Our first backpacking trip since starting vanlife!

Madi got a few days off work and took a day off of school so we could take our first out-of-van backpacking trip since our honeymoon in the 100 Mile Wilderness along the Appalachian Trail in Maine back in June 2020. We ventured to Eagle Rock Loop Trail in Arkansas. We finished the 31 miles (28.6 mile trail and about 3 mile roundtrip approach trail) in exactly 48 hours. These are some of our highlights!

The trail has 50+ water crossings. Madi tried to keep track but lost count after 25 crossings on the first day. We tried to pick up the count again on day 2, but we also quickly lost track. The trail is known to be unsafe to hike when the USGS water tables in Langley, Arkansas are above 4.5 feet. Fortunately, the water was less than 4 feet so we didn't have any issues crossing. We tried to dry cross as often as possible, but there were many slips and wet feet during these attempts (including Madi slipping knee-deep right after this picture was taken). No humans or dogs were injured in the water crossings on the trail.

Adam took a risky move on the trail and brought along his fancy camera. While it added a lot of weight to his pack, the pictures he got were incredible! It was the first trip we have really good pictures of, so it is one for the memory books for sure. Check out the gallery on the homepage of the blog for some of his shots! Also, check out his Instagram for even more: @adam.smithphotography.

We were super impressed by the campsites on the trail. They were frequent (several spaces for tents every half mile along some sections of the trail) and well maintained. Each designated camping area had a nice firepit and most of them were right along the water. The beauty of hiking in a national forest and a state wildlife area was that you could set up a tent anywhere along the trail, no designated camping space required!

The first night we camped about 10.5 miles in (9 trail miles and 1.5 approach miles) along the Little Missouri River. It was a huge campsite and we enjoyed a lot of yummy food. This is the first time we backpacked with fresh fruits and veggies and we felt fueled and rested for day two.

The second night we camped at the summit of Eagle Rock Vista. This campsite was a little smaller and not as flat as the other sites we came across, but we had beautiful views of sunrise and sunset from the peak. Day 2 was a 16 miles day, half of which was riding a series of six peaks along what we called the mini-Chairbacks (mirroring the Chairback range in Maine along the AT). We met some hikers we flip-flopped with all day at this summit. They picked a site a little ways down the trail, but they joined us in the morning for tea/coffee at sunrise. We had a great conversation and it renewed our joy and pride of being part of the backpacking community.

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Now we also really missed the freedom that living out of a backpack provides. Yeah, yeah, yeah... we live in a van, isn't that enough freedom and minimalism? Most of the time! We love being able to unpack our clothes and food and shelter, set up, and repack our backpacks in 30 minutes or less. Being able to walk outside the tent, heat up some half-decent instant coffee, and enjoy the sunrise. Even Acadia loved cuddling up to stay warm.

Acadia's favorite part of being out on the trail was fishing! She has developed a deep passion for fishing with Adam. Whenever he rattles his gear, she starts crying and jumping around with excitement. Unfortunately, this adds a small level of difficulty to Adam's fishing because he has to avoid her bites at the lure and line. She will wade in the water and watch the lure very carefully until he either brings it in or gets a bite. Then she will stay at his feet and cry until she gets to lick the fish.... Madi thinks it's kind of gross, Adam thinks it's really cute.

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Overall, we highly recommend Eagle Rock Loop trail for anyone interested in any level of backpacking! It was a great trail for beginners, but also a great trail for more experienced hikers and backpackers. Water is easily accessible and the trail is very well marked. We suggest purchasing the map on Guthook, a popular hiking app. It has all the features of the trail, water crossing marked, elevation maps, distance to campsites and pit toilets, can be used on airplane mode, can be used with GPS to tell you exactly where you are, and is only $4 USD.

Happy hiking from our little family to yours!