Trip Report: Ozark Highlands Trail, Section 3+

Turtle(left), Jake(right)

The power of trees!

     Fellow Legends Patrol member Turtle and I started off by delivering one vehicle to our destination trailhead(Little Mulberry Creek, mile 58) and doubling back to Cherry Bend trailhead on Hwy 23, a.k.a. "The Pig Trail Scenic Byway". We arrived their about 10 minutes before 3P.M., and were on the trail by 3:15. We took some trailhead(mile marker 37) pics, loaded up our packs(Turtle at 37lbs, and me at 23lbs) then just got rolling on the obvious trail just to the right of the bulletin board. It took us down hill fast into the valley. about 30 minutes later we arrived at a dry wash with a nice 30ft drop off. Let me tell you, in the wet season, this would be a spectacular waterfall. We paused here to check the map and GPS. Here is where we noticed that somehow we hadn't even started at the preprogrammed waypoint #11(copied from Eric Strong's page). Not a great start, as we had dropped about 500ft in elevation over the course of about a mile. We decided to bushwhack up the hollow instead of doubling back up a very steep trail(likely causing further erosion). There were some interesting things to see while ascending the mountain up this wash.

Sunrise from Hare Mtn.

    After about an hour trudging uphill through briars and brambles of all sorts, we intersected the trail about 1/2 of a mile past the waypoint, and proceeded to launch ourselves down the trail. Our aspiration was to make camp at Hare Mt. before darkness. As sundown would occur at 6:36 P.M., we might have until about 7 P.M. before needed flashlights. We made good progress, and only stopped for 1 or 2 short(standing) water breaks, and arrived at the top of the aforementioned mountain(mile 42.8) just in time to need flashlights to set up camp. At nearly 2500ft, Hare Mt. is the highest point along the OHT. Elapsed (on trail) mileage to this point is about 5.8 miles, with roughly 500ft. elevation gain. There is an old homestead with a very neat standing stone chimney, and a water well concealed by a 3ft diameter metal lid. There was water there in the morning in good quantity and we poured it through a bandanna to filter the particles. When we went to add our Iodine tablets, we found that I had forgotten to pack them. Instead, I had packed the Potable Aqua Plus neutralizer tabs. A great trip caught it's second hitch. Oh well, we had plenty of stove fuel, and had 1.5L of water left from last night between us, so by 9A.M., we were headed down the mountain towards our destination. We saw some nice views southward across a wide valley.

     Making good time, we reached our next watering hole at Herrod's Creek(mile 47.5). We had dropped almost 1500ft elevation in 6 miles so far today.  It wasn't even noon yet, but since there was cool running water, we decided to eat and boil some drinking water here, so we could cool the water bottles in the creek. We tested the Enertia Trail Foods "Switchback Shells", and "Pinnacle Pasta", and both were very good for cook in pouch meals. While we were waiting for the meals to rehydrate, I set to boiling water in my Jet Boil Flash. I was pouring the boiling water into a Nalgene bottle to cool. Upon adding the second 2 cup batch to the Nalgene, the plastic lid ring had expanded from the heat and when I picked it up by this, the bottle dropped out, bouncing on a rock and splashing all up and down my nearly bare left leg. I tore off the knee brace, sock, and boot and hotfooted it directly into the cool creek. It was very fortunate that  we had decided to do our boiling there, as it may have saved me a lot more grief. We spent the next 25 minutes trying to figure out the best way to utilize the guaze, medical tape, and 1 packet of burn ointment. It amounted to Neosporin on the 2in. sq. of blister that had torn away while removing the knee brace, and just taped gauze on the worst part of the calf. The thigh was left bare, and shorts leg tied up with my bandanna. We were now aiming to finish the remaining 10 miles before dark, so that I could get home to better first aid. 

     The going was fast and furious. We had passed more waterfalls than you can imagine since daylight, but as we are in drought-like conditions, there was no flow worth photographing. Indian Creek(mile 51.1) was the next water hole, but we were fixed up on water already. From Herrod's, we had gained roughly 400ft in elevation, then dropped close to 500ft. After Indian Creek, the going gets a bit more strenuous. Over the next 2.6 miles you will gain over 400ft in elevation before dropping down a bit into Briar Branch(mile 53.7) The trail is a narrow track through some very nice pine forest with good views to the south. My guess is that in leaf off, you can likely see a long way towards the Mulberry River. Briar Branch is an absolutely stunning array of stone waterfalls. The running water here is crystal clear and VERY cool. We sat and had snacks and did another boil here, cooling the water in the creek afterwards. It was very shady, and I don't think this area gets as much sunlight as is common along the other areas of the trail. There is a lot of moss and lichen on the rocks, and it feels about 10 degrees cooler. It is exactly the kind of area you would like to camp in, though there might be a challenge if more than 2-3 tents needed to be set up. It is narrow, and the ground might be a little harder than you would like. This area is part of the Marinoni Scenic Area-Not to be missed! We grudgingly kept onwards toward our goal.

Me flexing the lobster leg near Briar Branch 

     For the next mile plus, you are gaining roughly 300ft in elevation while climbing out of Briar Branch before beginning the final 500ft drop towards Lick Branch(waypoint 17). At mile 55.3 when while you are walking along the edge of a small bluff-ish outcropping, the trail actually takes a sharp right down into the bluff and redirects. This is a nice place to have a sit down break, or lay-around if you are like my friend Turtle.  From here, you will coast out the last mile to Lick Branch. This is the end of Section 3 of the OHT as defined in Tim Ernst's Ozark Highlands Trail Guide, which is without a doubt, the definitive guidebook for the trail. Unfortunately for us, we had decided on a bit more of a hike, since we had an extra day planned. We still lacked 1.7 miles to Little Mulberry Creek. We paused for pictures at the Lick Branch trailhead, where I found another bottle of the Potable Aqua Neutralizing tablets next to the bulletin board. Think perhaps someone else had become frustrated with that product by now as well? The trail from this point on was perhaps 100ft gain in elevation, but was quite a bit more overgrown than we had thus far seen, and was more typical of the trails you might find in the Buffalo National River area. You can't hardly find a spot to place your foot without worrying if you are going to slip or twist an ankle. This section actually made my calves hurt and gave me hot spots inside of my boots. You exit through a corridor of trees and vegetation with fence lines 5-10ft of you on both sides with pastures flanking you. This section has some river cane and such that needs to be cleared out a bit. Perhaps I'll volunteer to do it for the OHTA. We emerged at 6P.M. sharp. We were glad to see the truck, but felt like we had added to our legend a bit. This was an extremely fast paced hike since my lobster leg injury, and we passed the test with flying colors. Roughly 22 miles hiked in under 27 hours, averaging over 2 miles per hour not including camp time or lunch break. All in all, we were in agreement that this is a must hike for anyone considering an OHT hike, and nearly anyone could easily average over 1.25 miles per hour, with the leaner, meaner hikers getting even faster than we did it.