Hiking Little Blakely South Loop Trail

 Monday, May 9, 2022

Hi Blog!

After yesterday's paddle, we were eager to get out and stretch our legs. Lake Ouachita State Park is not a large park, so we had to look to the nearby Ouachita National Forest for another hike. Just a short drive from the State Park Visitor's Center is a gravel road which leads over to the trailhead for the Little Blakely South Loop Trail.

We had downloaded a trail map from AllTrails.com. With GPS in hand, we began following the white blazes.

The first part of the trail kept us high above the lake shore. We meandered through old-growth pine and hardwood forests. While the forest is green and alive, we imagine it would be spectacular in the fall with the color change.

The AllTrails map is not particularly descriptive, so we took comfort in the trail sign that told us we were still on the South Loop.

Because of the varied rock that makes up the Ouachita Mountains, the terrain was constantly changing. Even when the trail followed old forest roads, we were always hiking up and down and crossing different drainages.

The trail took us right by some of the largest pine trees we've seen in Arkansas. As the oldest and largest national forest in the southern United States, the Ouachita National Forest covers more than 1.7 million acres in central Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. 

American Indians, especially the Caddo and their ancestors, first occupied this rugged and picturesque region. European explorers came to the area in the 1540s, with the Spanish Hernando De Soto expedition followed by the French in the 1670s. In 1686, beginning with the Arkansas Post (in present Arkansas), Europeans settled in the area and documented the forest growth.

 In 1879, with the westward expansion of railroads, commercial logging began in the region. After the forest's widespread depletion, in 1891, Congress enacted the Forest Reserve Act. President Theodore Roosevelt created the Arkansas portion of the Ouachita National Forest on December 18, 1907. The 1911 Weeks Law allowed for additional purchase of forest lands that enabled the government to acquire the Oklahoma segment from Choctaw lands.

Additional Oklahoma lands were obtained in 1930, extending the forest in Le Flore County. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps established sixteen camps in the forest, three in Oklahoma that built roads and game sanctuaries. World War II halted many of the forest production projects, but the 1960s brought tourism to the area.  David picked the biggest old pine tree to hug:

As we hiked our way out the peninsula, we expected to turn south and follow the lake shore back to the trailhead. As we approached the four mile mark, we began to wonder whether or not we missed a turn. The trail became so overgrown, you may not even see Kathy standing in the middle of the trail.

After comparing the map and our GPS, we realized we missed our turn and needed to work our way back. We did a little bushwack up and over the spine of the ridge. It's always fun to run into some "fun" guys on the trail.

Back on track, we decided to make our turn at the "G" trail junction.  Looking at the signpost, we noticed a small, scratched arrow that might have been intended to warn hikers such as us to turn there.  We had not.

As we started down the "G" road, we passed someone's hunting blind.

The old road was wide and had a few artifacts from when this area was logged.

The south facing slopes are drier than the north facing. We hiked through beautiful fields of tiny wildflowers.

We did see a deer bound across the forest floor, but it happened so fast, we couldn't get a photo. However, these box turtles were happy to hide in their shells while we took a photo.

As we descended toward the lake, we had to remind ourselves to stop and take in the view.

As we reached the lakeshore, we could see the marina and the peninsula that we hiked when we followed the Caddo Bend Trail.

We followed the shoreline and came out on a small point. Kathy noticed some birthday balloons that somehow ended up being beached.

Kathy now had a new trail name. She will be known as "Walks with Ballloons."

The entire final stretch of the trail follows the shoreline, which goes in and out and in and out. Fishermen also like to follow the shoreline and fish all the little coves and inlets. We passed these guys at least four times.

We noticed this black rat snake to the right of the trail. Black rat snakes are native to the central and eastern United States. They live in a variety of habitats, from rocky hillsides to flat farmland, and are able to survive at wide-ranging elevations. This snake is not especially thick, but can attain lengths of up to nine feet, making it one of the longest snakes in North America. When our snaky friend turned and went back downhill, it appeared to be at least four feet long.

Because we missed our turn for the South Loop Trail and had to backtrack a couple miles, instead of hiking a 5 mile loop, we ended up hiking over 9.5 miles. The extra miles made us a little more tired than we usually are when hiking 5 or 6 miles. Kathy ended up twisting her ankle. Kathy's Eagles scarf was put into service holding the ice pack on to her ankle.

Adventure happens when your plans go awry. We certainly had a great adventure. We proved once again that you are never truly lost as long as you are still on the planet!