Hiking the Caddo Bend Trail

Friday, May 6, 2020

Hi Blog!

Yesterday, a series of thunderstorms rumbled over the Ouachita ("WASH-i-taw") Mountains. We spent the day down in Hot Springs soaking, shopping and eating. Today, we were eager to get out and about and explore Lake Ouachita State Park. For our first adventure, we decided to hike the Caddo Bend Trail.

Named after the native Caddo people who once inhabited this area. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who historically inhabited much of what is now East Texas, west Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas, and southeastern Oklahoma. They lived and hunted all along the Ouachita River. "Ouachita" comes from the French spelling of the Caddo word washita, meaning "good hunting grounds".

The Caddo Bend Yellow Trail is a four mile trail that loops around a peninsula. At the far end of the peninsula is Point 50. Once the dam was completed, all of the rocky points were numbered to aid in boat navigation. Point 50 overlooks what was once a natural bend in the Ouachita River.

Our trail started just past the marina and boat launch.

The first part of the trail passes through a forest canopy. We got a few glimpses of the lake below.

The trail opens up in a section of the trail that was hit by an EF2 tornado in April 2011. Workers from AmeriCorps helped repair the trail. Sitting here, looking over the peaceful lake, it is hard to believe that felled trees were piled 20 feet high and sections of the trail were completely wiped out.

The southside of the trail receives more direct sunlight. We were surrounded by shortleaf pine. We are a little too early for huckleberry season, but we did keep an eye out for poison ivy!

The mountains that surround Lake Ouachita are among the oldest in the United States. They began forming about 500 million years ago, when this area was a huge inland sea. In 1955, the Army Corps of Engineers made it a huge inland sea again.

Spring has definitely sprung in the Oauchita Mountains.

Many hikers find the area's geological features fascinating. There are a number of quartz outcroppings. Here is one of our favorite.  He seems to have two small eyes, a bulbous W.C. Fields nose, and quartzy teeth!

A hike just wouldn't be a hike if we didn't find at least one "fun" guy!

At the far point of our hike, we could almost see the far end of the lake. The wind was coming right at us. We could see whitecaps on the water.

After a quick snack break, we continued around and back the north side of the peninsula. We encountered a number of boulder fields. All that practice hopping across boulder fields during Rug Rat Camping Trips served us well. Below, Kathy is triumphant as she finishes her traverse.

We took a short side trail down to the lakeshore. Click the link to watch this short video of blustery Lake Ouachita. If you listen carefully, you can hear the lonely cry of the rockhound.  This whole little beach was a trove of geological mystery.  The rock below was decorated in parallel strips of quartz:

This side of the peninsula is full of quartzy bits. Here are just a few examples:

The north-facing slopes are much cooler and more moist because they receive less direct sunlight.

As we came down into another ravine, we got another glimpse of a quiet cove.

We noticed this turtle as we came down toward the water. He/she was a bit shy and dove under as we passed. Just as we got around the drainage, the turtle came back out on its perch.

We only had about a half mile left to go and were feeling pretty good about the hike, but were surprised we didn't see much wildlife, other than the turtle. Just then, we heard a rustle to the right of the trail. We stopped and potted this deer.

The deer also stopped and spotted us. Neither of us moved. We stayed that way for a few minutes until we both agreed to slowly move in opposite directions.

We leave you with a group of the cutest little fun guys we've seen in a while. 

Now that the storm front has passed, we are hoping for a few more good weather days so we can take our kayaks out. Stay tuned.