OHT conditons

The following is a short excerpt from Tim Ernest on Journal from yesterday:

"There was considerable damage to the Ozark Highlands Trail in the
Fairview Area - a volunteer crew from our hiking club is out today
working on it. We drove down to Ben Hur and there were snapped power
poles and power lines on the ground the entire way - no power in any of
that area. The trail is in pretty bad shape in that area as well. Looks
like this eastern end of the national forest took the worst of it. For
those planning to hike on the OHT I would stick to the central sections
for now. We did not see any closure signs on any forest service
facilities, and in fact it looked like they have cut out the trail at
Pedestal Rocks and it is open for business as usual - but I thought the
forest was "closed" north of I-40? It does not appear to be closed at
all."

So there you have some up to date info.

OH

I read this this morning. I feel sorry for those guys. We have all lived throught these. I worked in the Ouachita after the 2000 strom. It is unbeleivable what ice can do to those trees.

I lived in SE AR back in 94 when we had a bad ice storm. At that time it was the worst the state had seen. There wasn't a utility pole left standing and the trees were destroyed. Yes ice storms age bad! I do feel for those guys.

OH

i just read on Tim Ernst's Clouland journal that the Ozark Highlands Trail folks have developed a plan to have the entrire OHT clear by March 1st! He says that large parts of the trail are untouched. Looks like you guys that want to hike the Ozarks may have a place to go soon.

OH