Unsurpassed View

Wednesday Feb 27, 2008 - Unsurpassed View

Today we were able to complete the trail on south slope of the mountain that had been two wet to complete earlier. We had five traildogs working the deep cut that was necessary to complete the final switchback.

Tomorrow will be the last day of the dig for this spring. We have about 250 feet of tread to finish that will bring us to the parking area. We will have added five miles to the Vista trail that now has over sixteen miles of completed trail including spurs.

As we were hiking back to our vehicles in the warm sunshine we enjoyed the unsurpassed view of the blue waters of Lake Ouachita. Far below we could see the large houseboat dock that is being slowly moved from the Shores Resort, in Denby Bay, to the eastern end of the lake, some twenty five miles by water, to the North Shore Resort. This dock is two hundred feet wide and five hundred feet long. Two large houseboats secured on two sides were slowly nudging the dock east at a pace so slow it appeared to be not moving at all.

I have attached a photo of the dock taken from the summit.

We will meet tomorrow at the same parking area next to the picnic area at 9:00 am.

Join for this final day of construction.

Jerry

Wind Blown

Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 – Wind Blown

Today was cold 40 degrees with a 30+ MPH wind howling off the lake and up the north slope of Hickory Nut Mt. Our Wind Blown Traildogs had to shift to the south side of the mountain where we previously skipped a section due to wet conditions. Once on the south slope of the mountain Ole Hickory Nut spread her high ridges to protect the crew knocking the wind completely off the team who were then able to work in shirtsleeves by lunch. Our best estimate is we will complete the work by Friday of this week if we have sufficient help to complete the finish work on the topside trail. Thanks Chuck and John for a job well done on the switchback.

I only heard from two traildogs who could be there for the free lunch Thursday so I am asking again is Thursday or Friday better for those who helped on the trail and would you like a lunch or maybe a breakfast.

Also we are scheduling Wednesday March 5th at 9:00 am as the start time for flagging the next leg of the trail to Crystal Springs. This will be an all day hike being led by tom Ledbetter and Tom Ferguson. Al Traildogs are invited but should be aware this is an arduous endeavor requiring a significant amount of climbing and we are not sure how many miles we will be covering. If you plan to participate please let me know ahead of time.

Tomorrow we will start at 9:00 am and meet at the same parking area on top of the mountain. Join us if you can and help complete this short section of trail.

Come when you can and leave when you want and let me know about the free meal on Thursday or Friday

Jerry

Beautiful Day on the Mountain

Monday February 25, 2008 – Great Day on the Mountain

It was a beautiful day on the top of the mountain today as we tried to complete the finish work on the last half mile of the trail today which we hope to complete by the end of this week. It is difficult to keep your gaze on the trail work with the panoramic view of the lake constantly beckoning your appreciation.

You can view the west side of Hot Springs some twenty miles to the east on a clear day.
At any given time you can see Bald Eagles, buzzards and hawks soaring in the thermos high over the lake and below you as you gaze out from the trail.

Tomorrow we will continue this finish work and will meet at the top of the mountain at the very back of the picnic area. We will start at 9:00 if there is no rain.

Join us and bring a lunch and fluids. Come when you can and leave when you want.

On Thursday we have a generous offer from the good folks at Mt. Harbor Resort of a free lunch for all the traildogs who have helped on this third leg of the trail. If you can come for the lunch please let me know so I can give them a number of how many of will be there.

Jerry