Backpacking trip in the Ouachitas
Harper and Tucker were on Spring Break this week and went down to Arkansas to spend it with their cousins. Tucker has been itching to go on a backpacking trip all winter long, so I took Thursday and Friday out and drove down to Hot Springs. I tried to get Harper to go with us but as with all things outdoors related, she had little interest in going.
Tucker and I hit the Little Missouri Trail in the Albert Pike Recreation area midday on Thursday. We spent the next two days hiking, climbing mountains (Tucker does not know if he wants to be a Mountain Climber when he grows up or a writer for In Fisherman), fishing, and exploring. This part of the Ouachitas is really pretty. The river looks like a scene out of A River Runs Through It. It’s wild, rocky, clear, and cuts a narrow gorge in the mountains there. The only disappointment for Tucker was seeing all the trout in the river that we could not fish for because I did not purchase a trout stamp with my 3 day fishing license. Evidently the state stocks the river every winter with thousands of hatchery trout. This is in the southern part of the state, so most of them die off in the summer. Just the same, Tucker could hardly stand seeing all those fish that he could not catch.
You can see pictures from the trip here: Eagle_Rock_Loop-March09