You are hereHow to use this site
How to use this site
There are 3 main parts to this site: a) an area for site info & updates (what you're reading now), b) a listing of hike descriptions and c) a separate gallery of hike/trail photos. Use the menu on your right to visit "Hikes listed by date", "Hikes listed by name" or visit the Photo Gallery. Each hike description is linked to an album in the photo gallery, which is arranged alphabetically by place or trail name. Clicking on Pinnacle Mountain at the top will always return you to the home page. See 'About this site' for more.
Comments on any page or hike are welcome. Other perspectives on a trail are always of interest, as are tips about other trails or off-trail hiking areas in the Ouachitas.
I am starting a thru hike of the OT beginning May 1st from Talihina.. I understand from web hunting that the trail is only lightly used over much of it's length.. I had hoped to find a Forum or Yahoo group having this trail as its focus, I hoped to find persons who have spent lot of time on this trail,, to swap information and maybe find a hiking partner.. , but I have not found any forums like that on the net...I was little surprised this websight didnt have a forum..But anyway...There is some good stuff here..Good pictures.I enjoyed my visit to this site.
Steven
Sorry for the long delay in answering. Thanks for the nice comments about the site.
I just started this site recently and had no idea whether there would be interest in a forum, so I haven't set one up. The OT is getting a lot more use since FoOT was formed several years ago. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette newspaper has been running more hiking/trail related stories in the last year or two as well, so I guess people are more aware.
Anyway, if there's enough interest in a forum it would be easy to start one. - jc
Ouachita Trail info for hikers? Besides the Forest Service basic info on the web, the FoOT website is the only comprehensive one for the OT. http://www.friendsot.org/ That site's best feature for hikers is the Trail Status area that shows latest reports of trail conditions over the entire trail.
Sid,
I agree that the FOoT website is the only source of info about Ouachita Trail conditions. However, it is only as up-to-date as trail reports are.
It looks like some hikers report trail conditions, but most of them are from work reports and there isn't much trail work from spring to fall in many areas. I just got out on my section last weekend and was shocked to find out how much it had overgrown in July-August. The heavy summer overgrowth down by the Maumelle River is incredible.
It would be nice to have a mechanism for hikers' comments to be posted instead of just the "red-yellow-green" scheme. -jc