Ouachita (watch uh tah) Trail Day Uno

Day 1- Friday November 19, 2021 7.2 miles

This is the day that we set out to cover fifty-five miles in just six short days. Angie and I met our new friend Lauren. We met on a backpacking group on Facebook. After her gear was gathered and her car was dropped off at her end point, we headed to the Big Cedar Trailhead. We had to take a few obligatory photos before loading our just under 30-pound packs onto our backs. The women gave me crap for bringing so much food, but I was making sure none of us would be dying of starvation!

It started out easy, looked to be an old Jeep road. At a little less than a mile in, the trail split. I did not recall that from the map. I pulled up Maprika, Angie pulled up Google maps after a quick comparison we realized that we completely missed the trailhead. We had to backtrack back to the start. By the time we got to the trailhead we had gone over a mile, a mile wasted. I felt like I had already failed my friends. We realized that we missed the sign because

1. the sign was almost at ground level,

2. we were having fun chit chatting and didn't pay enough attention,

3. the sign was slightly covered by grass.

Once on the actual trail, there was a narrow path, trees, brush, it was right!

Less than two miles in, my back was already hurting. It reminded me of practicing with my Zpacks Arc Haul. I had too much weight to use that pack, which is why I went with my Gregory Deva 60L. We stopped to shed a layer and I noticed that I had two straps hanging down from my shoulder straps. If I pulled on them, they did nothing. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what these straps went to, it's not like it was the first time I've used the pack! I looked over at Lauren and it dawned on me that on a previous trip I removed the brain and I forgot to attach the two straps back to it! Once I got the brain attached and the pack back on it was so much more comfortable and my back stopped hurting, taking the weight off my shoulders really saved my back!

I'm from the Gulf Coast. Trees are green year-round or they're green then the leaves fall off. There is rarely a time when they change from green to red/yellow/orange. Getting to see the assorted colors was a sight I needed in my life. I found a pretty orange leaf with red spots, I picked it up and put it in my hip belt to bring home as a reminder of the beauty. But, once I got home, nearly a week after getting off the trail, I found a different leaf. It was no longer the pretty orange and red leaf, lol.

We were planning on hiking nine miles on our first day, however due to the rough terrain and the aforementioned extra mile we decided to call it an early night when we saw a campground, 7.2 miles. We set up our tents, ate dinner and started a fire. I learned while trying to dry my socks that certain brands will melt if they're too close to the heat. My hiking socks turned into my sleep socks and my sleep socks became my hiking socks. I'm glad that I always bring a pair for both activities.

At one point when I went to my tent there was a stick bug crawling on it. I moved it to the ground then went back to the fire. Later I got in my tent to grab an item, when I was coming out a stick bug was on my pants. Stick bugs have a thing for me.