Albert Pike and the ERL Trip Report

This is broke up into 2 post. See the ERT Trip Report for the rest of it.

Friday May 29
I arrived at Albert Pike Campground at around 5pm. I quickly found one of the few remaining campsites and pitched my hammock. Talked with a few folks from around an even a ranger about the upcoming ERL Loop hike on Monday. Was told they had burned about half way to sprit rock vista. Turned in early only to find that this campground sees more cars after 10pm than most freeways. It was a long night. Mosquitoes were out in full force. Lucky I had my thermacell. At round 3 am the temps took a dive and drove the pest to safety though.

Sat May 30
Awoke early so I could get everything done an get out on the vista overlooking Albert Pike at around daybreak. Found that I had had a visitor during the night. A raccoon found that he could open the lid to my cooler. Lucky he only got into some bread. Will have to fasten it down better tonight. Got out on the vista and was taken aback by a great sunrise. Grabbed a few photos. After lunch I headed up to the bluff on the opposite side of the river. Then downstream for a few miles following the river bed. After dinner I went back with a tripod to some bolder fields that I had found earlier. Ended up staying for a few hours and taking some great shots. Ended the day with around 9.8 miles.

Sun May 31
Spent most of the day working the bolder field from just below Albert Pike to just before the Little Missouri crosses the first bridge on the high side. Not a lot of miles but a lot of work. Walked almost totally in the river carrying my large tripod and camera. Got back in time to do some final touches on my pack getting ready for the ERL tomorrow. 4 miles on the GPS.

(See ERL Trip Report for missing days)

Thursday June 4

I returned to Albert Pike to camp for the remainder of the weekend. Soon I made camp and opened everything up to let my gear air out from the night before rain. Made a few more friends at the campground and turned in early for a night of rest, or so I thought. Soon I was awaken to people running around asking if anyone had seen to little girls age 11 an 13. No one had and soon the Search and Rescue were out in FULL force. Along about this time, a couple of tent pads down from me a very young baby had been awaken and began screaming. I have no idea what time I finally passed out but the baby was still crying.

Fri June 5
Then next morning came and it was fairly cool. As I sat there eating breakfast I began thinking and decided that I needed to get out of here. I figured that I could run out to the outer roads and find a camp site. While taking down camp I talked to the campground host and she said that they had not found the girls. I went up on the main road leaving the park and found a nice campsite right on a creek. Unfortunately it was disgusting. I picked it up and gathered a couple of large trash bags of garbage. The more I sat there the more discussed I became about the night before and I didn’t want to get into the weekend warriors again. I decided to come home. Thus ending a otherwise great week.