Buffalo National River planned hike December 4th - 7th

Ok. The trip report is up at my blog site. I normally would post it here as well but it is a pain in the neck to redo all of the photo links and such, so you can read it at my blog then come back here to comment. The site is

http://www.thepaxtonfamily.com/blog/2008/12/08/hiking-trip-5-buffalo-national-river-various-trails/

Enjoy!

Good trip report!! Looks like you all had a good time!! I am jealous and ready to go back out haven't been out since OCT. How did you like the Contrail? Looks like the Hammock Debate is still out there for me. It didn't look very comfy sleeping by that fire. I think I will stick to the ground....

Lew

Lew,

I am with you on sleeping on the ground. I was warm all night long and I was far away from the fire. They did sleep in their hammocks Thursday night, but when I saw all the quilts and stuff they pulled out to stay warm, that sealed it for me. But they swear by them. Darn Monkeys.

The Contrail was perfect. I am going to play with it this week to try and get a more taut pitch. There are many forums out there with great ideas and alternate ways to pitch, so I am going to test them out.

Eddie and I are already planning our next trip. We are going to through-hike the Buffalo New Year's weekend. When we have a few more details, we will start a post and see if anyone want to join us.

Colt.

So you think you might hike the Buffalo River Trail (BRT) end to end? The same trail that UL and I did in Oct? If so it is a good one I enjoyed it...

Lew

Good Trip Report Colt. Nothing really to add other than if anyone ever gets a change to do a little hiking with either of these two.... well.. lets just say that you should take them with you.. you will be rolling on the floor....

I had to abandon my chair in the middle of the night and went to the ground. There wasn't any trees in Erbie for me to hang from, but Oh the hammock is SOOOOOOO more comfortable than the ground. I was thinking about thruing the BRT on new years too Great minds do think alike.

Dwight

Colt,

I enjoyed your trip report. Nice photos also. I have done some hiking around in that area but it was way back in the 70's. Need to get back some day.

OH

Lew,

Yeah, we are thinking of doing the entire 36.5 miles like you guys did. We will probably do it in 4 days instead of three, because that 15 mile push may be a bit much for me on day two but we will see.

Cowboying it was nice for a change though Preacha.... oh I have downloaded that song that you liked.. you know the one hahahaha

It was nice to just be by the fire all night. I played the song for my wife, and she didn't really appreciate it that much, but I did hahahaaha.

hahahahaha..... I can bet she didn't.... you still wanting to YO YO the BRT or you just want to do the trail with me an Colt an who ever else? We are thinking of leaving memphis New Years Eve night and back late Sunday night. I know you have to leave Sat night but I am "hoping" we will be done with the trail by then lol.

Singing a song?? Sounded like a special night for you and TM!!!

lol... yeah well colt was in on it as well.. hahahaha

I downloaded the song too and added it to my iPhone. I will bring it with us on the BRT trip.

Just spoke with Preacha by phone and it looks like we will be all four (Preacha, a friend of his, Trail Monkey, and myself) leaving South Boxley Thursday morning. He will obviously have to do the trail in three days to get back for church on Sunday morning. Not sure if I will be able to do that or not in my current physical shape, but I am sure gonna try it. If not, then we can just break up in two groups and they can just blow us out and come on here and brag about it, like Preacha threatened.

Yes that actually sounds great.. I was wondering how we were going to handle that. The next thing is transportation... Shuttle or cars.... $60 is going to be high for only 2 people...

I was thinking about that... we could leave Preacha's car at Erbie and take your truck to Boxley. That way, if we didn't make it in 3 days, Preacha could still get his car and head home. That would leave us with the shuttle fee, but that would be better than walking back. But, if we did make it in 3, it would cost us nothing.

Talking to Preacha, we thought it may work out if we went all the way to Ponca or a little further on day 1, then if we (I) are not feeling like making it all the way to Erbie, stop maybe around Cherry Grove Cemetary or something, and then finish it up the next day. Sorta play it by ear.

If your gonna go to Ponca Steel Creek is just another two miles... Just a thought.. It is a great trail remember the water situation..

Lew

Boxley to Steel Creek wouldn't be a bad day if you left early enough. I just talked to my wife and she kinda rolled her eyes at me, so I woud have to start begging again . I say park my car at Pruitt, and hike all the way, its only 2 mile from Ozark . Whichever way is good with me.

Boxley to Steel Creek is roughly 13 miles and if you start early (no later than 8:30), you shouldn't have too much trouble making it to camp by 4:00. This will depend on how heavy your packs are, but if you keep it pretty light, it shouldn't be bad. Steel Creek to Kyles Landing is the toughest part of the entire trip and can be a full day, but hey, you guys just kicked butt in the fitness challenge, so it shouldn't be any trouble at all. LOL!!!
The key to making the entire trip will be in getting out of camp early and taking frequent breaks (about 10 minutes every hour to hour and a half). This was Lew's and my approach to hiking it in October and it worked out good for us.
Great trip report, BTW.
UL

I made it from Dockery's Gap to about 5 miles past White Rock one day on the OHT, before I lost weight. I am not to worried about the BRT. But I do understand some other people's concerns. It is better to know your limitations and have fun, than ignore them and be miserable. I think it is more than doable, and most of us have our packs in the below 20 pound range anyway

I agree about getting out "EARLY". Especially when we have less light now... 5pm and its totally dark. Also water will be tougher as very few places to be able to get down to the river to get to the water and all campgrounds have the water shut off. The Slatty place is the hardest but the climb coming out of Kyles will kick your butt as well, but once you get past that last stair step just before Cherry Grove Cemetary then its almost totally flat the rest of the way to Pruitt. Colt, I would also say to go ahead and pack up your pack with water and food for 3 days and weigh it. Try for under 20 lbs. If you don't have a hanging scale to weigh total weight let me know and I will bring you mine when I bring you the map cds and user manuals for the GPS. Only reason I say that is cause I know how your prone to pack the kittchen sink... this would also be a good chance for you to quite smoking hahahaha. just a thought.

Actually, my proneness for "packing the kitchen sink" is one of the major reasons I am getting the ULA Conduit pack. I CAN'T pack the kitchen sink with that thing. With that, my big 4 will be 7.53 pounds. That is a big start since I have now shaved over 4 pounds in tent and 3.8 pounds in pack alone. Now if I can only find a sleeping bag and pad that can save me significantly in weight (my bag is 40 ounces and my pad is 34 ounces) without breaking the bank, then I will be doing great.

I would like to borrow your hanging weight, if you don't mind, when you drop off the stuff for the GPS. Also, if you could grab that 64 MB MicroSD, that would be great too. At least until I can find my 1GB card.

If you guys would like for me to post my gear list from the trip that Lew and I made on the BRT back in October, I'll be more than happy to. My base weight was right at 7.5 lbs and food weighed in at another 3.75 lbs for 3 days.
Let me know,
UL

Please Post it UL.. also what kind of time frame did you have or better is how many hours a day did you hike... I am only concerned about the short days. Thanks

I would love to see this gear list as well!