Eale Rock Loop Trip Report!

I hiked Eagle Rock Loop (ERL) with a friend last week from Wednesday 11:00 am to Saturday at 10:00 am. We started at the Upper Little Missouri Trail Head and hiked south on the Athens Big Fork Trail (ABF). We knew going in that it would be hot, insects out in full force and the trail is going to be like a jungle. So we were prepared for that so all in all it was as expected. The whole ERL was in good shape a bit overgrown in parts but well marked.

The ABF has six ridges that you have to go over. So our goal not doing this trail before was to do four out of the six and that would put us at the West Blaylock Trailhead. We blew threw those by 3:00 and took at break on Blaylock Creek and decided to press on. Not looking at our map to see that the next ridge is the hardest climb up Brush Heap Mountain was a mistake. It was brutal but we made it and made camp on Saline Creek (approx 7 miles). The next morning we climbed up to Eagle Rock Vista it was foggy and cool so not much of a view but hey I will take the cool weather over a view any day. Most of the wildlife we saw was the first day a coyote, two turkeys and a Timber Rattler. We dropped down to Viles Branch Trail (VBT) by 9:30 or 10:00.

The VBT was a huge welcome to be done with those ridges. It was a nice hike level with a lot of creek crossings. We were to the Little MO River by noon and got on the Little Missouri Trail (LMT).

We will be on the LMT until we get back to the car on Sat. So still day two we hiked along the Winding Stairs Super Scenic Spot. Great swimming! Too many people there so we hiked on and made camp on the MO River at 1:00 (6 mi). We enjoyed our down day just hanging out by the river. My friend caught two fish and we were going to eat them but a storm blew in and made that impossible. So we left them on the bank for the raccoons.

The next morning we packed up a wet camp and headed towards Albert Pike at 10:00 am. It was overcast and misting rain all day. It was humid but not too hot…With the real hot weather coming we decided to hike further than we had planned (6miles). So the trail was real nice past Albert Pike. Almost the entire trail is along the river. We made it to the Little MO Falls by 3:30 and camped about a half a mile upstream of the falls (10 miles on day 3). We shared our camp with three others that were all rolling in for the weekend all the good camp spots were going fast. The guys we met definitely were very enjoyable and I invited them to this web-site. This was the night of the raccoon. We had them breaking into packs stealing a granola bar to stealing unused tent stakes to terrorizing my friend sleeping under a tarp. I guess it is funny now!!!

…. Lastly we headed out the next morning and hiked out last four miles before it got to hot. All in all I really enjoyed this hike it was later in the year than I have ever BP. I had to hike at this time due to family reasons. I am fairly new at BP and feel very accomplished to do the trail and it confirms my love for this hobby. I am also proud of doing this trail with my pack weight at 20 lbs. Compared to my 35 plus lbs to my two previous hikes this year it felt great. So I am sold on the UL way. I look forward to doing this trail in leaf off times. I look back and I think I enjoyed the ridge section of the trail the most. It was the most remote. So leaf off would be better. I don’t have any pics my wife was out of town with the kids so they trumped me on taking the camera.

I am hoping to do the Buffalo River Trail in the fall.

Later,
Lew

lew:
Great report. I'm glad that you and your friend had a great time. Eagle Rock Loop is a great trail, pretty much any time of the year. Thanks again,
UL

Hey Lew.. your freind under the Tarp would have prob. faired better if he would have rubed sardins all over himself. I hear that they would not like the smell.. oh wait.. can never remember if they like or don't like. Either way it would have been a great story.. hahahahahah. Just kidding around.
Eddie

Glad to hear your trip was great, Lew! How's the baby, btw?

Sounds like you had a great trip. One of my paddling friends named Doug from Russellville was on the trail while you were there. We were kayaking on the Cadron Creek near Greenbrier last week with him, he was stoked about doing the loop. You may have run into him.

Colt the baby is good!!! She is growing everyday!!!

Yes David we did run into Doug... It was late and he needed a place to camp so he picked out a spot in our camp. We also shared our camp with two guys from Dallas. I hope Doug finds me on here because he left early that morning before us. We hiked behind him by few hours and he dropped his hat. We picked it up and I will mail it to him if you will let him know...

Lew

Thanks Lew,it looks like I will be paddling the Piney or the Cadron this weekend and I will probably run into him. I will let him know you have it. Thanks

Hey Lew, Doug and I paddled the Illinois Bayou Saturday 6/14/08, I mentioned you had found his hat and he was very appreciative. It seemed he was more impressed with the fellowship among the hikers and paddlers than actually getting his hat back, but I know he would like it back. He said he enjoyed camping with your group. I plan to make the meet and greet on the 28th, If you make it, bring the hat and I will get it back to him.