[ Lakeview Trailhead ]I parked at the Lakeview trailhead around 8am. My plan was to hike the remaining 2 miles south to the end of the trail, turn around, hike back to the car and pick up my Gatorade and misc supplies and hike 5 miles north to the 7 mile mark caching all along the way. Upon reaching the 7 mile mark, I would turn around and hike back to the car, hunting for anything I missed along the way.
The first thing I noticed (besides the heat) was that this part of the trail was much less shady than the northern half. The second thing I noticed (and the worst) was the abundance of mosquitoes. My bug spray was useless. I was fine as long as I kept moving. When I reached the end of the trail, I met two geocachers on bikes - Mark S. from AR. and 1/3 of Team Pink. I also saw a boy playing with two horses and an old man changing a tire on his truck. I caught up with the geocachers at the 13 mile mark, where they found a cache that had eluded me earlier. After passing them a cache or two later, I never saw them again. I made it back to the trailhead about 9:30am and drank lots of water, applied more bug spray, put on my Arkansas State Parks hat, and put on my fanny pack with Gatorade.
[ The end of the trail ]
[ Team Pink and Mark S. from AR. ]I enjoyed the hike north for the most part. I found caches left and right with an occasional miss.
Somewhere between mile 8 and 9, I came across a trailhead/parking lot. I thought about moving my car here, but after looking around I decided not to. Besides, at this point I only had a 1.75 mile hike to my turnaround point. Across from the parking lot was the town of Oneida. What I saw consisted of a small rundown store with a rundown house on one side and the town post office on the other.
[ Turn around point - the backside of the sign I hiked to on my previous trip ]By the time I reached the 7 mile sign, I had used up all of my Gatorade. I decided that I'd head back to the Lakeview trailhead without stopping to hunt for caches I'd missed. When I made it to Oneida, I decided to check out the store. The windows were boarded up and the door had no windows, so I had no idea what I would find inside.
Inside it was cramped and dimly-lit. An Asian woman was at the register and asked me what I wanted. I told her I wanted some Gatorade. She got up to get me some - asking me questions about what flavor and size I wanted. I got the feeling they didn't get too many strangers around and that she didn't want me touring the tiny store unattended. I paid for the Gatorade and left. There were three pitbulls playing out front. They didn't bother me, though, and I hiked back to the trail.
[ The store in Oneida, AR. ]A note about the store: It was the only store I saw within walking distance of the entire 14-mile trail.
[ Why did the cacher cross the road? ]
[ a neat view ]
[ not as many bridges on the south half ]The rest of the hike was uneventful, and the longer the walk, the more I appreciated that little store and its cold Gatorade.
Once I got back to my car and drank some water, I packed up my stuff for the trip home. I was about to leave when I discovered a geocaching pamphlet on my windshield. It was put there by my new friends Mark S. for AR and Team Pink. Team Pink had written a brief note on the bottom that gave me a good hint about #100 (one of my many DNFs). Since that was only 0.3 miles down the trail, I decided to go after it. That gave me an even 40 finds (40 out of 57). Going back over my list, for the two-days of caching I did, I found 77 out of the 114 caches along the entire trail.
37 caches left - sounds like a plan for a future trip. I'm definitely biking next time and hopefully I can talk a friend (or two) into going with me.
[ Where all of the people were ]I drove home roughly the same way I did last trip. I stopped at Marianna for a late lunch and in Forrest City for two additional caches. This time I also stopped in West Memphis for an Oreo Blizzard.
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