Getting Back on the Trail

Merry. Boy does it feel good to stretch my legs after a few weeks without a hike! I was busy exploring Hot Springs National Park and had just left the hustle and bustle of Bathhouse Row behind, weaving up a mountain road through forests that were just beginning to wake up after a long winter sleep. I was searching for a trail head hidden somewhere along the road that would take me through the mountains surrounding the city of Hot Springs and allow me to recharge my overworked brain. I actually passed the trailhead at first, and only on my way back in to town, thinking I had misread the map (not the first time) and taken the wrong road, did I find the little two-car parking lot and the trail marker set off from the road. I all but jumped out of the car and sprinted the first few steps up the trail. I just couldn't wait to be back among the woods again!

I planned to hike one small section of Sunset Trail, a loop trail that surrounds the city of Hot Springs, AR that stretches about thirteen miles roundtrip. I only hiked about four miles of it, out and back, but it was enough to make me happy. I set off up the trail, enjoying the sun that shown through the budding trees, hearing nothing but the wind and the occasional bird song. I also travelled faster than I thought I would given the mountainous landscape, though I'm sure it helps that the trail pretty much stayed on the ridges of the mountains, with elevation changes only occuring at the saddle between two neighboring mountains.

I'm still pleasantly surprised at how mountainous the Ouichita Mountains actually are. I was more or less prepared for tall hills that locals try to pass off as mountains, but really they are mountains! No, they're not the towering 13-14 thousand foot mountains of the Rockies, but they're older, more eroded versions that still qualify. Some time I'd like to go back and hike the entire loop of Sunset Trail, though I'm pretty sure I'd need a whole day to do so, not just a couple of hours. For just a taste of the trail, I was very happy!