Backpacking Eagle Rock Loop, Arkansas. April 7-9, 2017
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- I backpacked ERL with some great friends, we spent 3 days and 2 nights on the trail. The weather was perfect, we had a couple falls but no real injuries. We hiked it CW and meet 54 other backpackers from 7 other states going CCW. We all used hammocks and enjoyed the almost full moon both nights. It was my wife's first attempt and she loved it, she's wanting to go back in the fall when the leaves are off the trees so we can get better views from the summits.
#BackpackingArkansas
#EagleRockLoop
#OuachitaForest
#ZPacks
Good video. Reminds of our trip.
Great video Greg, enjoyed it. How and where exactly was the parking at Blaylock creek?
I'm starting my hike for eagle rock tomorrow, I'm super excited
also, what kind if bugs should i expect in march?
Jon Webb, that’s awesome! Enjoy the hike, I wish I was going with you!
last question what was the weather like when you went?
Jon Webb, might be some mosquito but they shouldn’t be to bad. I hike on the OT last weekend and found 2 ticks on me. If you are starting tomorrow the weather should be great, if you haven’t hiked it before the deepest water crossings will be at Winding Stairs on both sides. You might be able to rock hope the others. If it works out for you I’d recommend getting enough water for the night and camping on Eagle Rock Vista. You’ll get a great sunset/sunrise if it’s a clear sky.
That scared me when she fell in the water. Glad she was okay. You guys had a lot of stream crossings. Nice hike. Thanks for taking me along.
Yeah, it scared me too! Luckily the water wasn't very deep or swift where they crossed. She had a bad fall the day before too, this turned out to be a trip she won"t forget I'm sure. I think we had 10ish wet crossings, that was our only accident crossing. Thanks for watching.
I can't wait to do this hike next year! It just looks so gorgeous.
Stephanie Nash it's a wonderful hike, you'll love it. We are going to do it again in November with hopes of better views since the trees should have lost their leaves. I hope you enjoy the trail when you go, thanks for watching.
The only bad thing about starting at Baylock is missing camping at Eagle Rock. FYI the trail is busy during hiking season. Eagle Rock will provide amazing photos late April with the flowers. During non growing season take the spurs for the views.
Brush Heap had an amazing view if you took the spur.
Larry Cloyes, agree...we’ve hiked up to Eagle Rock just to stay the night. It’s beautiful with a clear sky. Thanks for watching.
Finally got around to watching the entire video... looks beautiful that time of year. I'll have to consider doing it again in the spring! I did it Thanksgiving weekend. It was cold and not as scenic w/o the greenery. I still had an amazing time though. Thanks for sharing!
Over The Hills: I hiked it the same weekend you did. It was cold! I prefer hiking it in the month’s when the trees are missing leaves. I thunk the views are much better. Thanks for watching, happy hiking!
I hike more in north Arkansas, the Ozark Highlands Trail and around Jasper Ar. I am doing ERL with my sister in a couple of days.
Over the years, I have slowly reduced my shoes to trail runners. I just wade into the water. I prefer the quick drying shoes and keeping them on
I love the OHT also, we’ve hike about half of it. Looking forward to getting back on it.
ERL is one of my favorite hikes in Arkansas, we are going to hiking it again this fall after the leaves are off the trees. You get better view then.
I’m with you on the shoes, I only use trail runners now and just wade on through.
I hope y’all have a great time on ERL, thanks for watching!
Greg Rinehart I do have a question. We are putting in at rd 106 trailhead and hiking a little on the first day. I know there is a campsite at the spur of Eagle Rock Vista...is there a campsite at Brush Heap or even in the top of Brush Heap? Would love to camp with a 360 view
Larry Cloyes, from memory there is a small camp site but the trail runs right by/through it. I’ve only hiked up the spur trail once and it stopped short of the summit, had to do some rock scrambling/bushwhacking. There is a amazing view up there.
I’ve camped on top of Eagle Rock Vista, with a clear sky you’ll get a great sunset/sunrise.
Hope this helps.
Hey! this is a little late but I had a great time hiking, but were the rocks tough on your feet? This was my first backpacking trip and my feet were really sore by the end of it. We started at winding stair and went counter clockwise, getting to just before the big falls the first night, we went about 8 miles. The second we went about 15 and stopped just after the 6 peaks. The third was an easy 4-5 miles and I had a great time. Did you find the rocks particularly bad? I'm unsure if this is normal or not on backpacking trails.
Jon Webb, they don’t seem to be that bad to me. I can’t think of any areas that really stick out. Some of the creek crossing areas are fairly rocky but the rest don’t seem that bad. Maybe the shoes just didn’t fit right or something like that. My feet hurt on most of my early trips but after I got my pack weight down and changed the shoes I was wearing all that changed.
If you are planning on hiking the OT, the first 3 sections of it are pretty awful as far as rocks go.
We made sure our shoes were good, but we were using packs from when my dad was a kid and he is 54, also we over packed so that was likely it. Although during part where the trail joined with the horse trail it seemed especially bad. Also it was likely bad because we were not used to backpacking, first time for me and first time for my dad since he was a kid.
Jon Webb, I bet it’s just getting use to packing and the weight. Also, ERLis ranked as the toughest hike in the state I believe. Y’all tackled a big one for your first.
I’ve got my pack weight to about 15lbs for a 3 day trip or 22lbs for a trip with my wife like this one. I carry a lot of the gear we share. That’s probably what keeps her going.
Hopefully your next trip will go much better for your feet. It can definitely make for a miserable trip when your feet aren’t happy!
Thanks! Yeah, we each had about 30lbs packs.
Nice..... I did the ERL the same w/e solo. Started at the ABF trailhead Sat AM, going CCW. Agree blessed with very nice sunny weather on Sat. Sunday AM was interesting, the morning cool and slightly overcast. We may have crossed paths along the trail somewhere? I finished up back at ABF trailhead Sunday about 11am. Was my 1st trip to do the ERL, was lovely. Enjoyed watching your video.
Nice....looking at possibly hiking this in the fall.
CamperJohn it's a great hike. This was my first time in the spring with everything green. I think I prefer the fall months when the leaves are off the trees. Much better views. We are planing on going back this fall so my wife can see the difference .Enjoy your hike when you go and thanks for watching.
I will be trying this for the first time the last week of may. Looks like you guys had a great time, any suggestions for our trip? Did you have any encounters with snakes?
We are going Sunday thru Wednesday so I'm hoping there will be some other hikers but im sure it won't be as busy as a weekend.
Hey Matt, thanks for watching. It was a great trip!
I'm sure there will be other hikers, ERL gets a lot of out of state visitors. We only saw 1 snake that I can think of and someone had already killed it. Be prepared for ticks, my wife found 3 on her. I'm sure gnats and mosquitoes and chiggers will be out too. Take water crossing shoes, we saw a group that didn't and they waded the deepest crossing at Winding Stairs in their hiking boots or went barefoot. My opinion is nether of those are good plans.
Hope you trip goes well.
We will also be parking at Blaylock, What were your sections on each day?
We hiked about 2 miles past Little Missouri Falls the first day to the area you have to cross the river, there's a feeder creek that meets the river after you cross. We should've crossed it too and set up camp. That's where Christina fell in (12.8 miles according to my Garmin watch, that includes side hikes to views).
Day 2 we stayed at the first campsite on Viles Branch Trail (11.8 miles).
Last day we had 6.6 back to the truck.
Hope this helps.