Kayak Camping - The Ouachita River 4K
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- On this trip in October of 2021, Cook and I brought along another group of friends (Derek & Peja) for their first ever kayak camping trip. We put-in the Ouachita River at Dragover Recreation Area and paddled eastward to the Big Fur Campgrounds on Lake Ouachita. It ended up being about a 24-mile four day and three night trip. Rick the owner at M & M Canoe Rentals helped us out by shuttling our vehicles (870) 326-4937.
The Ouachita River (WAH-shi-tah) is a 605 mile-long river that runs south and east through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana flowing through the Ouachita National Forest. The river is named for the Ouachita tribe, one of several historic tribes who lived along it. Historians suggest that word Ouachita is a Choctaw phrase meaning "hunt big" or "good hunting grounds". The River begins in the Ouachita Mountains near Mena, Arkansas and is the 25th-longest river in the United States. Both the North Fork and South Fork portions of the river flow into Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Lake Ouachita is the largest lake completely in Arkansas and has over 690 miles of shoreline and is completely surrounded by the Ouachita National Forest. The lake is a reservoir created by the damming of the Ouachita River by Blakely Mountain Dam. The dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1948 to 1953 for hydroelectric power, recreation, water supply and wildlife conservation.
This river runs through our land
That’s so cool! It was sooo low when we were there it was sad.
nice,,, March 2023 I plan to start at Cherry Hill access to Hy 27... fly fishing taking my time... 7 days I thinking...
Hopefully the water levels are ok! A bunch of the locals were telling me how low it was up river.
I'll be damn
Derek Holland, Texas Ranger pitcher.
Nice video.
You all have some really excellent gear.
Doing it up right.
Hahaha only took 7 months for someone to say something!
My favorite place!!! Heading out in less than 2 weeks for our annual trip!
Great, have fun!
Love the Pungo! I have the 125. I was wondering how you keep the food cold on warm trips? Would you ever show a video on how you pack your Pungo? I live in Arizona, so my food would probably not last! Thanks for your videos.
Hi Anne! We use a combination of ice chest (otterbox & yeti) to keep everything cold over a weekend. We sacrifice a bag of ice the day before a big trip to cool off the ice chests and we take turns hauling the biggest because it’s work for sure! I should do a video of how I pack out the Pungo!! Glad you like them, thanks for watching!
Great video, good editing and love your drone footage, really gives an epic perspective. I live in the UK and we’re in the depths of winter, sunny days on the river seem a life time away, your videos are keeping me going until I can get back out there myself.
Cheers Jipples.
Thanks Jipples, I appreciate it! Cheers!!
Man this look like an awesome trip. It's always awesome when you can get your buddies together and go as a group. I know the rain sucked to a point but it made it awesome to a certain point. The campsite look pretty awesome too where you stayed at. I also like your kayak man. Back in June On Father's Day my family took me out on a 27 mile kayak camping trip. I have a big family ( me , wife , 5 boys , my granddaughter , we all went kayak camping with my wife's co-worker and her family ( her , husband , & 2 boys ) man we had a blast. The weather was good sunny and 100° outside made it for a perfect trip. Awesome video man. I enjoyed watching it! Thank you for sharing it.
So happy you enjoyed it! I agree, I love the larger groups they’re always a lot of fun!!
Did you put in at Blakely Mountain Dam? I've never floated it north of Remmel
No it was a day use rec site just west of dragover rd.
@@Docholiday1102 thanks! I live about an hour south of Malvern. Remmel is one of my main floats every summer. My group floats the Buffalo River each year, too. I've been looking to expand my horizons for walleye waters lol
If you've never floated the Buffalo National River, put it on your bucket list! Start on the upper and work your way down in sections. Best and most scenic float in the state in my opinion! Don't forget to check out the trails and waterfalls!
Do you happen to remember what height the river was when you guy went?
Unfortunately I do not but it was low for sure! The river portion was difficult we dragged a lot.
Good job brah! The new truck's looking good too! Is that the same drone? Some of these shots look like it's higher up.
Thanks Uncle Rick, I appreciate it! Same drone yeah.
Excellent video! Most of our kayaking on the scenic Ouachita River has been upstream from Dragover. A couple of questions: Did you encounter any restrictions or hazards on the river before you go to the open water section of your trip? Did you camp at some kind of designated campgrounds, or just along the river at a good spot? Thanks!
If I remember correctly, there was only one spot where there was a downed tree that we had to get out of our boats. Other than that, we did have to get out and walk a bit because the water was low.
No hazards other than one downed tree we had to navigate. Our original plan was to do 40 miles on the river but all the locals we called warned us not to try because of the low water levels. The 12 miles of river was challenging because of the shoals for sure. As for campgrounds, we just found good spots along the river/lake. The first night we actually stopped at a campground but I do not recall the name.
Great video! Curious how cold did it get at night and did you specifically plan the trip for October?
Thanks for watching! We didn't pick October for any specific reason that I remember we just picked a weekend on the calendar we could all go. It got down into the 40's a couple of nights but never too bad. The rain the first two days made it fun!