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See the Alerts Page for details of a mud slide that continues to block the trail ____
DAYHIKES
November 27th, Thanksgiving day, WAR EAGLE VALLEY LOOP of Hidden Diversity Multiuse Trail at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area east of Rogers. 6 miles, rated moderate. Meet at Townsend Ridge Road trailhead at 9am, bring lunch. Trailhead and parking is located 2 miles south of Arkansas Highway 12 on Townsend Ridge Road. Come on out and burn some calories to make room for that big Thanksgiving Day dinner. Hiking time is about 4 hours so we should finish up in plenty of time for Thanksgiving dinner and football. Trail features woodland scenery, views of War Eagle Creek and the river valley. This is a fairly new trail that just opened last summer. Trip leader is Flip Putthoff call 479-925-2977 for more information.
OVERNIGHT FUN HIKES
November 1st, ANNUAL HARE MOUNTAIN HIKE-IN. Come celebrate our 27th birthday! The pot luck dinner will begin promptly at 6pm with a short business meeting to follow. (Group photo at 5:45—be there or be left out!) Bring a tasty treat to share with the group. There will not be an officially-led hike and hikers are free to hike in from anywhere—most will hike from one of two nearby trailheads at Cherry Bend (5.8 mile hike) or the Hare Mountain Trailhead (1.7 miles). NOTE: the parking area at Fly Gap was bulldozed away by the forest service and may not be available as a parking spot. Call 870-861-5536 for more info.
November 8-9th, OVERNIGHT FUN HIKE ON OHT. Meet 8:30 at Big Piney trailhead. Shuttle to Fairview and hike west, 19.5 miles. This is the first weekend for deer season, but the OHT isn’t near any roads in the Hurricane Creek area, so we should be OK. I recommend bringing an orange vest. Call Bob and Dawna Robinson at 479-431-8951 to sign up.
November 22-23, OVERNIGHT FUN HIKE ON BUFFALO RIVER TRAIL. This medium-rated hike of 16 miles (10 on the first day) will go from Pruitt to Kyle’s—lots of great views along the way! Call Dean LaGrone at 479-750-2550 to sign up.
December 6-7th, OVERNIGHT FUN HIKE ON OHT from White Rock to Lake Fort Smith State Park. Bob and Dawna Robinson will lead. To sign up please call 479-431-8951 or 479-431-8952.
TRAIL MAINTENANCE
November 15th, WORK TRIP ON THE OHT, WHITE ROCK TO POTATO KNOB. Meet Colin Berger at the White Rock Trailhead at 8am—no experience needed and we’ll provide all the tools! Bring leather work gloves and a daypack with food and water. Call Colin at 479-986-9022 for info. (or e-mail from web site).
December 13th, WORK TRIP ON THE OHT NEAR CHERRY BEND. Meet Colin Berger at the Cherry Bend Trailhead at 8am (we’ll be constructing a short reroute nearby)—no experience needed and we’ll provide all the tools! Bring leather work gloves plus food and water. Call Colin at 479-986-9022 for info. (or e-mail).
MANY SECTIONS OF OHT OPEN FOR ADOPTION. There are many sections of the OHT now open for adoption. We ask that you maintain your section twice a year and send in a report. This is open to OHTA members only. See the maintenance section on our web page for all of the new sections available!
CLUB MEETINGS
December 14th, OHTA GENERAL MEETING AND CHRISTMAS PARTY. Come join us to celebrate a year of great hiking, and bring along a tasty treat to share with the group. Social time begins at 7pm with our meeting to follow at 7:30 (including elections for 2009 officers—nominations are open for all positions!). Our program will be presented by Carl Hitt, local photographer and film maker—he will present his documentary film “The Hawks of Wilson Park,” a 45 minute film that chronicles a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks living in this popular Fayetteville park. To get to the meeting site, from Hwy. 71 B in Springdale turn EAST on Emma street, go several blocks, then turn LEFT/NORTH onto N. Main Street, then pull into the parking lot on the right behind the building (across from Shiloh Museum—there is a map on our web page). Call us at 870-861-5536 if you need any more info. ________
LAKE FORT SMITH TRAIL NOT COMPLETE AFTER ALL. After the grand opening of the new park and beginning section of the OHT last May, it turned out that the city of Ft. Smith actually never did complete construction on the new section of the OHT as promised—oops. There was a gap of at least 1/2 mile that was flagged but untouched by their highly-paid construction crew. I’m happy to report that OHTA volunteers came to the rescue and this new section was finally opened up and available for hiking on October 11th. The new section built by the city is little more than a goat trail, but is usable. WARNING: this new section crosses Frog Bayou Creek three times and will be impassable during high water. It will be a wet crossing at best during most of the year so come prepared. The city promises to build a bridge for the trail, but we’re hoping it is not of the same quality as their trail work!
MUD SLIDE DETOUR. A section of the OHT just southwest of the Richland Creek Campground near mile point #143 remains closed due to a massive mud slide last spring (it got larger this summer). When you reach this point on the trail simply bushwhack down through the woods to the forest road below, hike along the road and then around the mudslide, then back up to the trail on the other side—a five minute detour. Richland Creek Campground will remain CLOSED until further notice, however you can drive to the campground from the north, but due to safety concerns (no quick law enforcement access) you are not allowed to use the facility.
GUN DEER SEASONS IN ARKANSAS. All of the OHT remains open during hunting seasons and there are few issues between hikers and hunters. Most folks like to wear an orange vest over their packs (required for hunters but not for hikers), you may hear gunfire and see an increased level of activity on the roads and trails, but otherwise it should be business as usual. Hunters are great folks and help maintain the OHT. Be aware of the hunting seasons, but don’t let this activity scare you out of the woods—hikers are not in season! Regular Gun Deer Season November 8-30 December 26-28 Muzzleloader Gun Deer Season December 13-15
HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL VOLUNTEERS WHO WORK HARD TO KEEP THE OHT OPEN! Give yourself a present and go hiking this winter... ____
SOME UPCOMING HIKES - DETAILS IN THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER
January 10-11, overnight fun hike January 24, dayhike at Lost Bridge Loop Trail February 21-22, overnight fun hike
OHTA Officers Tim Ernst, President, 870-861-5536 Keiko Wilke, Treasurer, 479-927-1999 Colin Berger, Maintenance, 479-986-9022 Scott Crook, Secretary, 479-521-6340 Bobby Shepperd, Meeting Programs, 479-587-0200 OPEN - Outings, 870-861-5536 Duane Woltjen, At Large/Membership, 479- 521-7032
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This site is courtesy of ArkansasUSA | ||||
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