Delta Heritage Trail - 5/19/2010

I hadn't felt much like caching since the 10th anniversary of Geocaching event, but decided to check out my localized pocket query to see what was new in the area. I noticed a tight string of about 20 caches at the southwest edge of the bounds of my pocket query. When I investigated further, I found out that there was actually a string of 114 caches stretching from Lexa, AR to Lakeview, AR along the Delta Heritage Trail. I had actually found a cache on this trail during my earlier run to Helena, AR so I knew this was a well-maintained trail.

I read the general description of the cache trail and saw that it was fairly new with most caches only having a few finds. Rain forecasts kept me from going after them for at least one weekend. When I saw that Wednesday would be the last relatively cool day for awhile, I made plans to take the day off and head over there. My bike wasn't in good shape, so I considered renting a bike at Delta Heritage Trail State Park, which is 2 miles south of the first trailhead.

I got up early on Wednesday and drove to the Helena Junction Trailhead, near Lexa, AR. It was a nice clean parking lot and I felt comfortable leaving my car there for a while.

[ parking area at north end of trail ]

My new plan was to hike 2 miles south to Barton trailhead at the State Park. I would then hike back and move my car to the park and hike south. My goal was to make it to the 7 mile marker - the halfway point of the trail.

[ mile 0 - the north end of the trail ]

It was cool in the morning, and at first I jogged between caches. As it warmed up a little, I decided to save my energy and just walk. During that first two mile stretch, I had a 60% success rate. It doesn't sound good, but I couldn't take a lot of time to hunt individual caches. Particularly since most of them were camoflagued micros. I enjoyed the hike, though, and I guess that was really what was important.

[ plenty of shade along the 14 mile trail ]

About 9:30am, I moved my car south to the State Park. Being a workday, there were no other cars around except for the park folks. At this point, it would have been smart to rent a bike.

[ State Park located 2 miles south of 1st trailhead ]

I started south, and enjoyed the shade and the caches, and the time passed quickly. The big mistake I made on this day was leaving my Gatorade in the car. I had done no recon on this trail, and thought surely I would come across a business or store somewhere. The wisest thing I did was bring tweezers.

[ looking out to the west of the trail ]

At one point, I came across a church with a nice parking lot that was gated. I assumed that was to keep hikers like me from parking there. 1.6 miles south of the park was the Lick Creek trailhead/parking area. It was the last trailhead I saw that day.

[ looking to the east from the trail ]

[ just past cache #57 of 114 ]

I was very thirsty when I reached mile 7. Of course, I had a 5 mile hike back up the trail to my car. Thie hike back was uneventful. I found one cache that I had missed. I took a couple of rest breaks on nice benches. I made it back to the park around 2pm.

When I got back the the park, I noticed the mosquitoes had suddenly come out. I didn't hang around for long and got back on the road. I stopped in Marianna for a late lunch and Forrest City for a couple of cache finds to round me out at 40 for the day.