Today we marshaled a six-man sawyers team to attempt to clear the snow and ice damage to the ten miles of trail from Crystal Springs Road to Brady Mountain. Road. We departed Crystal Springs at 9:00 am and emerged nine hours later at Brady Mountain Road. The snow and ice had caused significant damage to this section. We removed 35-40 trees that had fallen across the trail, taken down by a combination of the ice, snow and wind. We had to tackle five large trees that had collapsed with their root balls completely obliterating the trail tread, leaving gapping holes where trail once had been found. We spent hours hauling rocks and dirt to fill these holes to create a passable tread again. We also spent a great deal of time removing innumerable branches and bushes brought down on the trail by snow and ice. We trimmed all the overhanging …Click to read the full article
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
It’s hunting season in Arkansas, and because the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail is primarily located in the Ouachita National Forest, you must be aware of the potential for hunters to be on or near the Trail. Here are the “Hunter Orange Requirements” as published by the International Hunter Education Association: Arkansas (A) It is unlawful to hunt wildlife, or to accompany or assist anyone in hunting wildlife, in zones open to firearm deer, bear, or elk seasons, without wearing an outer garment, above the waistline, of daylight fluorescent blaze orange (Hunter Orange) within the color range of 595-605 nanometers or flouorescent chartreuse color range of 555nm – 565nm (Hunter Safety Green) totaling at least 400 square inches, and a hunter orange or hunter safety green head hat must be visibly worn on the head. (B) Florescent blaze orange (Hunter Orange)or florescent chartreuse (Hunter Safety Green) totaling at least 144 square …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
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
Neither Rain, snow, wind, or even sunshine could chase us off the mountain today. Four Traildogs met today at the Brady Mountain Road trail entrance to the Bear Mountain trail segment to install a temporary direction sign designating trail mileage, 10.0 miles, from The Brady Mt. entrance to Crystal Springs Road. Not so surprisingly, we encountered a few rocks digging the post hole but did finally mange to get it installed. We also utilized some of the large stones found at the switchback located in the newly-dubbed “Saddle” of Bear Mountain to create a natural stone bench for users to take a rest from the long uphill climb and enjoy the great view of the valley and lake to the north. This area of the trail is a great example of trail building through a very rocky ridge. The trail weaves very naturally through this boulder-strewn area, and, after all …Click to read the full article
We had five seasoned Traildogs join us on the trail today. We were able to finally complete the finish work on the east end of the seventh section; the “seventh section” runs across Bear Mountain from Little Bear Creek on the west to Brady Mountain Road on the east. The work today included armoring the wet crossing at the east end trailhead on Brady Mountain Road and completing the final finish work of cutting roots and raking out the new tread on the final 1/3 mile of the new tread. The east end of the Trail at Brady Mt. Rd. is seeing a great deal of usage as the word spreads about this new section. Parking is becoming a safety issue, with folks trying to find a spot near the trail to leave their vehicles. This road is a very busy road, so all users should especially careful when parking …Click to read the full article