3 February 2019
Either I am getting better at this hiking thing, or I’m in better shape, or they are making the trails shorter. I did pretty good this morning by hiking 4.6 miles in a little over 2 hours in mountainous terrain.
I didn’t bother with breakfast. I figured I could eat some trail food along the way. I started at the entrance to the Grand Promenade next to the Fordyce Bathhouse (National Park Service Visitor Center). That entrance leads to a series of stairs which then leads you to the trailhead of Dead Chief Trail. I’m not sure who the dead chief is but the trail was nicely laid out and not too terribly steep.
The trails in the park tend to interconnect and the park service names individual segments of the trails, all marked by colored splotches that somewhat resemble the national park emblem. Dead Chief is a red splotch.
Dead Chief, which is approximately 1.4 miles and leads into the Gulpha Gorge Trail. It’s marked with pink splotches and this is the first time I’ve seen pink on trees except for the red lichen in south Florida which is really more pink than red.
The Gulpha Gorge Trail is 0.6 miles but I was on it for around 0.3 miles when it feed into the Goat Rock Trail.
The Goat Rock Trail uses purple splotches and is around 1.1 miles long. Goat Rock itself is a little 240 foot side jaunt up a staircase where you can get a nice view of the valley.
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From Goat Rock I headed to Upper Dogwood Trail (1.0 miles) where I ran into 4 deer running across the trail. I was surprised to see as many people on the trail as I did but I encountered eleven people, all hiking towards me. Several had dogs and all very nicely had them on leashes, as required.
From Upper Dogwood, I merged with Lower Dogwood Trail (technically 0.7 miles but I hiked only a segment of it) which then merged with the Arlington Trail.
I was surprised and yet pleased that the Arlington Trail leads to the six floor of the Arlington Hotel. You walk directly from the trail past the swimming pool, into the hallway of the sixth floor. From there you take the elevator to the lobby. I’ve never ended a trail in a hotel lobby before.
Upon my return, the valet suggested I go to the Mountain Tower. I generally don’t do touristy things like towers, but I decided I had enough time. With a national park pass, the entrance fee is $5. The tower’s observation deck is 216 feet high. You ascend in an elevator (thank God!) and you get great views of the Ouachita (WASH eh tah) Mountains and downtown Hot Springs.
Once I came down, I finished the one way loop drive and headed back to the hotel from brunch, a quick nap, and a trip to the Quapaw for a deep tissue massage.
