Planning a Thru Hike: Ouachita Trail

[@mbikesrulee]

Thank you for pronouncing it properly. Good luck.

[@jamesstephens6941]

Glad to find your Ouachita Trail videos. I’m considering this for a hike soon.

[@christinamartinez804]

I am doing the last 63 miles at the end of month. I can’t wait to finish the trail. It is very well marked and maintained beautifully. Shelters are awesome. You will love it. Hiking steep down on rocks always leaves me with blisters unlike any other trail. Bring blister care🤪

[@rungavagairun]

This is super helpful to me. I'm planning a thru hike for later this year. Without consulting your itinerary, I consulted the map and Tim Ernst's guide and came up with my own daily plan. It matches your plan almost exactly except for the last couple of days. I'm planning to stay at the Penney campsite after Nancy Mountain. I'm also hoping to do an extra resupply at Lake Sylvia. I just looked back at your final video from your trip. It looks like you finished in 12 days. I know I'm going to have to build up to that kind of mileage, but I have between now and next fall to work on it.

[@ChadM10]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing the planning stages of your trip!

[@AndrewHikesBergs]

Great planning video! I appreciate the detailed planning and spreadsheet. I’m the same way. I recently thru-hiked the SHT and Long Trail and geeked out over the details; even though it’s daunting at first. Currently, I’m planning a ~340 mile section hike of the PCT in Oregon. Have a blast on your upcoming hike!

[@malloryhuffstickler777]

OMG I love your spreadsheet!

[@longwinters4304]

Looking forward to following your hike

[@kathyls74]

Very helpful for us, thank you! New hikers here

[@warrenlewis7540]

I got to meet you on this hike and gave you a trail medallion. I had two groups of scouts hiking this year. What is cool is we met on the OHT a few years back and I had several troops out on the trail then. My trail name is HikerBling.

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Did you have a scout named Josh on the OHT? We camped with a troop with a kid named Josh that was really funny.

[@jamesstephens6941]

A friend is a super hiker, multiple triple crowned. He goes to the Florida Trail nearly every winter.

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Snakes and gators intimidate me. 😱

[@jamesstephens6941]

@@MidwestBackpacker lol. He and I completed the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Towpath in May. Bicycle. Some camping. Some credit card. You’d love it.

[@Ontrail82]

Never heard of that trail but it looks pretty cool…I’ll be looking forward to yur video of it!

[@BackpackingwithBuckley]

Good luck in your journey there good bud!

[@Bryan24k8]

Sounds like it’s going to be a hell of a journey and challenge! You must be so pumped for it! 💪

[@jimmymcnatt2606]

Thank you so much for this info! I'm planning this trail for Nov.

[@jetgirlhikes9155]

Great and detailed video! Looks like I'll miss getting to meet you by 2 or 3 weeks as I'm going to be starting my Ouachita Trail thru hike here shortly. Best of luck and I hope you're enjoying your time on that amazing trail!

[@jhulin9018]

Excellent!

[@vikraw1885]

Great info, thanks.

[@tonybabcock655]

Great Video. It’s on my bucket list. If you’re rolling through Des Moines around meal time on I’d gladly treat you!

[@gabeswiatkiewicz3725]

I have only completed the first 34 miles so far with my son, looking to get back out there soon so I probably can't help much. It seems that they have been getting some rain recently so water shouldn't be an issue like it was during the fall. Backpacking routes website wrote a review on it in 2020. The Tim Ernst book literally describes every mile of the trail. Have fun on your hike, can't wait to see your videos of it.

[@djdru679]

keep up the great work! good to see your planning!

[@arkansasoutdoorschannel1867]

Great video! It gives me a lot of ideas on how to better plan.

[@JD03ish]

Here are my highlights on my series of section hikes: rock glaciers (figure out the geology, if you can), Kiamichi Wilderness, Irons Fork Creek (the bridge crossing is a perfect place for lunch/break), section 7 has many good vistas (district captains have taken pride in keeping them open), Flatside Wilderness with a must-see stop at Flatside Pinnacle, Crystal Prong Creek in this wilderness is special too. The 30 easternmost miles are mostly flat and so-so. You can motor on through. However, the cypress trees and knees are nice in/along the Maumelle River.

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Thank you!

[@MidwestBackpacker]

I read there isn't camping near the east end. Got any details of how far from the end? Any other major areas where camping isn't allowed? Do you think Bohannon Creek (mile 7.2) and Horsethief Springs (19.9) will be reliable water sources next week?

[@JD03ish]

Those two water sources should be flowing. The last 30 miles are on private property and they are the ones placing restrictions. Just stealth camp but don’t build a fire. The only official campsite is the Penney Campground at mm 203.8 but it’s uphill .9 mile from the OT. You can see why most stealth camp.

[@TheAdventuresofEli]

Great Video! This video has been super helpful .. i'm planning my thru-hike this March 2024 around this same time . I'm using Farout, and papercopies by backcountry Maps.. Now i may get the digital copies of these as time gets closer in Avenza Map app. Shipping my resupplies doesn't seem to bad. My question to you is did you use a bear can? or just an ursack and hang your food? Great watching this video ! Very informative

[@MidwestBackpacker]

I just hung my food. Ursack is heavy and canister is a pain. Thanks!

[@safromnc8616]

Interested to see your hike, not an area I know much of anything about ! I DO hope you have at least 'consistent' weather. Here in the South the temps have been all over the place which makes it hard to plan/pack. eg. The high yesterday was 82, tomorrow 52. Been like that all Winter.

[@rickrogers9985]

Great news. I want to hike this trail and your videos are always a great resource for planning. Have you decided how many bags of Doritos you’re going to bring?

[@OutLan]

Good luck on this hike, my friend. Have you done a vid on how you train for thru's like this? You touched on it a little, but curious how you calculated those mile estimates.

[@MidwestBackpacker]

My training isn’t really hiking related. Just cardio and weights at the gym. Mileage estimates were based and what I can do historically. First few days a little lower and ramping up. On this trip, I planned to end near a shelter each night. BTW that didn’t really happen. 😎

[@jaygattis5675]

Great video! Is there any way you could share that excel sheet to be used as a template?

[@nikkicrogh9010]

My husband and I are going to hike the Ouachita trail in April 2023 and I was interested in printing off your spreadsheet, but I don't see it anywhere on here. Can we get a copy of that somewhere? That would really help us a lot. I would appreciate the feedback. Thanks.

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Give me your email and I will share it

[@karmahavok]

@@MidwestBackpacker I'd love to see your spreadsheet as well. How do I provide you with my email? Thanks!

[@MidwestBackpacker]

@@karmahavok [e-mail] . I’ll take a look to see if I still have it.

[@Drenger7]

Awesome video! One of the most organized hike planning videos I’ve seen, thank you!! What would you think about doing this trail in Jan/Feb as far as water supply? More or less water available?

[@MidwestBackpacker]

I can get icy that time of year.

[@jamesstephens6941]

Jeremy, should I call the Queen Wihlemina Lodge to tell them to hold my resupply box, or do they know what to do? Where do I go to find the box?

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Shouldn’t need to call. It’s at the hotel front desk.

[@Jwright46]

Hey brother thanks for the video. I've been in Arkansas for about 6 months now and have begun training for this trail. Can you tell me where you got your maps for this trail?

[@MidwestBackpacker]

Underwood Graphics as really good maps.

[@brummettrg]

Can anyone confirm if the Bluebell Cafe is still open?

[@brummettrg]

Found it. That place looks great!