ozark highlands trail

[blink76]

hello everyone, my name is Heidi and i am wondering if anyone has hiked the OHT? planning a thru-hike in Oct. anyone hiked it in the fall? thanks in advance for any info

[Opi]

Hi Heidi. I hiked a 80 mile section of it 5 years ago in March. Cool tail. Buy the Tim Ernst book, everything you need to know is in the book. http://www.amazon.com/Ozark-Highland...ords=Tim+Ernst

[blink76]

Thanks Opi and i have the book. It is pretty great. It says Oct is the best month and why i chose to wait till then. My biggest question is about weather. I'm from NE ok and our weather turns cold first part of Oct. but i'm not sure how it is in the mountains. And how bad are the mosquitos in Oct? What are the bears up to in the fall? The says it's the busiest month for the trail, should i expect lots of people or just occasionally? Trail conditions? Now of which i'm too worried about just want to be prepared and have a better idea of what to expect.

[Opi]

Sept and Oct are the best all around months for hiking mountains anywhere in the States. Fall colors, no bugs, cooler temps. It's not a summer trail (too hot). Trail gets used more from Sept thru May. Late fall being prime down there. No worries about bears just hang your food. If solo? bring small can of bear spray. It is the Ozarks.

[blink76]

Yes i am hiking solo and yes i WILL have bear spray. Would love to see one. Not too worried about being eaten Haha. I am planning for about the second week of Oct and giving myself 3 weeks hoping to get all the way to Buffalo and all the spur trails including the Sylamore altho i have to figure out how it all connects if it does. I am going up in a couple weeks to scope it all out.

[Opi]

Sounds like an awesome hike! Plan a night on top of Hare Mt. I had it all to myself! It's cool

Mid March my last day on the trail that night the mountains got a foot of snow. I had gotten done a day early. Pretty lucky!

[blink76]

i noted it in my book thanks. actually i have read the whole book and marked things of interest. i am planning a kind of slow hike so i have time to take it all in. i hope the waterfalls are running, that is one of the things i am most excited about

[toejam]

I think you could expect the weather to be really similar to NE Ok. Think I'd want to start in September.

[blink76]

thanks Toejam that was my original idea but i was a little concerned with heat, water supply and bugs. after more reading i decided to bump it out to catch the color change and avoid bugs. i live just south of Tulsa and September can be pretty brutal with the heat and bugs. fortunately i can be very flexible all he way up to departure so i can adjust at the last minute.

[toejam]

I spent a long time in Texas, and September was still warm but cooling off. Worst of the bugs is past. You may not see much color change even in October. But you're basically local, so follow your gut.

I had a map of that trail for a long time but never hiked it. Have fun!