Trailing along

Wakey wakey!  There's walking to do. The psycho squirrel above us was chucking acorns hard and fast, determined that no one was going to sleep in. I thought about throwing something back at him, but I was afraid to do any more damage to the tent. If you look carefully you can see the expert patch job with a specialty camping product-duct tape. Camping in southwest Kansas this summer we got caught in a storm and it flattened our tent, bending one aluminum pole badly and snapping the other pole in two. The broken bones of our mobile home then speared the rainfly, creating a t-shaped laceration in the skin of our woodsy womb.

The poles were sent off for repair, and now we're testing the rain repellent qualities of duct tape. So far so good. Today's plans included hiking a small section of the Ouachita Trail, which we have been told is a 192 mile long, good approximation of the Appalachian Trail. Just the fact that it spans two states is worth something in my book.

Does the AT have bear warning signs? Bear archery season was in effect, but the quota for the year was filled the first day and all hunting had been suspended. Four counties in southeast Oklahoma allow bear hunting, with a total of 20 bear tags allotted. The system is a bit odd, however, as hunters call in each morning to see if the annual quota has been filled before they head out to exercise their pursuit of brawn over bruin. Thirty-one bears were shot the first day, slightly over the quota.  Ooooops.  I bet they change the system before much longer.

We headed into town for breakfast, at the Skyline Cafe, with biscuits "so good you'll write home about 'em," so the waitress said.  Well, they were good enough I'll at least write about them. In fact, breakfast was good enough that I overate to the point I couldn't walk, so we decided to take the Talimena Scenic Drive instead.

Even with most of the trees here being of the evergreen type, there was still plenty of intense color. That color waved cheerily at us as we zipped by, begging us to slow down and enjoy the view. The 13% grade of the Scenic Drive has a tendency to make you take a quick glimpse, say "ain't that purty," and get back to the business of standing on your brakes.


There is so much color here it's almost blinding. One favorite way to recall and relive our trips is to have puzzles made from some of the photos. This looks like a good 500 piece memory.

The land is so wavy here I'm getting seasick just looking at it. The trail goes up and over all those humps. A thousand feet up and down each side. I can't wait.

I should have brought some of those biscuits with me. I bet the bears would have appreciated it.

 Happy Trails, and may all your adventures be something to write home about!