Ozark Trail Thru Hike

[Billy Goat]

This pretty much sums up the shape we are in right now. Attachment 149463

Not quite... at least the south side of St. Louis city is a relatively dry island... maybe more of a mangrove or marsh. But we aren't completely uderwater. In most spots, anyhow....

[twentybelow]

We got a full 9" of rain in 36 hours here on the homestead. No damage because we're up around 1000 feet on a flat ridge, but the nearby town of Eminence which is below us along the Jack's Fork River got inundated. Houses that have been standing for generations were washed away. In Van Buren, the previous record high flood mark for the Current River was 29 feet, and last I checked (yesterday) it was at 40 feet, just to give an idea of how bad some places got hit down here. I'm sure large portions of the Blair Creek, Current, and Eleven Point sections of the Ozark Trail are still underwater. Glad to hear you're OK up there in STL Goat!

kutter: For a bear bag I just used THIS 15L plain old dry bag made by outdoor research. I did not use the PCT method to hang it. Most times I just tossed the line over a limb and tied it off to an adjacent tree. A couple of times I needed to pass the line back through the biner to pull the bag a little farther from the tree trunk or nearby sapling.

[twentybelow]

Well i'm a little late getting to this trip and completing your story all the way through. I thoroughly enjoyed reading! You write like an author! I wasn't familiar with this trail but now i feel like i have a good handle on it and i'm adding it to my wish list. I prefer the lesser know trails over the heavily used ones. I find the AT to be annoying due to the strange and often inconsiderate creatures roaming it. Like the guy who started washing his feet in the stream about 6 feet upstream of where i was pumping water with my Katadyn.
Great write-up...thanks for taking the time!

Thanks for the kind words, TiedUp. There's certainly something to be said for hiking less-popular routes during the "off season". I've done many sections of the AT in summer and know exactly what you mean. I go to the woods for peace and quiet, and that may be hard to find if there are hundreds of others on the trail at the same time. I really enjoyed the solitude along the OT... and going for days without seeing another human definitely helped increase the sense of being in the wilderness.

ofuros: Thanks for reading and commenting. Nice to hear from someone down under!

[Skygzr]

Very well done indeed!
welcome to the club

[gunner76]

Excellent photos and report

[Kutter]

Twentybelow, Most of my hangs are a result of kayaking, so I have plenty of drybags. One of each size but 3L in http://www.seatosummitusa.com/produc...o2=0&o3=362-36 with several in the 5L, 8L and 13L. The 65L is only used to haul stuff to deer camp. I doubt there is a big problem with bear in the area, but no since enticing them to my camp. I suspect mice, possums and coons getting into my food is far greater. Now, I realize they each could still find the bag hanging from a limb, but it might slow them down a bit.

With this rainy weather, I am putting off my hang at Lindsey Mountain Trailhead for a few more weeks. Glad I didn't go this past weekend.

[flyakker]

Thank you for this report. Gives me a new place to look into!

[laser]

Nice trip repot. thanks for sharing

[Br@nch]

Excellent trip report, very well written. Thank you for sharing!


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[WanderingKansas]

Just found this and so glad I did! What an excellent report!