound could seem rather anticlimactic unless you climbed Pinnacle Mountain as a mini-Katahdin summit. In my section hike back in 2019, I hiked 177 miles eastbound. Really enjoyed hiking west this time. Also, it gives me an excuse to do it again & make that “journey home” like this hike was originally intended. The OT is definitely getting more traffic these days, and for good reason. It’s a great trail. Still some solitude to be found out there though. Thanks for watching!

[@sarahsundstrom1425]

Hey it looks like the trail is marked well going either direction? Did you have any trouble with gut hooks? Looks gorgeous and would love to do it So many trails so little time ..

[@DixonHikes]

@@sarahsundstrom1425 The OT is very well marked. GutHook/Far Out is fairly accurate, way more water sources in Winter/Spring than listed, though. It’s a great trail, highly recommend!

[@sarahsundstrom1425]

@@DixonHikes I'm looking forward to it ... Thanks for taking the time to video

[@MatthewGrizzle]

Man I’ve been counting the days of our hike eastbound and I remember where I was at as you made your way west. Pretty cool! There was good vibes thru that section

[@DixonHikes]

Hell yeah, bro. My wife & I hiked from the state line to Foran Gap back in 2019. We were fogged in, it was freezing, rime ice all over the trees - couldn’t really see anything. Absolute magic through there this time, good vibes! ✌🏼

[@MatthewGrizzle]

@@DixonHikes yeah man we were either rained out or fogged out for the first 40 miles eastbound. I want to go back and do that section again but first I gotta complete the OHT the TOT before I start repeating trails