2017 Goals

New Year. New Goals.  We had a lot to consider when evaluating what outdoor goals to make for the family.  The biggest factor being that we will be welcoming #6 to the crew at the end of April.  I am just two weeks away from entering my third trimester, and can already tell that hiking is beginning to become more challenging for my body.  I am no longer able to carry a passenger on my back, and long distances are  increasingly more difficult for me to handle.  So we will lose a lot of prime hiking months for our family, during these next 12 weeks.  Of course, we won't stop hiking, we just have to adjust our difficulty level and distance.  So as we decided on a goal we wanted to account for the changes affecting our family life and dynamic. 

So what are our 2017 goals...

1. Visit 5 new to us National or State Parks
2. Take oldest two kids on their first overnight backpacking trips
3. Hike 300 collective miles as a family.  
4.  Hike the following trails together as a family:
• Hemmed in Hollow (This has become an annual tradition for us.)
• Glory Hole
• Kings River Falls Trail
• Hide Out Hollow Trail
• Artist Point Trail
• A new section of the Buffalo River Trail
• A new section of the Ozark Highlands Trail

(To clarify on the 300 collective miles, we will count individual miles that are logged even if we are not hiking all together.  So if Dad takes three big kids on a hiking trip, while mom recovers with a new baby, those miles count.  This also means that only actual walkers will count in the mileage total.  So if the child is being carried, their miles will not count even though they are hiking with the family.)

We are excited to see what adventures 2017 holds for us and are anxious to continue to explore the beautiful outdoors!  Happy Trails!!

Hike #29 - Boxley Valley

We have not hiked since completing our 100 mile goal.  Without the goal still lingering, we did not have the same pressing need to get outdoors. This just verifies why this goal has been so good for us and why we will set more goals in the future.  60+ degree weather on Christmas break is all the excuse needed to get out there again.

The Buffalo River Trail is one of the famous through trails in Arkansas, although there is some debate about where it starts and stops. Mom and dad had done a section of the trail near Steel Creek, but we had not done it as a family.  This trail has the most spectacular view of any trail we have done, so it was definitely worth the time to do it again.  Steel Creek is an amazing tent only campsite.  If you want to get a site for the weekend during nice weather, you need to arrive on Thursday morning and hope to get lucky.  If it is floating season, get there on Wednesday.  This time of year the water is shut off and the campground was empty. 

From Steel Creek, we did the section that heads east towards Kyle's Landing.  The best view comes 1.5 miles in, so we set that as our goal.  The trail is pretty the entire way with lots of ups and downs, rock formations, and a creek crossing (i.e. Steel Creek).  With the dead colors of winter, the green ferns and mosses really jumped out.  The pièce de résistance:

 

We hiked back down and had a picnic lunch at the campground and splashed in the river, which is right at the base of the bluffs you see above.  It was great to just sit by the river and let the kids interact with nature without any adult intervention.  They threw rocks, built a dam, found a cave, and got wet. 

Less than 10 minutes from here is Lost Valley, which we have done many times.  It is one of our favorite spots in the state, so we don't really get tired of it. The highlight of the day is that it was the first day our four year old walked the entire day, which was a total of over 7 miles!

Travel time from home: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Today's miles: 7.28

Remaining miles: -9.57

Hike #28 - WE DID IT!!!

We have had lots of discussion about what we should do for our 100 mile hike. We decided that we spend so much time at church and school, that the chapel should be our final destination.  The kids have always wanted to walk or ride their bikes from home to school, and we thought this would be a fun culmination.  We had just under three miles remaining, and we gauged the whole hike to be a little more than five miles.  The kids made signs for a 100 mile photo op, and off we went.

WE DID IT!!!

It was a little different hiking on a street, and there was a much greater sense of danger.  Our pace was about one mile per hour faster than usual too.  I guess the rocks and bumps slow us down more than I expected.  This was also our first hike using a stroller.  

Everyone was very excited to finish, and we celebrated with a special dinner out tonight.  The only thing left is to see where we finish the year. 

Travel time from home: 0 minutes

Today's miles: 5.25

Remaining miles: -2.29!!!!!!!!!

Hike #27 - Buffalo Overlook Trail

This is the shortest hike we have done this year.  As we left our camp trip I talked about yesterday we didn't want to take a lot of time before getting on the road, but we did want to check out the Overlook Trail. The Overlook Trail uses the same parking lot as the Indian Rockhouse.  From the parking lot to the overlook and back is only three quarters of a mile for a great view.

If this isn't enough hiking for you, you have the option of connecting to the Campground Trail and either looping back to the parking lot or returning to the campground.

Travel time from home: 2.5 hours
Today's miles: .78 miles
Remaining miles: 2.96

Hike #26 - Indian Rock House

Four years ago we camped at Buffalo Point and hiked the Indian Rockhouse trail. (Buffalo Point with my daughter walking in the water is the background image on this blog.)  Since then we have often said that it was our favorite campsite and favorite hike that we have done.  We have camped and hiked a whole lot more in the meantime, and recently I have wondered whether or not that opinion would still hold up.  Northwest Arkansas has spoiled us with so many great outdoor spots less than an hour away from home.  With Buffalo Point being two and half hours away, we haven't felt compelled to get back out there.

Some old friends got us motivated.  Before moving to NWA we lived in Little Rock which is also two and half hours from Buffalo Point.  From Little Rock that distance to a great campsite is more normal, so when we decided to meet some old Little Rock friends for a camp trip, Buffalo Point it was.   Let's start by saying our opinion of Indian Rockhouse as our favorite trail was confirmed.

The trailhead is located on highway 268 and is a three minute drive from the campground.  It is well marked and there is plenty of parking.  The wonders of this trail start soon.  Within three minutes of starting the hike, we saw two men come in from the side of the trail.  They said they had just been exploring a cave.  A short shimmy through a tight spot opened up into big caverns.  Since we had a lot of kids, who had already run ahead we didn't try to look into it, but apparently there are similar spots all along the trail.  In plain sight along the way are more caves, an abandoned zinc mine, a sink hole, and a small waterfall.  Even with no rain in recent memory, there was still a trickle.  The rock wall along the waterfall begs kids to climb on it, which they did.

A long stretch of the trail follows a creek bed which was dry today. As you come to the end of the creek there is a split with one side looping back to the trailhead and the other a spur to the Rockhouse.  This spur also has some great things to see including more caves and cascading pools that have created what is known as "Sculptured Bedrock."

The Indian Rockhouse is amazing.  It is huge!  It was once an enclosed cave and flowstone and stalactites are still visible. It takes zero imagination to see how it would make a perfect shelter for someone living in the woods.  It is so spacious that someone could build a fire a big as they wanted and have no ventilation troubles.  The main cavern could easily keep hundreds of people out of the weather.  A clear running stream flows constantly out of the rock on one side and back into the rock on the water to provide water.  Climbing the rocks across the creek, which we did, takes you into another back cavern that is less spacious, but still large enough to serve as several "rooms" for living, even a little niche that calls you to climb inside and take a nap.  It is just amazing.

The hike back to the car has some more great sights with flowing water and places known as "natural bathtubs."  However, the hike out is very strenuous.  Last time we hiked it, it was over 100 degrees.  Today it was 80, and still it took about all we had.  To give pregnant momma a break, our ten year old, donned the baby in the backpack for the first time.  He went from very excited to very tired, very quickly.

The trail itself is about 3.5 miles.  By the time we included our extra steps exploring the rockhouse, we were up to 6.6 miles!  This is definitely worth your trip to come see.



Travel time from home: 2.5 hours :(
Today's miles: 6.67
Remaining miles: 3.74

Hike #25 - Ozark Highlands Trail

We have a couple of through hikes in our area.  We haven't attempted any yet, but one of the favorites is the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT).  We occasionally head down the affectionately named Highway 23 Pigtrail, such as when we camped at Redding Recreation Area a few weeks ago.  One of the OHT trailheads is on Hwy 23.  We have wanted to do this part of the trail for a while, but have never made it.  Today we finally did.

This trailhead is called Cherry Bend.  Cherry Bend is around mile 36 (moving from south to north) on this 260+ mile trail.  From Cherry Bend you can go in either direction.  We headed south because I knew there was a short spur close to the trailhead that went what is known as Rockhouse.  Rockhouse is natural overhanging rock that at some time in the past someone closed in with rock walls.  We spent a few minutes checking it out.  It was a neat spot, but sadly there was quite a pile of beer cans
left behind.

From the outset, this trail started uphill.  It became clear pretty quickly that this wasn't going to stop anytime soon.  There are some great views along the way of the Ozarks, but this trail is very rugged and climbed steadily uphill for the first 1.75 miles.  This is not a beginner hike.  Along the way, we were accompanied by the steady drone of motorcycles on 23, because there must be some state law that says a motorcycle must travel on 23 approximately every 3.8 seconds.  We began to the see the top of a ridge and with it the hope of a downhill stretch.  There is an ATV trail that runs along this ridge that gets about as much traffic as 23.  This would probably be a good source of emergency help if it was ever needed on the trail.

We have been trying to get our three-year-old to do more walking on his own, and today he was a champ.  He did the whole uphill stretch.  He began to ask to be carried around 2.2 miles, and we finally did begin carrying him around 2.5.  He really did a great job, but between this and the uphill terrain, our standard pace of a 36 minute mile became a 56 minute mile!  This was pretty torturous, but the rest of the way went much faster.  We got back to the car with 3.96 miles completed.  That was unacceptable.  There was another unidentified trail that left the parking area, so we decided to get to 4.0 this way.  Very quickly this trail came to a cliff with a pretty trecherous rocky trail to go down and around it.  The kids were excited about this, but we decided we were at the end.  Back to the van it was.

Travel time from home: 35 minutes
Today's miles: 4.0
Remaining miles: 10.41

Stuff We Like - Child Carriers

So how do you lug a couple of 25-30 kids 100 miles through the woods?  There are a lot of child carriers out there.  We have three that we use, and all three have their uses.  One we heavily researched and bought new.  Two were given to us by friends whose kids had outgrown them, so we really can't say how they compare to other similar products.  They have worked fine for us though.

Ergo Baby
This is the one mom uses almost exclusively and dad only if someone neither of the others are in the car.

Pros:
Can be worn front or back
Works for infants
Handy head strap so babies' noggins down bounce if they fall asleep

Cons:
No barrier between your body and the baby's creates lots of shared sweat
Requires delicate maneuvering to put on without help

Kelty Kids Backcountry
This is the one dad uses almost exclusively.  As far as I can tell, this is no longer available except used on eBay or such sites.

Pros:
Very sturdy
Five-point harness and seat makes it easy to load for one person (baby stays secure while lifting)
Detachable day pack
Great adjustable straps
Carried a five year old once after a fall
Kelty has replaced all broken buckles at no charge (even considering we are not the original owners)

Cons:
A wide spread really pulls your center of gravity backwards
So sturdy it temps you to leave your child in it unattended.  Don't.


Tough Traveler Colt
This one comes in handy for dad, but mom never uses.  Dad keeps this one in the van for use at kids' sporting events, etc.  It makes a good backup when hiking with someone who has kids but doesn't have a carrier.

Pros:
Totally rad website!
Lightweight and compact
Handy pocket (always have a backup diaper)
Easy to load for one person

Cons:
The bar that cuts across the top of your back (no bueno)
Not the best straps