Goat Trail - Upper Buffalo River Area
23 January 2017
I've always wanted to do this trail. The pictures looked neat, the area is already impressive in all regards. Why had I not been out? No idea. I hitched a ride out to the river and was fortunate to have a friend that trusted me enough to drop me at the trailhead and know that I would come wandering back in due and appropriate time (will all limbs and senses about me). These are the friends you want, unless you cannot be trusted alone in the wilderness, then this will likely not work out for you and there will be a 60 Minutes special. Thank goodness I have people I care about that get my survival brain and need for isolation in the wilderness.
The day started with fried chicken, okra and potato wedges. That rides pretty high and heavy so no worries about starving to death. Otherwise, I realized I had very little gear with me. For all intensive purposes, I was being fairly irresponsible. I had the following items:
I've always wanted to do this trail. The pictures looked neat, the area is already impressive in all regards. Why had I not been out? No idea. I hitched a ride out to the river and was fortunate to have a friend that trusted me enough to drop me at the trailhead and know that I would come wandering back in due and appropriate time (will all limbs and senses about me). These are the friends you want, unless you cannot be trusted alone in the wilderness, then this will likely not work out for you and there will be a 60 Minutes special. Thank goodness I have people I care about that get my survival brain and need for isolation in the wilderness.
The day started with fried chicken, okra and potato wedges. That rides pretty high and heavy so no worries about starving to death. Otherwise, I realized I had very little gear with me. For all intensive purposes, I was being fairly irresponsible. I had the following items:
- Camera (+ extra battery)
- Protection from beast or foe, to not be defined here
- Multiple Layers
- Chapstick
- 20 oz of water
- Headlamp - had to borrow it....was seriously off my responsible hiker game.
- Hat and gloves - both very cute
The point of this is that I spent a solid 30 minutes of my hike pondering my irresponsibility. I got over it and I'm not going to be on 60 Minutes anytime soon. Maybe life doesn't always have to be so serious.
Here's a map of the trail:
The reason I'm including the information on the trail is that I strongly feel that everyone should be going on this trail. You would be well served to not act like a hooligan as a fall off the bluff would be terribly inconvenient and likely gruesome for a search crew. There are no rails and the world is wide open out there. It is amazing. I'd allow for 4 hours at least. I did it in a wildly rushed 2.5, but I was hustling against the dark and walking back into town before aforementioned dark. Take a picnic and enjoy the sound of water coming up from the Buffalo. This is a great day just waiting to happen!
The elk at Boxley Valley were having a big midday rest. It was fun to watch social dynamics!
Dubbed - "The Unicorn"
On to the trail:
This hill can only be described as consistent and serious.
The trail drop agreement was that I would walk back to Ponca if there wasn't a vehicle waiting. 3 miles of solitude and just the sound of my boots hitting pavement was quite nice (and downhill!) And bam, the vehicle was standing by when I got to "town". Adventure contingency planning is a beautiful thing.
A few more elk at sunset and on the road home!
Those appear to be the rarely seen "crazy eyes."
This baby elk had the cutest behind and was showing off the perfect camouflage.
What adventure isn't complete without a meal for a champion wanderer?
Balanced meal win!
GO OUTSIDE! THERE ARE THINGS TO SEE OUT THERE AND YOU MIGHT NEED SOME TIME TO BE ALONE AND HANG OUT WITH YOURSELF! (Then come home and make awesome tacos.)
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