OHTA MAY & JUNE 2004 NEWSLETTER

OZARK HIGHLANDS TRAIL ASSOCIATION
MAY and JUNE 2004 NEWSLETTER, #211

WARNING: LIVING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!

Please note that it is possible for you to get hurt as you go through your daily life, and that includes while hiking. Our volunteer hike leaders are not responsible in any way for your well being. They are not baby sitters, outfitters, or guides - they are merely facilitators who get like-minded folks together to enjoy the woods. You and you alone are responsible for your own safety. If you happen to get hurt in some way while on one of our outings, neither OHTA nor our volunteer leaders are responsible in any way. If you do not agree with and accept this fact of life please stay home!

OHTA ONLINE NEWSLETTER. In an effort to reduce paper comsumption (i.e. save trees), and save on postage, if you would like to read the newsletter online (like you are doing now) instead of getting a hard copy mailed to you, please let us know (e-mail TimErnst@TimErnst.com). This online version is posted on our web site and is available about a week before you receive the hard copy. In the future there will be important links, color photos, last-minute updates, and all sorts of neat stuff that cannot be included in the hard copy. If you would like to be removed from the hard copy mailing list, just send us an e-mail and tell us so - save time, and a tree! We will continue to mail a hard copy of the newsletter to all members who have not notified us otherwise.

E-MAIL LIST. If you would like to be reminded via e-mail of meetings and outings, or any other OHTA business (no SPAM), send a note to our Membership Chairman, Dean LaGrone, at Rdlagrone@cox-internet.com and you will be included on the e-mail list.

The SNAKES are out so be careful!

DAY TRIPS

May 2. DAYHIKE into Samís Throne. Hikers meet at Fairview Campground at 9:30am. This hike will be approximately four miles, with a scramble up to the top of Samís Throne. Please call Eddie Vollman with questions and specifics about the hike at 501-227-5185.

May 8. BIKE RIDE ON SCENIC 71B, West Fork to Winslow. Meet at the West Fork park by the river at 10am and bike 12.5 miles to Winslow on Highway 71B. Have lunch in Winslow and then return. Itís an easy bike ride on scenic 71B. Plan to bring lunch, but we may stop at the cafe in Winslow too. Call Sally Stone at 479-521-4062 for details.

May 19 MID-WEEK BOTANICAL DAYHIKE ON MATNEY KNOB TRAIL. Join us for an exploration of the two mile Matney Knob Trail and the 1 1/2 mile round trip Matney Campground Trail. (Campground Trail is steep - 3/4 mile down to the White River and 3/4 mile back up) ÝDot Bailey, Master Naturalist, will join us as a resource person as we explore the Matney area for this wildflower hike. ÝMeet at Matney Knob Trailhead on Hwy 341 (Push Mountain Rd.) at 9am. ÝLed by Wylaine Korbelik. Ý870-499-7315.

June 5. DAYHIKE MT. MAGAZINE. This will give all you Colorado climbers a chance to warm up for the summer, and climb to the highest point in Arkansas! Should be a nice hike with wild flowers galore. The hike up to the campground is about ten miles, plus one more mile up to the highest point marker. There is a lot of elevation gain, but itís not that steep until the last mile. Call Pam Rodgers at 479-587-8719 to carpool from Fayetteville, or meet at the Cove Lake trailhead (on Hwy. 309 across from the recreation area on the lake) at 9:30am.

June 12. CANOE DAY TRIP ON THE BUFFALO RIVER, Pruitt to Carver. Float eleven river miles on the beautiful Buffalo. Call Norma Senyard at 479-587-0200 with questions, meet at the Pruitt Ranger Station at 9am to do the shuttle.

June 19. EASY DAYHIKE, Sylamore Creek Trail. Meet Jimmie Adams at Blanchard Springs Recreation Area trailhead by the picnic area. We will be hiking from Blanchard Springs to Gunner Pool. Plenty of sight seeing to do along the five mile hike. Call Jimmie with questions at 501-982-6690.

OVERNIGHT TRIPS

May 15-16. OVERNIGHT CANOE TRIP ON THE BUFFALO RIVER, Carver to Woolum. Float the Buffalo from Carver to Woolum with views of Skull Bluff and the ìNarsî on day two. Total of fifteen river miles and lots of terrific scenery. Call Dean LaGrone at 479-750-2550 for more info. (Rdlagrone@cox-internet.com)

May 22-23. OVERNIGHT FUN HIKE, Hwy 10 to Lake Sylvia on the Ouachita Trail. Weíll meet at Lake Sylvia trailhead parking lot at 9am and shuttle to Highway 10. A little over fourteen miles. Call Bob or Dawna Robinson at 479-783-6319 for more info.

MEETINGS

May 2. OHTA GENERAL MEETING in Springdale. To get to the meeting site, from Hwy. 71 B in Springdale turn EAST on Emma street, go several blocks, then turn LEFT/NORTH onto N. Main Street, then pull into the parking lot on the right behind the building (across from Shiloh Museum). Our program will be given by John Pleasant (climber, photographer, mountain guide) from The Climbing School in Tulsa, and will be a scenic slide show about mountain climbing around the globe. Weíll have great refreshments, as always! The meeting begins at 7:30pm, with refreshments and social time at 7:00pm. Call 870-861-5536 for more info.

May 6. OHTA MOUNTAIN HOME GROUP MEETING, at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office, 324 W. 7th in Mountain Home. The program will be given by Joe Dabney on the ìProposed North Sylamore Creek Hiking Trail Extension.î Call Wylaine Korbelik at 870-499-7315 for more info. The meeting will begin at 7pm.

June 6. OHTA GENERAL MEETING & POT LUCK in Springdale. (see directions above). We will have a very special program given by professional motivational speaker, Todd Huston, from Tulsa. One of his legs was amputated when he was 14, and he holds the record for ascending the summits of all 50 states in the shortest amount of time - not just a record for handicapped people, but for anyone. Should be a real treat! This will be our last meeting of the season, and we want everyone to bring some sort of treat to share with the group - main dishes, breads, salads, sweets, whatever, and your own table service. We'll provide the drinks. The meeting begins at 7:30pm, but we'll start to chow down at 7:00pm. Call 870-861-5536 for more info.

MAINTENANCE NEWS

REPORTS ARE DUE! If you have adopted a section of the OHT to maintain, you are required to get out and work it twice a year, and SEND IN A REPORT! This report is just as important, if not more so, than doing the actual trail maintenance for a variety of reasons. And it is very important that you maintain your section in the spring, and send in the report by June 1st. If you do not send in a report during the calendar year, your section will be given to someone else (even if you have maintained it!). In order to check who has what sections, and what sections are OPEN for adoption, go to the ìMaintenanceî link on the OHTA web page. For more information contact our outings coordinator, Roy Senyard, at 479-587-0200, or e-mail at Rsenyard@msn.com. (PLEASE NOTE that Roy's computer has been on the blink and you may need to mail your report to him.)

MISC NOTES

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GIVES GO AHEAD FOR NEXT SECTION OF TRANS-OZARKS TRAIL. The National Park Service at Buffalo National River in Harrison has decided to allow construction of a hiking trail downstream from Tyler Bend (Hwy. 65) to Hwy. 14. The official OHT currently ends at Woolum on the Buffalo, but the Buffalo River Trail picks up at that point and continues downstream to Tyler Bend, ending at the Hwy. 65 bridge. This new section of trail from that point to Hwy. 14 would eventually be part of the Trans-Ozarks Trail, a trail system of nearly 1,000 miles that will stretch from Lake Ft. Smith State Park in Arkansas to St. Louis, Missouri. The park service did not approve a trail downstream from Hwy. 14 through the Lower Buffalo Wilderness Area, so approval for this key connection to the new Sylamore Section of the OHT will have to come later. No time line was established for implementing the design and construction of this new section, but OHTA will no doubt be involved with it. In the meantime, we will continue with our important work of keeping the OHT open and safe for hikers, and work on adding an additional weekend loop trail - more details on this exciting new loop soon!

No meetings or newsletter in July or August, but we will resume our normal meeting schedule on September 5th, and the Sept/Oct newsletter will be posted online in late August, and mailed out soon after.

E-mail OHTA and Tim Ernst