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acorneau
May 29, 2009, 8:32 PM
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Howdy folks,
We'll be coming up to Arkansas next week and might head out to Sam's Throne and/or HCR while there. Just want to check on how bad the ticks are in the area right now.
Thanks!
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woland84
May 29, 2009, 8:36 PM
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I was at HCR this time last year and it was pretty bad. I found a couple on myself as did most people in my group.
I was there last month and they were already pretty bad. I found one in my crotch while belaying and my dog picked up a bunch.
Oh, and its humid.
Good luck
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kovacs69
May 29, 2009, 8:44 PM
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They will be especially bad when you consider all the rain they have had lately.
Use lots of deep woods off or cutter.
JB
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subantz
May 29, 2009, 8:59 PM
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Fricken horrible around the Atlanta area. I had checked out a little spot near the chattahooche river and picked up about twenty of them in about 10 minutes on the trail.
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acorneau
May 30, 2009, 10:25 PM
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Howdy folks,
Did a little research and here's the best tick repellent I could find, 3M UltaThon:
http://www.rei.com/product/686229
It contains 34% DEET and from the reviews it does the job pretty well. We picked up a few tubes at REI and we'll see how well it does next week.
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jdwynn
May 31, 2009, 11:42 PM
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Try lemon grass oil on your legs, it works and smells pretty good. Also ticks in AR hate yankee blood. So cover yourself in it if you are from somewhere like...Texas or Ark . Sams was hit pretty hard by this years ice storm, most of the trails are clear if you hike in from the main camping area/chicken head wall rappel or the walk down to the outback. The trail out to the throne is clear of large limbs but lots of small debris-FYI dont approach in chacos, my girl cut off the pad of her big toe. If you hike in from the Hero Maker area good luck, the ACC had yet to clear the downed trees as of March/April its a hard core version of bushwacking-"treewacking" Bright side=huge fires everynight. Have a great time, sams is my fav. crag in ARK.
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acorneau
May 4, 2012, 7:21 PM
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Howdy folks,
Thread bump: Heading back up to Arkansas and wanted to get the latest update on the ticks and chiggers.
I know my parent's place (near Harrison/Marshall) hasn't received any real rain in the last few months so I'm hoping the ticks and chiggers will be not so bad.
How is it up there?
Also hoping to check out Stack Rock this visit. I've got the Fennel/RCA and Frisbe/AR guidebooks so I think I'm good on directions, but any additional info/hints would be appreciated.
(This post was edited by acorneau on May 4, 2012, 7:31 PM)
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cdd
May 11, 2012, 5:49 PM
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I just got back from Arkansas last night...Sam's, Cave Creek, Candy Mountain, Stack Rock. The ticks were plentiful but tolerable at Sam's and the other high traffic areas, but if you are at all worried about ticks you may want to skip Stack. The trails are pretty overgrown and I literally pulled hundreds of ticks off myself and my dog. That said, the climbing is good and you wont see anyone else out there. Also there was unbelievable amounts of unavoidable poison ivy, so if you're allergic much, you will surely be itching red. Once again, the ivy was plentiful at the other areas, but tolerable if you're not too allergic. I don't want to discourage you from this cool place, but this is the reality. The drive to Stack was actually not as confusing as expected (with help from the guidebook). Similar to the drive out to Cowell/Fountain Red if you've been out there. Unmarked dirt roads.
Also, I guess this thread is a few years old, but I thought people, at least climbers, still knew better than to be using DEET. Google DEET please. Try that Lemongrass oil, I've heard good things, or just be a man.
Chris
(This post was edited by cdd on May 11, 2012, 5:54 PM)
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acorneau
May 11, 2012, 7:16 PM
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We got back from Arkansas on Wednesday, hit Stack rock on Sunday and HCR on Tuesday. We were approaching Stack from the east via Snowball so the drive was straight forward for us.
The trails on the east side were full-on bushwhacking and got lots of ticks coming out of there. West trails were much better.
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