What I Learned by Not Finishing the Buffalo River Trail in One Weekend

I love to hike. And I hike a lot, especially as a mom of two toddlers. So, when I started taking solo nights in May and fell in love with this time with myself and the challenge that it gave me, I thought it just might be time to tackle a hike I’ve had my eye on for about a decade: the Buffalo River Trail. I crushed my hiking goals for this year, got my gear for this hike and decided this fall, I’d be doing the BRT over a weekend. I definitely started it, but I did not finish it in one weekend.

The night before the BRT, I didn’t get the sleep I needed. I was up until 2am, unfortunately, but I still got up when my alarm went off at 6am. Well… after hitting snooze once. I got dressed, grabbed my pack, hopped in my car, and headed down to Arkansas before the sun. I got to see one of the most beautiful sunrises on the way down and decided, this was going to be a good day. I stopped in Harrison to grab a coffee and a breakfast sandwich to fuel up a little before hopping on the Buffalo River Trail.

I pulled into the Western Terminus parking area – a little nervous, but very excited. I put my boots on, threw my pack on, feeling really prepared and inspired. I set my phone on the back bumper of my car and took a couple photos to document something that felt really monumental to me – and it was/is monumental. It’s a goal I set for myself and I was finally starting it.

Things I Did Right for the Buffalo River Trail

There are many aspects of preparing and attempting the BRT that I’m really proud of.

I Trained By Hiking A LOT of Miles This Year

I did hike a lot this year. And large amounts in one day. Most of my solo nights I did 6-10 miles. I tried to do quite a bit with some elevation changes. I got to where I was easily doing 3+ miles per hour, which meant that I felt so good about finishing 37 miles in 3 day period. No problem.

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I Packed Waaay More Water than I Thought I Would Need

I usually drink maybe half a Nalgene bottle of water and a small gatorade on my solo hikes. Instead, for this hike, I took a gallon of water and two bottles of gatorade. Y’all I drank every last drop of this! I’m glad that I brought more than I expected – even if it meant I had over 10 pounds of water/gatorade on my back.

I Didn’t Let One of My Biggest Phobias Get in My Way

Guys, I’m terrified of bears. I have this conversation pretty often with people. I think they’re beautiful, amazing creatures, but my mad respect for them comes with, what I think is, a healthy amount of fear of them. Arkansas has a decent black bear population, and it’s a big deal to me that I went out and did so much hiking solo. I was safe and bear aware, but I wasn’t crippled by fear. I was a little scared and did it anyway.

Things I Did Wrong for the Buffalo River Trail

I learned a lot of about backpacking on this trip, and about solo backpacking, after doing plenty of things “wrong” on this hiking adventure.

I Didn’t Practice Hiking with a Pack

I had talked about hiking with my pack on, but I always got self-conscious about. I don’t really know why… but I did. So, I just didn’t. But all that water weighed so much! I also had other gear in my pack that added weight, but I learned a lot about how that changes the way I hike and how I need to do more to get into that kind of shape.

I Realized What I Did and Didn’t Need in My Pack

I packed more food than I needed just being fearful of the idea of being insanely hungry. I also brought extra things “just in case”, just out of a lack of experience – it’s been 11 years since I backpacked last – but I am learning.

I Didn’t Pre-Wrap My Toes

It had been a while since I did 10+ miles in a day, and I kind-of forgot that the 10 mile mark is where I started to get blisters. So, I managed to acquire two of the biggest blisters I had ever had on my left foot. I tried to “fix” it by wrapping over the blisters and they were so bad that I could barely put my feet in Tevas, let alone in my hiking boots. It was terrible.

I Didn’t Do Enough Research About the Trail

As embarrassing as this is to say, guys, I had a topographical map and I didn’t look at the topography – like, at all. All I was focused on was the mileage between points and how to break it up into 3 days to make it a success. But I expected the majority of this trail to follow along the river, but honestly, Boxley to Steel Creek was just a series of up and down “mountains” and it was so much more elevation than I expected.

I Didn’t Bring Trekking Poles

I don’t typically use trekking poles, but if I would’ve realized just how much up and down I’d be doing, I would’ve brought some with me. I usually end up with thumb blisters from them, so I typically skip them. But, this is exactly the trail that they would have been perfect for.

While I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to do what I initially wanted and complete the BRT in a weekend, I truly did learn so much from this experience and I have full confidence that I will finish this section of the BRT very soon, armed with more knowledge and maybe just a little bit better of a hiker.

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