A report from FoOT Director of Maintenance, October 2011, by Kris McMillen

Tales from the Trail

A while back we asked you for your stories of Ouachita Trail Experiences. Matt Anderson of Venus, TX sent the following interesting tale from the trail:

“This past year, my wife and I hosted an exchange student from Rome, Italy. Since backpacking is something I enjoy, our student agreed to go with me to do a section of the OT. We stayed the first night at Pashubbe and hiked the next day to the Kiamichi River crossing. Along the way, about 30 mins before the top of Wilton Mt, we came across a bear right on the trail! It was about 50 yards ahead, almost as tall as we were (but a bit heavier), and was digging for some food. We pulled out the video camera and got some great footage. We let our presence be known, and it “hid” behind a bush while “checked each other out”. Our student and I, of course, backed down the trail out of sight for a few minutes, and cautiously came back later letting it know we were coming. We saw it further up the mountain off the trail, and it wasn’t paying any attention to us, so we passed on by. We ended up cutting our trip back a day because of nerves, but that was a highlight of backpacking for us.

Thanks for all that FOOT does to create a great place to enjoy! What a fantastic experience!”

Thanks, Matt. Great story. Keep enjoying the Ouachita Trail.

New Steps at the Hwy 10 Trailhead on the Ouachita Trail

Eagle Scout Candidate, Andrew Griffin, in coordination with FoOT thru Kris McMillen and Bill Mooney, completed the rebuilding of the wooden steps where the Ouachita National Recreation Trail crosses Hwy 10 near Lake Maumelle at Trail Mile Marker 202.

The previous steps had been in place a number of years and had deteriorated. Andrew stated that his priority concern for this project was the safety of hikers. The team placed large rocks at the upstream side of steeper stairs to divert water in ditch to help protect the new stairs. Andrew led a team of 5 young men and three adults on this project which was completed on August 21, 2011.

Andrew is 17 years old and a member of Christ the King Boy Scout Troop 29 of which he has been a member since beginning his education. Outgoing Scoutmaster is Phil Sampson and Incoming Scoutmaster is Dan Myers.

He is the son of Mike and Bonnie Griffin of Little Rock, AR. He attended Christ the King School through 8th grade. He is currently a senior at Catholic High School with an “A” average and in the top 21% of his class. He is on Catholic High’s Wrestling team and hopes to letter again this year, making for a three year letterman award.

After graduation in May 2012, he plans to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville to study Engineering.

Andrew is an avid outdoorsman enjoying hiking, fishing, hunting, and wake-boarding. He plays guitar and in his “spare time” mows and maintains about 7 different lawns.

Great job, Andrew!

Photography

FoOT is most fortunate to have many great photographers in our midst. Randy Jones of Norman, OK takes care of Mile 43.8 to 46.3 – (OT sign at bottom of Rich Mountain to Arkansas State Line). Recently Randy’s nature photography was featured in the Oklahoma City newspaper. You can see Randy’s outstanding photos at http://naturepics.zenfolio.com/

Congratulations, Randy. We are proud to have you as a member of FoOT.

Tools

Friends of the Ouachita Trail owns a wide variety of both hand and power trail tools for the membership to use on the trail. The tools are stored at various locations including: Jessieville Ranger District Work Center on Hwy 7 north of Jessieville, AR in two cabinets in the dozer shed, at a cabinet near the campground host site at Cedar Lake Campground off Holson Valley Road out of Hodgen, OK and at various members’ homes. The members storing tools include:

• Billy McMillen Hot Springs Village, AR
• Bill Mooney Roland, AR
• Ron Mayfield Oden, AR
• Todd Henne Plainview, AR
• Glenn Wortham Hot Springs Village, AR
• Bill Sears Talihina, OK

If any FoOT member would like to find out what tools are available and/or where to borrow any tools from, contact Marie for a list of what is where and to find out how to contact these members.

Anyone needing to borrow blazing paint supplies may contact John

Help Wanted

Kris has chosen not to be re-elected as Vice President of Maintenance. Kris will still be around and about on the Ouachita Trail and may be seen with loppers in hand or just hiking on the OT or some trail.

FoOT is seeking a volunteer for the Officer position of Vice President of Maintenance. If you are interested, contact Jim Gifford

Give Me a Sign-Part 2

Over the last 2 or 3 years we have managed to replace most of the 30 plus year-old signs on the trail. The majority of the new signs were made by Lenny Melancon of Hot Springs Village, AR and as you can see Lenny also helped install many of the new signs. We are eternally grateful to Lenny for this wonderful service. Lenny is moving away (Good-bye, Lenny) and has donated his sign-making tools to FoOT.

Dave Fox of Fairview, TX made many of the nice new signs for the trail located in Oklahoma. Thanks again, Dave.

We already have a new signmaker… John Stettinius of Hot Springs Village, AR. A BigFoOT welcome to John.