By: Emma Seay
Imagine an entire weekend spent without the comfort of Netflix, without the security of sleeping in your own dorm room bed and without the constant need to finish up homework and school projects. Imagine an entire weekend spent with a few other OBU students backpacking in nature to see God’s love portrayed through His beautiful creation. That is what Shane Seaton, director
of OBU Recreational Life’s intent was when he planned the weekend trip.
In past years, Ouachita has had a few backpacking trips, most of which were in the fall, but this was the first one that Seaton had the privilege of being in charge.
“I knew I wanted to do a backpacking trip this semester, but I didn’t know where,” Seaton said. “Over Christmas break I went on a hike at Little Missouri Falls in the Ouachita National Forest and it was really beautiful and had great campsites along the way.”
This trail ended up being the trail that this group backpacked last weekend. Students who took the trip included sophomore Catie Baker, freshman Reilly Street, junior Kayla Golden and senior Sydney Hoffman who also co-lead the trip along with Seaton’s wife, Hannah Seaton.
“This year we hiked 12 miles of the Little Missouri Trail. This is part of the 26.8 mile Eagle Rock Loop in the Ouachita National Forest,” Seaton said. “The section we did follows the Little Missouri River which has many beautiful scenes and is much more relaxed hiking.”
Even though this may have been Seaton’s first time taking OBU students on a backpacking trip, it certainly wasn’t the first time he has backpacked. In fact, it is an activity that he has enjoyed for quite some time now.
“Backpacking is different from other camping experiences because you are carrying everything you have,” Seaton said. “This means you really focus on taking care of your basic needs and there is no room for extraneous stuff. This lack of extras means that you get to know the people you are with really well. This is my favorite part of a backpacking experience, intentionally spending the time on the trip having fun with and learning more about the people I am with.”
As this weekend trip has passed, Seaton is already starting to think of backpacking trip ideas for the coming school year and wants to draw in more students even if they aren’t sure of what to expect from backpacking.
“If students are interested in going then sign up. If you are interested, but hesitant then come talk with me. We make these trips for beginners so they are a great way to learn about backpacking and experience God through his creation,” Seaton said.
To contact Shane Seaton for more information, email him at seatons@obu.edu.
