Got a great start with 17.4 miles. Weather was overcast and high 60s. Started at the Lake Fort Smith welcome center and hiked rocky ups and downs with multiple creek crossings. Ridgeline walking had good views. We ended the day at White Rock Mountain.

Extra pictures and notes.

Ended up camping at the campground for White Rock Mountain. Beautiful views at the overlook. The staff was very friendly and allowed us to charge our phones at the small store on site. I definitely recommend taking the side trail to at least see the overlook. Our phones were charging when we went so unfortunately we didn't get any pics.

Hikers seen: 2 Runners seen: 1 Hunters seen: 1 Stickbugs seen: 1 Chimneys seen: 2

We woke up in a cloud and everything was a little damp, but not too damp to pack.

We started our day in the dark in order sneak in an extra mile, which meant a very rocky downhill from the top of White Rock Mtn. It felt like the AT in some parts of PA.

We had a nice climb out of bear hollow to Potato Knob and stopped at the top to dry out our tarps a bit. The climb was very humid, and despite temps being in the 50s we were drenched.

We descended into Spirit's Creek, which had very beautiful alcoves and overhangs.

The climb up the side of Black Mountain was pretty smooth, but it was regrettably done in wet feet. This combined with general foot fatigue and the blisters Matt was experiencing meant that the following slow downhill was very painful for Matt. Raw skin and maceration forced us to reconsider our plans.

We were behind pace and needed some time off to allow everything to heal up. We decided that the best call for us was to get picked up at Forest Road 1520, schedule some R&R for day 3, and get back out on an overnight or two to fill out the rest of the trip.

Hikers seen: 0 Turkeys seen: 3 Deer seen: 1 (6 point) Geese seen: 1