My most recent overland adventure was the
Ouachita Traverse which begins in the Choctaw Nation in southeast Oklahoma, and ends just outside Little Rock, Arkansas. The trail lasted five days, mileage totaled 300, and actual drive time was 18 hours - I am working to slow my pace and enjoy more of my adventures. Nearly all of the time was spent driving on dirt, gravel, or mud, roads and trails. Some were well maintained whereas two sections totaling 50 miles were very rough and unmaintained.
This overland trail passes through the
Ouachita National Forest which totals 1.8 million acres and just in case you are wondering, Ouachita is pronounced
wash-ah-tah. History shows that some of the first explorers to interact with Native American Indians in this area were French and this helps to explain the interesting French spelling of an Indian word. The trail was a bit more than expected compared to the limited information I was able to collect beforehand. I imagined this would be all gravel roads with a few water crossings. Some of it was not, although I really enjoyed that trail and the challenges associated with it.
Day one of my adventure was not what I expected - the first 35 miles took five hours of very intense driving and navigation to complete. These first miles would be perfect for a Jeep or naked mid-sized truck, as long as you do not mind endless scratches. If you drive a full size rig with a popup camper you can expect damage. Driving between trees so tight that they fold your mirrors, and dragging 1-2" branches down the side and over the top, is ok for a few feet here and there. But driving in those conditions for several miles at a time, it's really hard on you and your vehicle. I have been off-roading off and on for 30+ years and this is the tightest and longest section I have ever traveled. I would have liked to take a picture but was unable to open the door and much of the time the trees were so close together I was unable to squeeze between them if I crawled out the window. And to be honest, after a few hours, I just wanted to get back to open trail.
Sections of the trail opened up while traversing the ridge-line of the
Kiamichi Mountains and I passed through several dozen large puddles. Average depth was around one foot and while most had firm bottoms, a few were soft and muddy. Here is the worst of the muddy ones - for reference, I drove at a moderate speed through all in two wheel drive. My guess is in the rainy season the conditions could be significantly worse.
The road has been tough for my AEV Prospector and Four Wheel Camper so once we broke out into some open space and the remainder of the trail "appeared" to be easy, I figured I would take a picture of this workhorse. I do my best to avoid and minimize damage to my rig but I bought her to use her and therefore, am not shy when it comes to bumps or bruises. Interesting fact - while traveling through the mountains I crossed back and forth between Arkansas and Oklahoma at least five times!
This is an empty hangar at Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport where
Barry Seals C-123K Provider aircraft flew out carrying illegal machine guns and missiles to the
Contras in Nicaragua, which were then knowingly trafficked to Iran in exchange for money. Some of that money was then used to support the Contras while the rest was used by the CIA to fund other illegal and more importantly, untraceable, operations. Once the arms were dropped in Nicaragua, Barry would then fly to meet with the Medellín Cartel in Colombia, load up with drugs (primarily cocaine), and fly back to Mena, with the approval from then
Governor Bill Clinton. The drugs would then be sold to high-level drug traffickers in these United States for distribution through the US with the drug money once again being used by our CIA to fund additional illegal operations both here and abroad.
Interestingly enough, there was a certain strange feeling of sorts felt while exploring this still active airport. A number of private vehicles that passed by slowed to take a closer look and then minutes later, two airport security vehicles came by. My guess was that word spread fast that a serialized AEV Prospector was on the flight-line and folks wanted to check this beauty out. You can find additional information on the Iran-Contra Affair to include specifics on the CIA, NSA, DEA, etc. involvement if you dig around. The truth is out there and if you still believe our despotic government staffed by thousands of psychopathic individuals still care about us common folk...unfortunately, you are dead wrong.
Trees are something you should be prepared to deal with if you plan to drive hundreds of miles through the mountains. Some are small and simple enough to cut with a handsaw while others would require a chainsaw, winch, and log chain to move. This one was just too big and would take such a long time to clear I opted once again to navigate around. Cutting and moving a large tree weighing 5,000-7,000 pounds containing so much potential energy is a dangerous exercise and really should only be attempted with multiple people when time is not a critical consideration.
When overlanding you must always be prepared for navigating around a washed out bridge, massive tree blocking the trail, etc. In this case FS774 had a locked gate and although there was a clear path where others had been driving around the gate, I respected the closure and opted to review my map and navigate around. Having an uncluttered cockpit with Gaia mapping software being displayed directly on my factory Uconnect 8.4-inch with touchscreen is clean and simple.
After spending a few days on the trail I jumped off to refuel at Mount Ida and since
Lake Ouachita was along the way I decided to spend time there. This is my new camp on one of the coves off of Lake Ouachita. This is a quiet little place and the trail coming in is rough and overgrown confirming that it is seldom used. I can imagine there are dozens of primitive camp spots just like this surrounding the lake.
For most people these days, sleeping outdoors is an unusual event - this is sad. Since it is normal for me to sleep in the forest, mountains, desert, etc., I rarely stop to think of how different the natural and pure world is when compared to the man made make-believe one that I once lived in.
Consider this - everything I feel, see, hear, touch, and smell is real. None of this is a digital recreation; none of this is temporary or make-believe. Come outside into the real world, enjoy the truth, see what God has created for us to enjoy. Escape from digital prison and join myself and others in the wild. Once you arrive you will understand...
Matthew 6:25-34
If you have a chance to drive across a spillway below a dam would you? After completing the trail I drove a few miles south to visit Lake Winona and drove across the spillway with a smile listening to a funny
song by Primus.
Later this year, or sometime next year, I plan to return to this area of the country to explore the Ozark Mountains in greater detail. It may have been last year, or the year prior, that I enjoyed some trails in the Ozarks but I promised to return and spend a month or so exploring more.
Here is a dynamic shot of my AEV Prospector crossing a typical puddle along the trail. It's best to be in 1st or 2nd gear and in low range so you can keep the engine RPMs up which creates higher exhaust back pressure, a smoother running engine, and minimization of a potential stall. Move forward fast enough to create a bow wave but not a splash.
Each of us must ask ourselves when we are on our deathbed, will we smile knowing we are rich with material objects, or will we smile being rich with memories? I consider myself a rich man, not rich with money, but memories. Spend more time with your family outdoors and create everlasting memories...
