Some of the northern states’ misplaced weather has finally passed, and our currently moderate weather is allowing all the Traildogs down with cabin fever to hit the Trail again. Nine Traildogs gathered at the Spillway Recreation Area trail crossing to begin our tenth year of constructing the LOViT trail. It was 25 degrees and sunny as we broke into two teams, one three man team of sawyers to clear the Forest Service Road of storm damage, and a six man team to join the Progressive Trail Design (PTD) dig team on the west end to begin the finish work on this new section. The sawyers team cleared approximately 3/4 of mile of the FS Road, and the finish trail team completed 700 feet of finish work. The PTD machine team is about a 1/3 of mile ahead of the finish team. We welcome two new Traildog volunteers today – John …Click to read the full article
Fellow ‘dogs, It’s construction time again. The current plan is for the Progressive Trail Design dig team to arrive here on Monday, February 10th, depending on the weather. They will be transporting equipment, setting up their machines, and will will begin actual construction on Tuesday the 11th. They will be starting from the west end of the new Section 8 at the new Brady Mountain Road Trailhead parking area, directly across from the current termination point of the trail coming off Bear Mountain. There will be a three-man machine team who will work 5-6 days a week, with a target completion date of the end of March. This year’s PTD on-site leader will be Jon Bryan, who was part of the team last year. We will take a little different approach to working on the trail this year due to the reduced hand finish work required because of PTD construction …Click to read the full article
Fellow Trail Diggers, We are finally ready to begin construction of the Brady Mountain Road to Blakely Dam section of the LOViT. We have signed a construction contract with Progressive Trail Design, Inc. (PTD) to lead the construction effort beginning February 10, 2014. PTD was the construction company we utilized to build the final five miles of the Bear Mountain section of the trail. PTD is a professional trail building contractor with extensive experience building single track multiple use trails. This five-plus mile section has been designed, flagged and approved for construction and will be a great addition to the previous 39 miles of trail. This new section will begin directly east of Brady Mountain Road from the current termination point on the west side of the road. Once we have established our work schedules we will publish the planned workdays and times. Once we have competed this section, we will have completed the planned 45 …Click to read the full article
Trail Cleanup Traildogs are a hardy bunch, even when it is cold. Today, five of the Traildogs cleared 25 downed trees between Crystal Springs Road and Brady Mountain Road. The recent snow and ice storms had taken their toll, and they always either fall across the trail or on the trail. Most of the downed tress were on the north face of Big Bear Mountain. It was a balmy 25 degrees as we set on this ten mile stretch of mountainous trail. Patches of ice and a little snow were still evident on Little Bear Mountain, but big Bear Mountain was another story. As we reached the summit on the north side of the mountain, the trees and shrubs were completely covered in sparkling diamonds. The bright sunlight shining through a forest of ice was a sight to savor. The Trail itself was coated in leaves snow and ice but …Click to read the full article
On Tuesday, June 4, the Traildogs hosted a film crew representing the Arkansas Parks & Tourism Commission for a visit to the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT). The Womble Office of the USFS and local Traildogs Al Gathright and Jerry Shields provided logistical support to the seven person crew, leading them up onto Bear Mountain. The crew was lead by Director Chris Cranford, supported by Lyle Arnett and Gary Jones. Chuck Haralson served as the still photographer. Parks & Tourism travel writer Zoie Clift and actors Ben Stone & Alyssa Journey provided the biking and hiking action shots. The new Traildog Vista is located about six trail miles east of the Crystal Springs Recreation Area on Lake Ouachita. This new vista is located at the highest point of the trail as it traverses the north slope of Bear Mountain. The slope of the mountain drops sharply away from the rock outcropping that …Click to read the full article
After our “second winter this spring,” we gathered on Hickory Nut Mountain today for a ID & photo hike of the flora on the south slope of the mountain. The second winter had slowed the bloom of the iris and other spring bloomers, but it was a near perfect afternoon for a hike. We had seven hikers for this three mile adventure, again armed with Carl Hunter’s Wild Flowers of Arkansas book and several cameras. After shuttling a vehicle down to the eastern end of this mountainous section, we were off on this really nice downhill hike. Despite the recent rains, the trail was not muddy, and it appeared only a small amount of rain had fallen on the mountain. We did find several old friends blooming along the trail, including the Hairy Spiderwort, Fire Pinks, and Huckleberries laden with blooms. One special find unique in this area was two blooming …Click to read the full article
Friday, May 3rd, the Traildogs received notification of approval for our National Recreational Trails Grant in the amount of $95,000, as requested. This grant will provide 80% of the $95K, or approximately $74,000, needed to complete the final 5.4 mile section of the trail from Brady Mountain Road to the Blakely Mountain Dam. The 20% matching requirement will be covered by in-kind volunteer support and trail donations. This eighth addition to the LOViT, when completed, will extend the Trail to its planned 45 miles of developed mountain biking and hiking trail. Our current plan is to begin construction of this final phase in the late fall of this year. We plan to put construction of this section of the Trail out for bids within the next 60 days. Congratulations to all who have contributed to the eight-year-long effort to develop the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail. Jerry
Sunday was another stunningly beautiful spring day for a hike on the LOViT. This was our second Master Gardener’s Calendar Hike to develop a bank of trail photos to use on next years Master Gardener Calendar. We had six eager hikers, three master Gardeners and three Traildogs participate, lead by Traildog & Master Gardener Jerry Shields, and with strong support from canine leader Winnie. We departed the Crystal Springs Road Trailhead parking area at 2:00 pm with six hikers and our feisty canine guide. We managed to cross both creeks on the boulder bridges without anyone taking an unplanned bath. The Traildogs created these boulder crossings in lieu of building high maintenance bridges. The spring bloom had caught it’s stride, and we were treated to a show of Nature’s floral designs at every turn of the trail. The wild Verbena was still strutting its stuff, but now the elusive Fire …Click to read the full article
On Sunday, April 14, we had our first Photo Hike on the LOVIt trail in an effort to develop a bank of trail pictures for the Master Gardener 2013 Calendar. We rallied at the parking lot of the Joplin Methodist Church at 1:30 pm. We had an even dozen hardy hikers join us for the 2.8 mile, 2 1/2 hour hike through the hollows and hills of the trail that stretches from Mountain Harbor Road to Shangri-La Road. The spring bloom is reaching its peak with the smiling faces of the Dogwoods greeting us at every turn. The wildflowers were blooming where they receive more sunlight, but in the hollows, they were just before bloom. This portion of the LOViT Trail has many interesting features which we took time investigate and photograph. We broke into two groups – the “Hares” and the “Tortoises” – to accommodate all skill levels of …Click to read the full article
Traildogs are often asked, “Why do you build trails?” We answered that question last Monday, as four seasoned Traildogs – Robert & Georgia Cavanaugh and Gail & Jerry Shields – joined Montgomery County’ s 4-H’ers, lead by County Agent Brad McGinly, at the very popular U.S. Forest Day Use recreation area atop Hickory Nut Mountain for a hike on the LOViT Trail and an old fashioned wiener roast. With spring leaf-out still a few weeks away, the views of Lake Ouachita from the picnic area were inspiring to all who attended. The weather was typical for mid-March, with sunny skies and a light wind, which seemed to further lift the high spirits of the children who were intrigued to be on top of a mountain. The moms and dads who came along remarked that it been a while since they had visited this popular gathering spot and were pleased to find that …Click to read the full article