Ouachita Trail Thru-Hike Part 3 - Day 11 - 17 / Mile 121.7 to 222.5

Day 11 - 17 of my Ouachita Trail thru-hike. After resupplying in Mt Ida, me and Richard get back on the trail and continue east. For the next 7 days, we hike 100 miles, making our way to Pinnacle Mtn State Park and the end of the trail.
Thanks for watching my series on the Ouachita Trail!
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[@marvinmeredith2193]

Enjoyed watching your journey, well done congrats!!

[@EricHeber]

Thanks!

[@jpascaln]

I watched all 3 videos today. Good job to you Eric and Richard. You presented the trail well. I had to sub. Looking forward to the next trail. ✌🏽

[@BigCountryOutdoors325]

Thanks for the extremely well documented thru hike video. It definitely gave many insights that I’ve been searching for. I’m looking at making this my 1st thru hike next spring. Being in my mid 50’s, I most certainly won’t be doing the daily mileage that you’ve done. I’m planning on a very liberal three weeks to do it. And if I finish early, so be it.

[@lizstrailsandtravels4624]

11:56 probably one of the most beautiful pic of you hiking overlooking beautiful scenery, put that big your wall, home etc :).

[@hereinoklahoma]

Good job! I live 5 miles from where you started at Talimena State Park and run those mountains. I'm super impressed you made it without seeing wild hogs, bears, or coyotes :)

[@MrRedex88]

I watched all 3 videos and want to say they were all fantastic. You and Richard should be proud of the accomplishment, I'm sure this was much harder than what showed on video.

[@EricHeber]

Thank you!

[@jasonsoutthere7733]

WOW,,,a sink that pours coffee! That's my kind of sink! Loving the series man. Looks like an awesome hike.

[@EricHeber]

Lol thanks!

[@jeffreyoullis6739]

Great content once again...really enjoyed this 3 part series. Your lead in says you started in March and ended in November. 2018...wasn't it a 17 day through hike?

[@EricHeber]

Thanks! Yes it was 17 days. Not sure I may have misspoken about the March thing lol I’ll have to watch again

[@peteweisell1361]

Really enjoyed this series Eric. The last part with all the rain and the swollen creeks looked challenging. Thanks for showing us all of the highs and lows of a thru-hike. Go in Beauty.

[@EricHeber]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@oldskoolrunner]

Thanks for the video. I really enjoyed watching it. I have quick question....? What type of water filter did you use and did you have to treat it prior to drinking it? Be safe and Happy Trails!

[@EricHeber]

Thanks! I use a Sawyer Squeeze inline filter. Reliable and lightweight

[@cards7651]

Nice to see that the trail is still as pristine as I saw it during my 1976 thur hike....Sugar Creek was one of my favorite spots...

[@timothyeubanks32100]

Great job man! Way to finish strong. I camped by that lake that is "no camping" my last night on the trail. Rained like hell all night that night. Finished the trip soaking wet. However, the rest of the trip was pretty dry except the third day and somewhere around day 11. Freezing rain overnight which was fine, I was in a shelter. But it warmed up later and all the ice was melting off the trees which made it feel like I was getting rained on. Overall I think the worst it got was in the low 20s so not too bad. But I had winter layers, an insulated pad, and my 35° bag that ive taken into the teens just fine. Glad you spoke honestly about that feeling. There's just times on a trip where you wonder why you even enjoy backpacking lol. Like you said its just this "what the hell am I even doing out here?" Type thing. But those moments fade and honestly the best memories are trips where you went through hell. The easy trips, well, they end up being extremely forgettable after time goes by. You don't even really remember much about them. Glad you posted this! I enjoyed reliving the trip all over again.

[@EricHeber]

Thanks again! Yeah I’ve realized that I don’t really remember the trips where everything goes exactly as planned. It’s the trips where I struggle in some way that I remember and actually look back on with fondness.

[@hardknock1753]

Great series Eric, really enjoy your channel. Happy Trails

[@EricHeber]

Thank you!

[@RenegadeSith]

Great job toughing it out!!!

[@thehoggattlife1191]

Great videos! Thoroughly enjoyed them!!

[@EricHeber]

Thanks!

[@TonyKuhnell]

Thanks for sharing your journey, really enjoyed it!

[@EricHeber]

Thanks for watching

[@ThePapawhisky]

You seem to not be enjoying your hike. It’s tough when you ask yourself ‘why am I doing this.’. Hope you find your groove.

[@EricHeber]

I try to keep it real in my videos. There are always low moments on trail but that makes the finish that much better! Thanks for the encouragement!

[@micaiahgerber1041]

Thanks for sharing! I think I'm going to thruhike this trail in a couple of weeks and I was wondering how you got a shuttle to and back from Story.

[@EricHeber]

There’s a shuttle service that will meet you at the hwy 27 trailhead. They’ll bring you to story to resupply then bring you back to the trailhead.

[@brasco96]

I'm stoked to find this video. I used to hike Pinnacle Mt back the 80's before I moved away from AR to CA and ran across this trail and thought it would be cool to hike it someday. After living in Socal and hiking out there for 35 years I recently moved back to AR so I can now put The Ouachita back on my bucket list. I have a thru hike planned for the PCT starting 4/5 so maybe I can be back in time to hike this trail in OCT. Did you come across any other hikers on this trail? Was it well maintained? Great video...Thanks!

[@EricHeber]

Wow, I'm excited about your PCT hike! I'll follow along and hoping to do that trail in the next few years. I didn't see many thru-hikers but lots of day hikers by some of the popular trailheads. Other than Richard of course. Generally, the trail was well maintained but the Association does a big cleanup in November. I'd check with them about the conditions.

[@brasco96]

@@EricHeber Sounds great. I'm trying to improve my editing so can make some interesting vids of the trip. Thanks!

[@pizzarat6145]

Yo that's dope, bro. I backpacked the Ouachita Trail back in 2015. I did it in three parts: 97, 45, 65 miles respectively. I had such a hard time; I broke water filter, was attacked by yellow jackets, and got trench foot. Needless to say, she got the best of me, but I have a few rounds left to go. I will get my revenge. I did successfully complete a thru-hike of the Ozark Highlands Trail the following year. I'm from AR was checking out your page cause I've never done any hiking in LA. Wanted to see what you've got there. Keep up the good work, maybe we'll meet on trail.

[@EricHeber]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. The OT was a challenge but the OHT was even more of a challenge for me. Did you complete the OHT as a thru hike?

[@pizzarat6145]

@@EricHeber Yes, by then, I had no problems really. I had completed the OT and numerous other overnight and mult-day trips by then (including Eagle Rock Loop and Buffalo River Trail). I wouldn't call it a cake walk, but it sure seemed easier comparatively.

[@pizzarat6145]

BTW despite the trouble/learning curve I experienced on the OT, I also had the time of my life. I was solo the whole time. Only met one thru hiker, and a handful of day hikers.

[@ToddShelley]

Good stuff Eric!

[@bernieyancey2087]

Great videos man! There’s not a lot of good thru hike videos out there on this trail. Doesn’t seem like the trail gets a lot of traffic or recognition from thru hikers. Hopefully videos like this will encourage more people to give the OT a try. I plan on thru hiking it next year.

[@EricHeber]

This was a great experience that I would recommend to anyone. The shelters really make things easier when the weather doesn’t cooperate and resupply is easy.

[@nadiastewart30]

@@EricHeber where exactly did you resupply at? I want to thru hike this trail but there isn't a lot info on things like that

[@EricHeber]

I hiked west to east. I made my first stop at QW lodge and my second at the Bluebell diner inStory. I got my shuttle from Story also. Lori was very helpful [phone]

[@Jess_Connell]

If you didn't have internet, how did you get weather updates? What app/tech were you using?

[@lebowski5192]

I'm thinking a pair of dyneema water wings would be worth the investment! Great video.

[@EricHeber]

Haha!

[@wegder]

Excellent!

[@robwood777]

"I can't believe I met a person on KZbin!" 😂

[@jons43]

What kind of shoes are you wearing? I hiked Clark Creek trail today with the totally wrong hiking boot. They are waterproof and had great grip but so heavy. It was a perfect hike today.

[@EricHeber]

I wear Altra trail runners. The pair I used on this trip was pretty old and I should’ve bought a new pair before. The foam was almost totally compressed so they didn’t give much cushion on the rocks.