Brian and I decided to get out of town last weekend. And, it was a fantastic idea. He planned the trip, literally to a T. He decided where we would go, what we needed to pack, what meals we were going to eat, and it was much more successful than our
last backpacking trip to Crater Lakes (Co.). We decided to go to this state park...
We left at 6:00 on Saturday morning and headed to Arkansas, dogs in tow. We had to go get backcountry permits from the visitor center. We have had to get camping permits before, but never backcountry permits. It was a first. So, basically we had to fill out this form saying when we were planning to be back to the park. And if we weren't back by this point, denote on the paper at what point they should send a search and rescue team. Ha. That was a bit intimidating. The ranger then noticed that we hadn't circled that we packed a first aid kit. We hadn't. He then proceeded to ask, "What happens if she gets mauled by a bear." I answered him that Brian was an EMT. Basically, if I were to get mauled in backcountry territory, I would start praying. Not too much a first aid kit could do, or really an EMT for that matter. I would need a hospital. And fast. Luckily, we didn't get mauled by bears (they rarely make appearances where we were hiking).
We hiked this trail.
Don't let the name fool you. It is not a 15 mile trail full of butterfields. Rather, it is a 15 mile trail full of boulders, straight up hills, gnats, and no water. Brian can attest to this statement.
Yes, sadly that is mile marker #1. This was after hiking about 3 miles in circles because the trail was horribly marked within the park boundaries. So, before I proceed any farther. Let me say, our dogs are troopers. We had several people warn us that dogs struggle on this trail and that it is really hard on their paws. Our response was, "You don't know our dogs. They run every day. Well, walk everyday. They hike the Rockies, surely they can handle the Ozarks." And, they rocked the trail. These people should have been more worried about me.
The start of backcountry hiking outside of the park limits.
Happy dogs! Mallard literally laid in any water/mud hole she could find (there were very few and far between).
Such a majestic bird dog.
Finally made it to the campsite (mile #7) and there was running water! Mallard loved that stream, and we loved that we could fill our water bottles back up. There were also crawdads in the stream.
Brian starting a fire.
Water is good. Interesting fact about Brian and I when we backpack. Brian does not ration his water very well. Meaning, that he drank 3 liters of water before getting to mile 7. He literally drinks as he walks. Now, remember there is hardly any water on this trail. Whereas I am the complete opposite of him. By the time we made it to the campsite, I probably drank 1 liter of water. I not only had a headache, but was completely dehydrated and also fell twice on the trail. I never fall. So, in this instance, Brian's way of guzzling water was definitely the better way of going about things.
Did I mention that Brian is a gourmet camping chef? For lunch that day, we had summer sausage and cheese on crackers. For dinner, we had couscous with chicken. Brian even packed cloves of garlic that he minced and threw in with the chicken. It was delicious! I have never tasted anything so good on the trail. He also made a pretty damn good G.O.R.P (good ole raisins and peanuts) mix.
The next morning, the girls literally refused to get out of the tent to continue on the journey.
They were soooo tired.
We finally had to start taking down the tent with them in it.
They still didn't get out.
Always an adventure with this guy.
Yup, those are boulders that literally go straight up.
Almost to the top.
Woo, two more miles to go and back in the state park. We hiked 8 miles on Sunday. On this mile, Mallard decided that she was too tired to go any farther and started laying down on the side of the trail every 10 steps or so. But, we made it through it. The dogs have never been so happy to be in the car. They are beasts.
So, now you ask what was the most stressful part of the trip? That is easy, literally the last hour in the car on the way back to Lawrence. Do you see that little bugger in the water bottle? It's a tick. One of the 6 that appeared in the last hour of the car ride. So, for some reason I decided to look back at the dogs. And then I looked at the ceiling above them. There was a tick literally looming above Mallard's head about to parachute down. I don't touch ticks. I hate them. So, we luckily had empty water bottles. So, I trapped him in it. Phew, crisis averted. Not so easily. I then looked back again, and there were two more on the ceiling. One went in the water bottle and the other went on the outside. Brian wouldn't grab it for me because he was driving, so I opened the window to try and stick it out. I am pretty positive that it just came right back into the car. Brian then turned to look at the dogs and saw one on Lola's head. And then I saw two on Mallard's head. So, yes, the last hour was torture. I continually looked around the car, paranoid that there would be more parachuting ticks. Luckily, there were not anymore, but Brian did find one on his leg in the last 15 minutes of the car ride, so I guess we found 7 in that hour. It was awful.
The puppies did get some injuries along the trail. Everyone was right, it was really rough on their paws. Both Mallard and Lola ripped up their paw pads. But, luckily with a little TLC and bandaging, they healed up rather nicely. They also never cut their paws deep enough to do too much harm. Never fear, for our next backpacking trip, we plan on having them in doggie booties ;).
