Trans America Trail August 13-14, 2019

August 13th, 2019 (Oklahoma to Mountainburg, Arkansas):

I started the unfinished part of the Trans America Trail. I did the sections from Oklahoma to Port Orford Oregon in June. Now I’m doing the sections from Oklahoma to Tennessee where the Trans America Trail starts. It had rained the night before, so the roads were pretty muddy.

This stream crossing was my first obstacle. There was actually concrete under the water. I decided to throw on my rubber boots and walk past it a little way just to make sure the road was passable before I continued. The water wasn’t deep, but it was slippery in the middle.

Check out this bridge. The deck is covered in mud, and there’s logs on top of the bridge’s structure. Makes me wonder just how high the water actually got!

There were no shortage of water crossings today.

I continued in to the night and finally stopped to rest at the Loves Travel Stop off of IS 49 south of Mountainburg, Arkansas.

Video:

August 14th, 2019 (Mountainburg, Arkansas to Stuttgart, Arkansas):

After getting some sleep in the parking lot of the Loves Travel Stop, I paid for a shower, and then hit the trail. I big part of today would be spent driving through the Ozarks in the Ozark National Forest.

Is this what they mean by being between a rock and a hard place? LOL.

I was trying to make it in to Mississippi today, but didn’t make it. Getting close though. I ended up sleeping in a parking lot near Stuttgart, Arkansas.

I drove a total of 307 miles today. That includes venturing off the trail to find dinner, and to and from where I sleep for the night. I spent a lot of miles on narrow paved country roads on the Trans America Trail today as well. So out of the 307 miles I traveled today, 112 of those miles were off pavement.