By Brian Thompson, OS President

When she’s not hiking, Amy Nicholson is a mechanical engineer in Olathe, Kansas.   She has enjoyed hiking ever since she was a teenager but she had never done any serious distance hiking up until she paired up with a friend who had completed the Appalachian Trail.   She and her friend decided to hike the Ouachita trail, west to east.   Her friend dropped out mid-way, but Amy kept going.  “I was hooked.”   She finished the Ouachita as a “thru hike,” but not before encountering some pretty serious storms when she was thirty miles out from Little Rock.  These days she uses the Far Out app for logistics as well as an InReach for checking weather.  When shelters are not handy, Amy is a confirmed hammock camper.

Amy did the Ozark Highlands Trail in sections, some of which was during a very wet May.   She completed it to the east, but due to a very rainy week, she had to return west to complete the portion from the Lake Fort Smith trailhead to Dockery’s gap after Frog Bayou’s flow had lowered enough to allow for a safe crossing.   When I asked her about dangers on the trail, she noted that river crossings were pretty sketchy, particularly on the Highland’s trail.  “Lots of water, longer legs would help.”  She never encountered bears, but did come across wild hogs on both the Ouachita and the Highlands.

Amy said the Ozarks Trail was perhaps her favorite, even though “March was a little early.”   Though cold, she noted the Ozarks Trail was perhaps her favorite as a result of encountering “frost flowers” along a section near the Current River.

Amy has a co-worker just getting into backpacking and they plan to soon return to the Ouachita for a week.