A dual sport trip for Spring Break seems to be my pattern lately, even though I really don’t have a spring break. I’m retired; my whole year is a “break”. But my buddy Josh is still a working stiff, seemingly for a little while longer. And as the real world goes, so must he, taking his breaks when he can get them.
My good friend Mike, also retired, was also up for a dual sport ride – honestly, it didn’t take much convincing to bring him on board. We invited others, but they declined. And so we were 3, with merely a plan to meet somewhere, set up some tents, and go moto-exploring.
Spring comes early in the south. Usually by the beginning of March, the temperature is moderating nicely and that month is a good time to explore the gravel and dirt roads before the rains of April, along with the snow melt from the north gets here. As go time got closer, we set our sites on Arkansas. I’ve ridden that State more times than I can count on pavement – I know it very well. We’ve also ridden the Ozarks in the northwestern part of the state several times on the dual sport bikes, and enjoyed that very much.
But this time, I had a hankering to try south central Arkansas. The Ouachita National Forest resides there, with tens of thousands of acres of pine and mixed hardwood forests. I’ve been told that there are more gravel and dirt roads in this part of the State than in the Ozarks. With a good dry forecast for the week, the decision was easy.
We made a reservation at the Lake Slyvia Recreational Area campground. Holding about 25 sites, this is a full-service camping facility. Our site was spacious with electricity, water, and a nice pea-graveled tent pad plenty large enough for 3 small tents. The bathhouse had hot water, albeit with fairly low water pressure. None the less, it was plenty good to knock off the dust at the end of a riding day. There’s plenty of hiking trails within walking distance of the campground. The closest gas station is about 6 miles away, and groceries, restaurants, and other services are considerably farther. This place is pretty remote – plan accordingly.
We got there on a Sunday evening, and stayed 6 nights. We cooked evening meals, and listened to some good music. Over 4 riding days, we covered about 500 miles.
For me, it was a nice break from my usual break. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Day 1: Lafayette, LA to Lake Sylvia Recreational Area, approximately 350 miles.
Mike informed me that it was his turn to tow the trailer, and so we spent the early morning loading up the bikes and gear, and most of the day trucking up to the campground.
Josh was already set up when we got there, and it didn’t take long for us to get into Happy Hour Mode.
This is my first trip with my new Marmott Limelight 2P tent, dubbed the “Oscar Meyer Weiner Tent”.
Since it was getting late, we punched the Easy Button and I made a sandwich and salad for dinner.
There is a palette factory near Josh’s house, and for $20.00, he loaded up his pickup truck bed with some fantastic firewood.
Now this is quite nice.
Day 2: Into the Forest and back, approximately 70 miles.
Sometimes the first night in the tent can be restless, but last night, I slept pretty good. I woke up excited to ride a new place and see whatever I can see. After coffee and breakfast, we gear up and head out.
Right from the start, I like it. The Ouachita Mountains here are relatively low, running about 750 – 1500 feet. But the views from the roads come often.
The others were correct – there is a TON of gravel and dirt here. Unlike other places I’ve ridden the DR, this is different. At other places, you might be exploring a hunk of forest, and there is basically one or two roads the run from one end to the other. Then you have to run 5-10 miles of pavement to get to the next section of forest.
Here, you can run 50 miles of gravel or more in one section, then just cross the paved road, and now you have another 50 or more miles of forest to explore. It’s seemingly endless.
I would say the others concur, but they are quick to put a “finger on it” – LOL.
Before the trip, Josh piddled around on the computer and came up with a route, and we are just following that going wherever it takes us.
About lunch time, we find ourselves near Lake Winona. Out here, just pack a sandwich and go. There are no restaurants anywhere.
After lunch, it’s back at it.
There are also no ice cream stores, so my afternoon sweet tooth must be suppressed.
A park ranger stopped by the campground to chat with us earlier this morning. He told us that historically, this region was not forested – it was more of a prairie grassland. From here, that is hard to believe.
We are by ourselves out here. We have hardly seen one other vehicle all day.
The Garmin XT map is spot on perfect, and so are the views.
Josh’s route was ambitious, but offered plenty of opportunities to “cut if off and head back”. Mid-afternoon, we chose that option and ran a few miles on Hwy 10 back to the campground, arriving about 4 pm.
Mike is gonna cook jambalaya tonight.
Delicious.
After dinner, we stoked up the fire and enjoyed some good music and conversation. A terrific first day of riding.
Day 3: Different direction, same fun. Approximately 100 miles.
The weather is really nice, with temperatures falling overnight very comfortably. On this Tuesday morning, we are one of only a few campers at the campground – very queit.
But the wind is picking up, and my phone notifies me of a “Red Flag Warning” for high winds in the region. I’ll watch that later. Right now, I’ve got more important things to tend.
After coffee and breakfast, we got back to the woods. Josh’s loop from yesterday was a bit much for us, so today we decided to just reverse the loop and start from the end working our way back toward the middle.
When ya gotta go, ya gotta go. A man’s bladder waits for no one!
Everything was going just fine in the morning. I was leading us on the route, occasionally detouring here and there just to “try this trail” or “see where that goes”. At one point, I found a 2-track trail that we could take to cut off a little of the route. I asked the others what they thought, and the consensus was “why not?”.
Well, here’s why not….
First, I don’t like riding in deep water, and I especially don’t like riding in deep water I can’t see the bottom of. At this mud hole, I thought I could skirt the right side and avoid it. WRONG! My handlebar hit one of those trees, the front wheel slide down the embankment, and the ole Bush Pig went “Plop!” with me on it!
Now, we have no photographic evidence of it, but trust me, I couldn’t have been more wet if I jumped in the lake! Further, we now know that the Garmin XT is indeed waterproof, ‘cause it spent several seconds under water offering the crawfish and tad poles directional advice.
Josh and Mike helped me right the bike and after a little coaxing, I got it to start and we basically walked it out of the hole.
It would appear that my headlight is not so “sealed”.
I took my headlight assy off and dried it out. Since the bike started so easily, I didn’t worry about checking the air box.
I wrung out my socks and gloves and we mounted back up. It can’t be an adventure without adventure.
I wasn’t too cold, but I certainly wasn’t warm. We kept the speed down and a few miles up the road, I stopped to wring out my socks again (those boots absorb a LOT of water).
This is a nice place.
We continue on Josh’s route (in reverse) and find Forked Mountain.
The path takes us around the mountain and up on an adjacent peak just in time for lunch.
And then it was more of the same. Ride here, stop there.
Thankfully, it got warm that day and my riding gear and clothes dried out just fine. Still, when we arrive back at the campground, the first order of business was a hot shower to wash the grit out of places no grit should be!
Oh well – no harm, no foul. Tonight it’s my turn to cook. Any Cajun cook worth his salt knows that when all else fails, start with some pork sausage, onions, and peppers.
While the beans are simmering, I asked Josh to grill the chicken thighs and I prepared fixins for fajitas.
Coming together!
As you can see, we are REALLY roughing it out here.
After dinner, it was time for a little pain relief. This is some good stuff, especially for the price.
For dessert, Mike’s wife made a batch of little pecan pies. Gotta love Ms Pam!
What a terrific day!
Day 4: Rinse, Lather, Repeat.
Apparently, a “dry” front passed through last night. I distinctly remember checking the weather before dozing off and for the night, it literally said a 1% (ONE PERCENT) chance of rain. Well – you guessed it – I woke up during the night to the inevitable call of nature, and it was sprinkling! Crazy.
We hoped that would keep the dust down, but our hopes were dashed pretty quick. Today, we will try an “out and back” route that I downloaded from the Arkansas State Tourism website, entitled “Paris to Lake Sylvia Recreational Area”. I’ll lead us on that in reverse and at some point, we will cut a triangle back to the campground.
Right out of the campground, the route takes us on a more challenging rutted road. Mike is taking that in like a pro!
Heading generally west, the route soon finds more familiar, easier gravel roads and it’s going to be another terrific day!
Again – I’m so impressed by the lack of people (and vehicles) here, and the shear amount of unpaved roads. It seems like we run 10-20 miles of gravel/dirt and that spits us out at a State highway. Then we simply cross the road or at most, ride the pavement a mile or so, and then it’s another hour in the forest. In the Ozark Mountains, we experience something kind of similar, but the gravel/dirt roads are laden with homesteads and even small villages. Here, once you get into the forest, it’s just you and the trees.
The Forest Service has done a really good job with erosion control and providing some sort of bridge to get across the larger waterways.
After lunch, the route takes us almost due north into the Ouachita River watershed. There’s a mineral that’s found in all of the rivers in the southern half of Arkansas that turns them a shade of Jade Green. I think it’s a copper derivative, but don’t quote me on that. Never the less, it’s quite lovely.
What a friggin awesome trip, man.
Just south of Briggsville, we came upon a small forest fire. It’s really windy today and luckily, we were able to steer mostly up wind of the smoke. We make it to Rover and stop for gas and, in Pants’ case, “required provisions”.
Now midafternoon, and it’s time to cut this route off and head back. I got some good intel from a dude at the store, and we rode a few miles south on Hwy 27 across the Fourche Lafave River, then turned east back on a straight and very easy gravel road. I’m leading us down this path at 40-ish MPH (feels like we are FLYING) and something caught my eye ahead. WHOA!!! A small tree had fell across the road and I had all I could do to stop the Bush Pig before I hit it. From a distance, it was blended in so well in the shadows on the road.
We pulled the tree off the road and continued on.
Further east, we found this old over truss bridge that crosses the river. We didn’t cross, but stopped for a look around. I got a thing for bridges and this one is really cool.
We get back to the campground to find out that a burn ban has been put into effect. Boo! We remembered this morning when the park ranger stopped to tell us that a Burn Ban was likely, but if it happened, we could still use the BBQ grill. So we proceeded with our cooking plans.
Using a ziplock bag as a double boiler to heat up the leftover Jambalaya is a damm fine idea.
While Josh grills the pork chops, I’ll sauté the zucchini.
Bon Appetite!
Now – it’s after dinner and Pants likes to discuss the meaning of life by a campfire with adult beverages and music and shit. This burn ban is killing my buzz, man. Now just hold on a dog gone second. The Ranger said that we can have the fire for “cooking”. So…. Let’s just be sure to keep “cooking”.
Who knew that Chips Ahoy cookies warmed up are pretty good?
Day 5: Too cold to ride – switch to Plan B.
It got jacking cold last night. I brought the wrong sleeping bag and by the wee hours of the morning, I had 3 layers of clothes on and I was buried into the bag. Our “cooking fire” was stoked immediately and we took plenty of time to stir.
The forecast is cloudy, very windy, and a high of less than 60. We don’t feel much like riding today, so we shift gears. We take Josh’s truck onto the gravel and find some hiking trails.
Mike looks up hiking for the area, and it doesn’t take us long to start walking.
We climb to the top of this place that looks like it used to be a fire watch tower complete with old living quarter ruins.
Spring is trying to “spring” – but it’s still just a little early.
“I’m on top of the world!” Well…. Sort of…..
We walk down to the truck, and after a short ride, find another walk to try.
This one is a little more rocky.
Good views up here.
Not a bad way to spend Spring Break, my friend.
“Now let’s see – what kind of stupid poser shit can I come up with?”
Ah yes – this will do!
There is a nice mix of pine trees and hard woods in this region. I’m still not seeing the “prairie grassland” that supposedly this originally was.
We walked a few trails and then headed back to camp. Josh got to play 4WD truck to move this tree off the road.
We got back to camp mid afternoon and I took a short nap. Then we went into the town of Morrellton, AR to visit a brewery. I always enjoy a good local beer. We found a good bar and grill to have dinner.
We “cooked” a few cookies for dessert and called it an early night.
Day 6: Almost 200 miles – last day on the bikes.
Yesterday, Josh told us that he’s never been to Mt. Magazine, the highest point in Arkansas. Well – that’s as good a target as any so today, we will head in that direction.
The high winds continue and it’s causing some very minor inconveniences at times.
Ride more, stress less.
This pine tree was too large to push aside, and so if you can’t go over it, go under it!
We popped out of the woods near the store in Rover. It was too cold for ice cream, but they do have some very good home made cookies!
This bridge over the Petit Jean River was washed out. Josh was game to just ride across it, but I threw a flag on the play. I’ve gotten wet enough on this trip – let’s just go around.
At another creek crossing, we had to maneuver around a construction site, but it was easy.
Eventually, we made it to the top of Mt. Magazine.
This view never disappoints.
The 3 Amigos!
We took a more direct route back to the campground, to includes a little bit of pavement here and there. You have to be able to cross the larger rivers where you can, so routing has to consider that.
We ended up at the same bridge over the Fourche LaFave River as the other day.
By the time we got back to camp, it was almost 200 miles for the day, about 150 of that off pavement. A full day to say the least.
Tonight, Josh will lead the charge on dinner. He put me on sautéing the veggies…..
… while he cooked the steaks.
Friends, let me tell ya. If you find yourself spending time with Josh, and he offers to cook you a ribeye, get the heck out of his way.
If I’m lying, I’m dying!
One more “dessert fire”, LOL.
The next morning, we all broke camp and packed up the trucks to go home. The drive home was seemingly longer than it was going to the campground, even though it wasn’t. I guess the excitement of the upcoming week occupied my mind better.
All told, it was 4 days and about 500 miles of Dual Sport riding. When I got home, it took me the better part of 2 days to clean up everything, and stow it away ready for the next adventure, wherever that may be.
I suppose even old retired farts can enjoy the wonders of a good Spring Break.
Stay thirsty, my friends……
