Arkansas Fall Foliage Frolicking

[LaOutbackTrail]

Those who attended this event, please post photos and your story here.

If you want your video used in the trip video, please email me your raw video clips to TerraXpeditions at gmail dot com


I'd like to thank Mr. Leary and 6-String (Wes) for putting together this trip. By golly it was a big turn out but managed to be a great time! I'd also like to thank everyone for putting up with my dry sense of humor and my impatience. Mr. Truong, thank you for getting your hands and favorite shirt dirty helping me change out the alternator. The Mrs. and Reba, I also want to thank you fine ladies for keeping an eye on kiddo for me when things were sticky. I'd also like to thank our village as a whole for keeping an eye on mine and all the other kids during camp and on the trails. THANK YOU EVERYONE for making trick or treating such a big hit with the kids, that was pretty darn cool and glad everyone enjoyed participating in that. The kids will never forget it! And many more thank-yous that I am having a difficulty remember after that long day of driving and little sleep last night!

I vote for going straight to the Ozarks on the next one! Holy Cow!

My photos here:

 

[RU55ELL]

Great trip! Another big thanks to Leary and Wes for the planning and leadership. Like Scott mentioned, thanks for helping keep an eye on Weldon. He had a great time, especially for the first time camping without mama.

It was great meeting everyone, apologies to TIM (tchughes), I kept calling him Todd, lol.

 

[RU55ELL]

Oh, and some pics:

I'm surprised a certain Jeep picture hasn't surfaced yet.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

My daughter and I left Denton, TX (DFW) earlier than the rest of the group in order to A) not drive at night and B) spend more time at the lake and take the scenic backroad-ish to Hot Springs. When we arrived, we setup camp and went on a hike. Straight down the hill to Lake Ouachita to snap a few photos of the sunset.

Back at camp, we enjoyed dinner, our warm fire, and Kylie got a trip present, a new headlamp before heading off to bed to catch some ZZZs. Leary and gang show up at 10:40ish and setup camp. I of course couldn't sleep through the ruckus and got up to investigate and help them out.

In the morning we pack up and head out to Hot Springs for breakfast and to meet the rest of the group.

Mr. Leary gives his pre-flight announcement encouraging everyone to fasten their seatbelts and place trays in upright position. Scott to Leary: you swamped the gas station, over.

Boys will be boys, and we found this nice playground.

 

[RU55ELL]

My new goal is to grow an epic goatee like Kyle's. :sombrero:

 

[Mr. Leary]

A great trip. Thanks to Wes for making this trip possible. Thanks to Ryan for stepping up and taking over as navigator and trail leader the first day. Thanks to everyone for coming out. We had a great group with a great attitude!

I was glad to meet many of you guys in person that I have "known" through the boards for a while. I will get pictures up later this week...

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Unfortunately, much of the day looked like this...

But, we were rewarded by having these sorts of opportunities. How often do you get to drive across a bridge such as this?

We reached a consensus to depart the trail and head straight to the designated campground about an hour away. Navigation seemed to be an issue, and after battling a bit of GPS-STUPID, I pulled out the map and started navigating. But, I was in the middle of the pack, no one could hear me over my CB (Bad mic) so I dropped down to 3rd and sped to the front of the group. We made our way to Spring Lake and found a nice unofficial campground down in a canyon on the south side of the dam.

While setting up camp, my daughter managed to take this cool picture.

It was colder than a well diggers ******** that night. Poot didn't survive the hammock, Marshall shivered on the ground, I had a thermo-nuclear powerplant keeping me warm in the double sleeping bag! And I assure you we left the place cleaner than when we arrived.

Morning number two, we head off again. With such a large group, we naturally had a late start. This morning was when my frustrations grew and my temper boiled a little bit. We were to meet up with Wes and the gang in Russelville, but the route tended to go everywhere BUT Russelville. My frustration subsided after meeting Wes's group and heading into the Ozarks.

 

[TXJeepers]

Nice pics. The one looks like maybe the Hickory Nut Mountain overlook of Lake Ouachita? Do you have any trail information on which trails/roads you took? We are in Hot Springs quite often and are always looking for new trails to explore.

Thanks.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

At one point in the trail, because of how tight it was, Leary almost lost his HAM radio antenna. While he was working on that, I took the opportunity to explore a trail that I happened to stop by.:sombrero:

5 minutes later, I am picking up the pieces that I lost.....

I was turning around when I drove up on a rock which kicked out and slammed the front passenger side bumper into the tree. Whoops. Thats why I drive a 23 year old, 300,000 mile, $2500 + or -.

It wasnt much longer that we came to a little river and the muddy mud pit.

I received even more body damage when I got stuck in that hole....
This time, to the back passenger bumper. Crammed up into the quarter panel. Time to get some real protection aye?

There was another deep water crossing down the way. Our widest, deepest yet.

Shortly after, there was another seemingly innocent mud hole. Solid bottom but had a hole about 3feet deep in it. Of course I wanted it to be a spectacular picture (Jacque???) and went a little too fast. Got air in my seemingly sealed air intake (drain hole in the bottom) and soaked my air filter. Truck began running very badly and I could not climb a steep hill, so Mike Truong pulled me up to a flat spot, where 10 heads combined to figure out that my TPS sensor got wet. Sure enough, a light spray of brake cleaner and a bit of compressed air dried it up and I was on my way. THANKS GUYS!

Camp night two:

Kids had a great time trick or Treating. THANKS AGAIN everyone who made the event so special for the kids.

Much warmer tonight, and the campfire was AWESOME.

Morning number two started off, and with the nature of this trip, we were stopped within the hour changing an alternator on the side of the road. Apparently it is much easier to change a Toyota 3.4 alternator than the 22RE as we will find out.

While they were working on TCHughes' truck I took the opportunity to ride in Bomar's awesome FJ62 cruiser. And once the 4runner was running again, we were out on the trail again. We passed an aptly named cemetery also.

We began climbing the hills again, great colors here!

We happened across an area that need a bit of trail maintenance. There was a cut around this, but it was beginning to erode and was muddy. The track was harder based so it made more sense to be responsible here. I'll have you know it requires burly men with leather gloves to move big trees. Young, scrawny squirts like me need only to stand aside.

 

[Wes Craiglow]

While they were working on TCHughes' truck I took the opportunity to ride in Bomar's awesome FJ62 cruiser. And once the 4runner was running again, we were out on the trail again. We passed an aptly named cemetery also.

I'm trying to convince him to sell it to me.

And I even love his Homebrew-Trasheroo. That dude's funny.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Another river crossing.

And just so you guys know, Maggie and I risked hypothermia to bring you these pictures...

Guambomb's gigantor 80series cruiser. Gorgeous and thick. Eileen doesnt seem like an appropriate name. I think Bertha is more fitting.

And then another trail problem... time to let kiddo out to burn some energy.

Not much after that, Leary gets sucked into the pit of despair. I helped with the extraction, so I didnt get any photos...

Leary, checking out the air fittings for his ARB locker. This one is for The Mrs.

Shortly after the above picture, I noticed my voltage gauge go to the floor... so I radioed ahead advising of my imminent break down. Quickly after, we had a long downhill decent which required brakes. The lights were enough to drain the last bit of juice and the truck shut down.

Thankfully Mike had his second battery, which I hooked up to get me to the parts store to pick up a new alternator. Thanks to my wife, I called her and had her call around to locate my part. Not stuck in Arkansas!:wings:
Truong helped me swap out the alternator which posed a few problems. The radiator hose would not let it out... requiring a draining of the system. OK. Get new alternator in there. Doesnt fit. Its the same as the original but doesnt fit. A few minutes with a file, hammer, and various sized screw drivers and allen wrenches, and we had the alternator on and were on the road... sorta!

 

[Wes Craiglow]

A great trip. Thanks to Wes for making this trip possible. Thanks to Ryan for stepping up and taking over as navigator and trail leader the first day. Thanks to everyone for coming out. We had a great group with a great attitude!

I was glad to meet many of you guys in person that I have "known" through the boards for a while. I will get pictures up later this week...

Hear, hear! And, as always, you're totally welcome. I feel terrible about not having the time to show everyone more of the area... And with that:


I am already laying out the route for the next trip, which will include some sections of trail that the last few of us hit on Sunday afternoon, plus more which will connect further north and much deeper into the Ozark Plateau. Emily and I will be scouting portions of it over a long Veteran's Day weekend in two weeks. (Sorry, you guys, but no one is invited on that one. I promised her a quiet few days in the woods. :suning: ) I'll get a new thread started in the coming weeks with dates. Big things are moving just beneath the surface.


Loving the pics, guys! Keep 'em coming!

wc

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

And I even love his Homebrew-Trasheroo. That dude's funny.

Scott to Bomar: Your poo bag is busted.

 

[Wes Craiglow]

And just so you guys know, Maggie and I risked hypothermia to bring you these pictures...

Thank you to those who helped keep an eye on her when she went to exploring the length of the group. Somehow, against all odds dominated by a low IQ and a wanderer's spirit, she always makes it out of the woods alive. Whew!

 

[RU55ELL]

Scott to Bomar: Your poo bag is busted.

Bomar: Is there duece running over my license plate??