Ozark Mtns, Nov 2010: "100 Meters at a Time"

[Wes Craiglow]

The Route
Illinois River watershed, Big Piney watershed, Richland Creek watershed, and the Buffalo National River watershed

Another excellent trip here in the Central States, and was designed scout new areas so as to ensure that follow-on ExPo group trips are as exceptional as possible. Get ready for this spring, everyone: the trip's going to be epic. (Or maybe both of them.... Yep, I'm thinking one in April and another in May. There's just so much to see and do here!)

Boy, oh boy, Saturday was a bruiser. We covered about 5 miles in 8 hours. But, I digress. Perhaps I will allow Ryan, Mike, or Neal delve further into those details.

For now, pics, vids, and notes...

Power lines are always a winner.

Always water in Arkansas.

Lots of ground to cover demanded that we work long hours.

Early on Saturday. The trail was exceptionally tight, and according to a local guy in a nicely built Suzuki Samurai we met at the bottom of the mountain, it was also "impassable to anything but bicycles and ATVs."

He can now add Toyotas to that list.

Can you spot the trail? Don't feel bad, we barely could either.

Gratuitous truck shot.

Gettin' sideways! (You'll have to wait until RSB posts his pics to see just how off-camber I was.... with 225ish lbs on the roof, mind you. :Wow1: Close call here.)

Saturday's rockslide, and the main reason we were told to not attempt this leg of the route. This is Leary, in a downhill off-camber position on unstable ground. This is on the approach to the rock garden, and he was stuck in this position by the driver's side rear pressing against a tree. Any forward movement would've shattered glass and dented the left rear quarter.

But what a gorgeous place to be stuck!

Opposite side of above pic: We used an X-Jack to create some airspace between the truck and tree, a Hi-Lift to lift the rear end off the ground, and my winch to snatch him back uphill onto his line....

All this just to START negotiating the actual rockslide. It was another three hours until all three of us got past this, using all combined wit and experience, a dozen or so single- and double-line, straight and angled winch pulls (including RSB burning up his Warn M8000), route repairs by rolling away, backfilling with, and/or stacking countless rocks, and literally using every other recovery tool at our disposal, all in direct coordination with one another throughout this particular.... wait for it..... wait for it...........

100 meter section. :xxrotflma (Sorry, inside joke there.)

The next landslide, pre-road improvements.

Improvements underway...

The view of our line through the slide site.

Finally, good road! Richland Valley.

Buffalo National River, Wollum crossing.

Climbing away from the river.

Parting shot.

​

Honestly, I can't wait to see what the other guys' pics will show. Hopefully, there's a way to better demonstrate just how difficult the trail was on Saturday....

Or maybe you'll just have to come along in April/May to see for yourself!

Hope everyone enjoys these. I'll get some vids up very soon.

Thanks for riding along.

Wes


(PS> Thanks to Mike (Mr. Leary), Ryan (RSB), and Neal (TheBlackSheep) for tagging along on this trip; I could not have done this one alone. Scouting trips are much more work than play, so I appreciate all the hard work from you guys and your willingness to spend long hours in the truck. Can't wait 'til the next one.)

 

[1leglance]

wow!
great job making the trail functional again...that will really help keep others from blazing new trails, going off trail or causing other damage. Nice work.

Also thanks for getting the pics during the recovery & improvement work, I am usually too busy to remember and always regret it later.

 

[Wes Craiglow]

wow!
great job making the trail functional again...that will really help keep others from blazing new trails, going off trail or causing other damage. Nice work.

Also thanks for getting the pics during the recovery & improvement work, I am usually too busy to remember and always regret it later.

Thanks, bud. We did our best. Glad you liked.

 

[Wes Craiglow]

Vids

RSB and his killer Taco in shallow water. This crossing will be sketchy--maybe impassable--come April. :snorkel:




Leary cruising (or should I say 4Runner-ing) up the ravine that nearing tossed my truck on its passenger side.




As far as Saturday went, this could be considered on of the "high speed" sections of trail. (Sound effects courtesy of dirty Total Chaos uni-balls.)




Ryan squeezing through the route we created though one of the slide sites.
​

More to come....

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I got off the phone with Leary a little while ago... after ever description of the obstacles you guys encountered he would simply say "holy ********". :xxrotflma

I must say guys, on the next one, I'll go to ride along and solely document everything with tripod and theatrical techniques! One of these days I'll get a decent digital video camera...

 

[Wes Craiglow]

Another Vid

Leary showing off just how skinny his truck is.​

 

[Wes Craiglow]

Final Vid From Me

Ryan taking a dunking. This will become a significant obstacle during spring high water. Bring a towel!

FYI: this gravel bar will be a large group campsite during that trip.​

 

[Wes Craiglow]

I got off the phone with Leary a little while ago... after ever description of the obstacles you guys encountered he would simply say "holy ********". :xxrotflma

I must say guys, on the next one, I'll go to ride along and solely document everything with tripod and theatrical techniques! One of these days I'll get a decent digital video camera...

Bring it! We need a trip historian on these things!

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Ryan taking a dunking. This will become a significant obstacle during spring high water. Bring a towel!

FYI: this gravel bar will be a large group campsite during that trip.​

Not that I am one to critic one's driving style.......:smiley_drive::snorkel::Wow1:
But Ryan... you need to slow down in these water crossings. Think of how much force you are putting into your radiator.

Water has a funny way of doing things... like...

See my license plate?

Not to mention the other, real, problems I encountered on the trip. Lesson learned. Easy does it through water crossings from here on out.

 

[PHXtaco]

Looks like a really fun trip!

 

[TheBlackSheep]

"100 Meters After Yesterday"​

First, the title must be explained. 100 meters. It's Saturday morning, we're up, caffeinated and start out. 30 minutes in we hit a trail and take that monumental turn to go check it out. Little did we know what we were getting into. Massive amounts of dead fall, rock slides, 10 foot deep washouts, you name it. 5 miles in 8 hours. Long story short, every time we had to stop and clear, winch, push, pull, jack, fill, back fill, inspect, dig, and hack, Wes would say "It's cool, the main road is only 100 meters on down." That obviously was not the case, and after the 4-5th stop, and 3 hours in, "100 meters!" became our rallying call every time we had to stop from then on out.

Sunday morning. We start out and begin clearing the rock slide. We're all pretty beat up from the day before, but we break out the tools and trudge up the hill to do battle. First thing Leary says "After yesterday this shouldn't be that big a deal." We all grunted in agreement. We spent two hours digging, cutting, and sawing, only to get everyone through to find out 100 yards or so farther down, there was another, extremely impassable rock slide with a 4 wheeler, 40 degree, mud hole bypass. Not happenin'. So we turn around and go out the way we made coming in. From then till the end of the trip, every stop and every obstacle was no big deal because of what we went through the day before, hence "After yesterday..."

"100 Meters After Yesterday" was born.

I did not get many photos because we were working quite abit, and to be honest, when doing a two winch, two point snatch block recovery up a mud caked, rutted out, 40 degree washout, or using air lifts, and hi jacks to get around trees (just to name a few), I just didn't think about taking pictures, so my apologies there. But I did get some:

​

For those that don't know, this trip was a scouting trip for the big one in April, and from what I saw, it's going to be one to remember. For those who went on the Ouachita trip back in October, this one is going to be better.

Over-all, this is just a better area. It's higher up, more scenery, more interesting and picturesque river crossings, stellar camp grounds from right next to the Buffalo River on a sand bar, to areas surrounded by 12 foot tall river cane, right next to an old Indian village. From massive pine and conifer enshrouded forest trails to inclined cliff mountain trails. From mountain elk to rainbow trout. The area is chock full of history, from salt peter mines dating back to the Civil War and over-grown structures built by pioneers, to fully preserved 1830's era homesteads and mills that you can actually walk inside.

On the other hand, it is not a walk in the park either and has it's fair share of hairy moments. So there are places that will get your blood flowing.

In short, the Buffalo River National Park area is what has put this state on the map regarding tourism and has been used as pictures and backgrounds for countless maps, brochures, stock photos, magazines and books. In fact, even if you've never been up there before, you've probably seen pictures of it.

I would easily consider it to be the number one overland and expedition'ing area in the state. Coming from an Arkansas native who vacationed, fished, camped and floated the Buffalo River as a child all the way into my teens, this is one trip you don't want to miss.

 

[97Ranger]

Awesome stuff guys, every time I read one of these Arkansas reports I wish i was a little further south.

I'm currently in discussion with the wife on joining one of the the trips next year. Its looking promising so far (Just try to leave out the red neck ruffians that leave random fires in the middle of the road, or I'm never going to meet you guys).

Random question though: How necessary would a snorkel be for those creek/river crossings? I have a Ford Ranger roughly the size of the Taco's in the pics but up here in Mid-MO, water doesnt get much higher than my hubs. I could half-way easily fab up a home-depot reroute for the intake...but I'd prefer not to have to...but if its the difference between going and not going, well thats an easy decision to make

Thanks for all the great reports!

edit: my bad...fiery redneck interaction was in Oklahoma, not Arkansas. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36996

 

[Mr. Leary]

I don't think I even snapped 5 pics this trip (busy).

I'll work on a short slideshow in the next couple weeks, maybe after finals are over.

I'm really glad we got through with no injuries and only minor damage to the trucks. That was the most technical day of driving I have ever done, period. After this trip I'm confident the group could tackle ANYTHING in our way... it just might take a little while! :elkgrin:

Thanks Wes for putting together yet another "Just what I needed trip," and for your patience while I muddled through our options for tackling obstacles, not to mention letting me couch surf after the trip.

Thanks Ryan for your hard work, your preparedness, and your jump to it attitude. My truck thanks you as well. I owe you one, bro!

Thanks Neal for your chuck wagon master duties, your knowledge level and keen insight, and your ability to work under pressure. You got us through tough obstacles during the day (and the first evening) and cooked up gourmet meals at night. It gave a huge boost to our moral being well fed.

This was the best equipped and most determined group I have ever had the pleasure of travelling with.

Great group, "impassable" terrain :wings:, and a unity of spirit that kept us going even when things looked grim. You guys all deserve a pat on the back.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I'm currently in discussion with the wife on joining one of the the trips next year. Its looking promising so far (Just try to leave out the red neck ruffians that leave random fires in the middle of the road, or I'm never going to meet you guys)

edit: my bad...fiery redneck interaction was in Oklahoma, not Arkansas. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36996

hehe:coffeedrink:

 

[Mr. Leary]

Awesome stuff guys, every time I read one of these Arkansas reports I wish i was a little further south.

I'm currently in discussion with the wife on joining one of the the trips next year. Its looking promising so far (Just try to leave out the red neck ruffians that leave random fires in the middle of the road, or I'm never going to meet you guys).

Random question though: How necessary would a snorkel be for those creek/river crossings? I have a Ford Ranger roughly the size of the Taco's in the pics but up here in Mid-MO, water doesnt get much higher than my hubs. I could half-way easily fab up a home-depot reroute for the intake...but I'd prefer not to have to...but if its the difference between going and not going, well thats an easy decision to make

Thanks for all the great reports!

edit: my bad...fiery redneck interaction was in Oklahoma, not Arkansas. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36996

Welcome to ExPo, 97Ranger. :wavey:


The water will be up in the spring. There will be some deep water. Some will have bypasses with shallower water, but some will not. For the spring trip we will have several coping strategies for getting the group through deep water. Options are to tarp the front of the trucks to keep water out of the engine bay (not overly deep), or turn the truck off and drag it through the deep crossing with a vehicle with some runout room on the other side.

The point is that on this trip, there will be lots of people who are knowledgeable and prepared enough to get the group through tough sections, or make the call to turn the group around if an obstacle is too dangerous or runs the risk of losing a truck. Risks are calculated, but bear in mind that there will be nothing like what has / will be shown in this trip report, with the exception of deep water in the spring.

We are examining the idea of breaking the group up for separate small trail segments based on rig / driver ability, but for most of the trip the groups will all be running the same trail sections, which will be 1s and 2s.

The "100 meter" trail section is too tight and too difficult to tackle with a big group. In some sections it was barely wider than an ATV. Nothing wider than a 3rd gen 4Runner / 1st gen Taco will fit... trust me!

Maybe a little more than you needed, but I figured I would elaborate for others reading the thread.