After the trip to pick up our husbands turned out to be more than we bargained for, my sister Elaine and I decided that we wanted to be left out of it the next time they got a yearning for an adventure on the Ozark Highlands Trail.
This was a summer or two ago after the guys had spent three days hiking and camping along the trail. Although they had intended to stay at least another day, their bucket list matter was cut short by tornado-like weather conditions.
In spite of spotty cell phone service, we were able to connect long enough to inform them of the incoming storm a few hours ahead of time. Even though camp had been set up for the night they decided to pack up and hike out to the nearest road. We would drive to a vaguelydefined location along an unfamiliar rural highway in the middle of nowhere and rescue our tired and sweaty hikers from the storm. Not as easy as it sounds!
I can’t tell you exactly where we went, but we started by heading east out of Fayetteville and then passed through Elkins. That is the last community of any size we encountered.
We dodged the storm with help from cell phone calls we were getting from family members watching the weather radar on TV. We stopped a time or two to let the worst of the front pass ahead of us and we drove in rain most of the way.
We continued to encounter more obstacles. Somewhere near Pettigrew a tree had fallen across the highway. The only way to get through was to drive around it on the shoulder of the oncoming lane. With darkness setting in, we maneuvered around the leafy limbs and continued on.
We next rounded a corner and encountered a large buck standing in front of us. We slowed down quickly and avoided hitting the deer but it was close. Our next hurdle was the largest of all. A semi-truck was blocking both lanes as the driver attempted to turn the vehicle around by pulling into a small side road. It took a few minutes before the road was open enough for us to get through.
We were now somewhere in Franklin County, driving an unfamiliar road in the dark, attempting to find the hikers who were wondering by now what was taking so long. They told us later they spent some time in the cab of an abandoned truck to escape the hard rain while they waited.
With very limited phone service and few landmarks, it took a while to pinpoint their exact location. We passed them up the first time or two and had to backtrack. They helped us out by moving to the edge of the road and turning on their head lamps so we could see them in the dark.
Recently, with memories of that trip fading, Elaine and I agreed to accompany the guys back to Franklin County on an overnightcamping trip on Hare Mountain, the highest point along the OHT. It was one of the places they had camped on their previous trip. With autumn leaves still hanging on, it was one more chance to get out and enjoy the beauty of the fall season.
It would be just one night and the hike was only 30 minutes from where we would park the vehicles, we were told. Turns out, the hike was a mile and a half, mostly uphill, with backpacks loaded with everything except the kitchen sink.
That night the wind blew like crazy and the thin foam pad under my sleeping bag didn’t provide much comfort. The next morning, I got up knowing what it probably feels like to be 90 years old and looking not much younger.
Elaine and I decided that Hare Mountain should, at least for that morning, be renamed “Bad Hair Mountain.”
It all served to remind me again that I am just a lowly day hiker. Primitive camping on the OHT is not my thing. It is an adventure I prefer to be left out of no matter how much my husband wishes I enjoyed it.
The trip had some bright spots, however. The food was good and the company better. The views were lovely and I got some decent photographs. We lived without technology for a few hours and, even though we were sleeping on the ground, we had no idea until the next day that an earthquake had been felt not too far away.
Things could have been worse.
Annette Rowe is a freelance writer from rural Gentry and a speech-language pathologist at Siloam Springs High School. She may be reached by email at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 6 on 11/23/2011