April 12, 2008 - Just added ~ 23 photos of an overnight backpack to a place on the OT called Moccasin Springs.   It's mile 175 in Section 8, right in the middle of Flatside Wilderness.    The trip itself was no big deal.  It was really a "shakedown" trip to test out a new backpack and some other equipment, so it was intentionally just a short hike and one night stay.   Never-the-less, the weather was beautiful and the brief stay out in the wilderness was great.    The evening was cold but clear and quiet and the morning was cold, crisp, crystal clear, sunny and windy.    The sunrise over the small cascade at "Moccasin Springs" was beautiful.     This is also a great place to hike to for a picnic.  Its all on the OT and only about 1.5 miles from an access point on FR132.

Added photos from a Ouachita Trail hike yesterday (April 5, 2008), from miles 191.8 to 195.1.   This is from Hwy 9 trailhead to Duffy Road.     There are about 40 new photos from this hike in the photo gallery (click photo).  

This is the part of the Ouachita Trail that leaves the mountains and drops down to Pipeline Creek, on its way to the Maumelle River.   If you keep going, you'll  come out at Hwy 10.  

The section shown in the photos is the 3.3 miles from Hwy 9 to Duffy Road (dirt road closed to public).    It can be done as a 6.6 mile dayhike, but its better to do a longer hike (10.5 miles), from Hwy 9 to Hwy 10 and hike this section one way.

Dogwoods are blooming too, along with violets (which have been blooming for weeks).  This was the first Iris I saw this spring.   - jc

Video capability has now been added to the photo gallery.   Click HERE for an example.   Most of the video is shot with a little Panasonic DMC-FX30 pocket snapshot camera.  The originals were converted to FLV (flash video) and have "film" lines on each side of the thumbnail to distinguish them from still photos.  -jc

OHJ has a new photo gallery as of March 26, 2008.   The old photo gallery program didn't easily allow for categories, subalbums and other features, so the software was changed.  The new photo gallery allows for categories, subcategories, cross links from each page back to the hike descriptions, photo tagging, video, etc. 

The new photo gallery has several upgrade features:

• Photos are categorized by topic such as Ouachita Trail, other hikes (divided into off-trail and on-trail), etc.
• Each photo album is linked to a detailed description page (when there is one)
• Search is much better.  Can search comments, titles, etc.
• Tags and tag cloud searching
• More photo size options.

Also, this page (the OHJ site home page) is due for an overhaul.   When I get a free minute I'm planning to reorganize this page in the same way, by categores, topics, etc...   all on one page.   Suggestions welcome.    -jc

Today (Feb 16, 2008) I upgraded the site CMS to Drupal 6.0 and changed the 'theme'.   Perhaps this new 'look' will be a bit more useful.  Also, the FORUM module was activated.   Several people have asked for a forum, so it may turn out to be of interest.   We'll see. 

Today's upgrade of the site will allow immediate posting (posts will not have to be pre-approved by a moderator)...   for comments and in the forum.      -jc

A question has been raised about public transportation to the western end of the Ouachita Trail.     If anyone knows of public transportation access to that end of the trail (or any part of of the OT), please post a comment or send an e-mail.    -jc

Ouachita Hiking Journal was started 1 year ago.   In that year (2007) this site received roughly 12,000 visits from about 1,400 unique visitors.  Most referrals came from the Friends of the Ouachita Trail (FOoT) website, which kindly provides a link to OHJ.  The next most popular referral source was Google.   I guess that's not bad for a little website about hiking in part of Arkansas.   It is probably worth restating that the purpose of OHJ is simply to provide a resource for hikers interested in the Ouachita Mountains.   The photos are intended to show what these various places look like in all seasons and under various conditions.   The hike descriptions (both here and in the photo captions) are intended to provide a rough idea of what the trail or hiking area is like.   As most hikers are always looking for new places to explore, OHJ provides a place to get ideas and suggestions.    I hope at least a few people have found it interesting and use

Just added a few photos from a quick winter day hike on the OT from Lundsford Corner.   Nothing special...  just a gray winter day.  -jc

It's been a busy last few months and new hikes have not been added for a while.  I hope to find time soon to update with more hikes and photos. 

In the mean time, the OHJ Photo Gallery software and theme have been updated to the latest versions.   The "theme" I was previously using is no longer supported, so I switched to a new Zenphoto theme.   The advantages of all this are a) subalbums, b) tags, c) search capability and d) viewers can now leave a comment under any photo.   Search is implemented and the commenting feature is implemented.    The tags feature (not quite yet implemented) will allow tagging of photos and easy search by tag cloud.  The subalbum feature (also not yet enabled) will allow classification of hikes into categories like "Ouachita Trail" and make the Photo Gallery more easily accessible.   Anyway, I have many stored hike maps and photos...   just need time up upload.   -jc

A new feature has been added to this site...  Google Earth!     Starting with an OT hike on October 14th, the GPS track for the hike is also available as a KMZ file, which will open up in Google Earth and show the track on the map, on aerial photos and can even be viewed in a 3-dimensional, dyanamic view that allows you to "fly" over the terrain.   Of course, you have to have Google Earth loaded and working on your computer.    Screenshots are shown in the photo gallery.  

Google Earth is amazing. For those not familiar with it, the compass and bar in the upper right corner of the screen allows the viewpoint orientation to be changed as well as the 3-d perspective. After the direction and elevation perspective are chosen, the mouse can be used to move the 3-d map, simulating a "fly over" of the area.