“[The Ozark Trail] is more raw than other trails I’ve thru-hiked. There are few bridges over creek crossings and hardly any developed campsites,” Letner said. Lorentz averaged 14 miles per day, with her longest day being 19 miles.
The Ozark Trail 1-Person Backpacking Tent is on the cheaper end of the spectrum. A variety of websites have it currently priced for less than $50. Many higher quality tents could cost 3 or 4 times that amount. Altra Lone Peak 3.5 trail runners were my shoe of choice, along with Darn Tough Merino Wool Hiker Boot socks. I brought water shoes to navigate streams with but only used them once; way too much trouble to switch at every crossing. I was fine hiking with wet Altras and mailed my water shoes home at Brushy Creek.My food cost me around $300, not counting what I ate on my town day in Van Buren.
Exploring Missouri’s scenic backcountry is one of the best reasons to head out on the Ozark Trail. The area offers many things to see and experience, including 1.5 billion-year-old mountains, pristine rivers and some of largest freshwater springs ozark trail canopy in the United States. Trailspace’s community of gear reviewers has field-tested and rated the top daypacks. I’ve had this pack for 2 years and I’ve beaten the living daylights out of it and it still performs just as well as the day I bought it.
Join Outside+ to get access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. If you’re searching east of the Rockies for stunning scenery, technical terrain, and a long hike option sans the AT crowds, this is your pick. Along the way you’ll cross paths with fewer people than you can count on two hands—just keep an eye out for mountain bikers and horseback riders who frequent the multi-use sections of the trail. By default, this unexpectedly ended up being my go-to daily bag for several months. It’s been stuffed to capacity with almost everything I had to carry, including, but not limited to, outerwear, lunch, groceries, laptop, iPad, a Bose speaker, and combinations thereof. You may encounter some natural hazards when hiking through the wilderness, but it shouldn’t deter you from enjoying the outdoors.
For breakfast, I had Starbucks Via instant coffee added to a liter of cold water and a ProBar Meal bar. Lunch was mostly another ProBar, Primal Strips vegan jerky, and Kitch Fix granola. Dinner was freeze-dried hiking food from Backpacker’s Pantry, Patagonia Provisions, and Food For The ozark trail chairs Sole. I mailed food resupply boxes to Bushy Creek Lodge and The Landing in Van Buren. Surprisingly, you don’t have to spend a lot to get a decent packpack to get you started. If you are building out your gear on a budget, the Ozark Trail 40L Eagle is a bargain internal frame backpack.
Fear downloaded trail maps from AllTrails onto her cell phone. “These were a lifesaver at times when the physical trail was impossible to make out. I also brought two portable battery banks, and I’m grateful I did,” she said. “They were important backup when I needed to rely on AllTrails more frequently, when taking pictures, and when I wanted to compose a blog post in the evening.
I’ve carried it in bad weather, including rain and snow. Some days this bag was heavier than I would have chosen it to be. The only thing I might add is a liner for wet days, like a small plastic trash bag. I can’t imagine loading this up with a lot of bulky, heavy items. And I do day hikes in Sequoia National Park and on the coast. Be aware, this is a daypack, intended for lighter loads and shorter distances.
While they have solidified their place as a brand, they have not gone beyond some of their original design features which has allowed competition to come in and provide a few more core offerings. This cooler, when compared to the Pelican 45Q Elite and Yeti Tundra, has the smallest profile while still providing 45Q internal storage. It features rubber latches which I am a huge fan of for boating applications. When you are out on the water, people often sneak over to grab something from the cooler and may not latch it back up. With a hard plastic latch, you run the risk of brushing by the cooler and hitting your shin, which I have done and is awful. One of my favorite features though is the rubber wheels vs. the hard plastic wheels on the Pelican and Yeti.
The route extends from the St. Louis metropolitan area southwest through the Ozarks. Estimated shipping time is approximately 3-5 business days from the time your order is placed and is subject to change. Yes, you will most likely see differing results when adding cans or bottles into the mix. If you are adding warm drinks to your ice, you will see reductions in the overall length of time your ice will stay cold. As far as color options go, you can purchase this in one of two colors, Greystone which is the one featured in this article and a lighter grey. The constant color feature among the two are the orange rimmed wheels which I don’t love but, it is not a deal breaker.