ROUND TOP MOUNTAIN, Ark.-It was early on a steamy midsummer afternoon, and with miles to go before we slept, and neither Beautiful Bride nor I felt the urge to tackle a four-mile hike along one of Arkansas' most scenic trails.
The rocky and steep road next to it, however, looked promising. We hung a left and headed into the Ouachita National Forest. Planned? I think not.
The U.S. Forest Service doesn't have a lot of money to throw at road maintenance these days, but someone had at least tried to fill in the road's large ruts with midsize loose rock. Add in a mud hole here and there, and our tester, a 2019 Subaru Forester was in its element.
With standard all-wheel-drive and active torque vectoring, the 2019 Forester may not be built for serious rock climbing, but it is more than comfortable handling a rugged, muddy, and steep Ozark backroad. Like most Forester trim lines, our Sport model came with X-Mode with Hill Descent Control. It optimizes the engine, transmission, front/rear clutch force, brakes, and the Vehicle Dynamics Control system for maximum wheel control on slippery surfaces and steep inclines.
Bottom line, we whipped up that mountain with nary a slip or slide, nor comment or complaint from my bronzed blonde spouse, who is not shy about expressing displeasure when she perceives danger from my driving.
We were rewarded with panoramic views across the Arkansas River Valley toward the Boston Mountains and Missouri. A fine little side trip that was. When we came back down, we had traveled more than 150 miles since leaving Texarkana and used barely more than a quarter of the Forester's 16.6-gallon tank.
Our destination was Petit Jean State Park, but we decided on another side trip to Morrilton to check out flooding, which had received widespread news coverage. We found very little. Instead, we found a pretty little river town tucked safely on the northside of massive levies. We also found a friendly store with fried chicken.
Lunch in tow, we headed up Petit Jean Mountain Road, where soon we climbed out of the alluvial plain to Stouts Point, a rocky outcrop high above the valley and the resting place of Petit Jean, a young French girl who in the late 1700s dressed to pass for a cabin boy in order to follow her lover on a voyage to America. From that vantage point, the swollen Arkansas and Petit Jean Rivers were impressive. Thousands of acres of prime cropland were inundated.
Ruh-Roh
Thanks to the Forester's composed ride and comfortable seats, we arrived at Mather Lodge feeling refreshed and ready for more adventure. It was not yet 4 p.m. Surely, we thought, there was time to take in an easy stroll down to Cedar Falls and be back at the lodge in time for dinner.
We would later discover that the lodge's restaurant is really quite good, but not that evening. I was sure the trail was easy because I had hiked it some 25 years ago, and Beautiful Blonde's Bestie had assured the falls were an easy walk.
As it turns out, the trail was much more difficult than I recalled, and Bestie was referring to a different access point that one can drive up to at the top of the falls. In reality, the trail-marked by a large red warning sign which we failed to observe-involves a half-mile of steep rocky switchback followed by a half-mile of rocky creek hiking to the pretty-but-not-all-that-impressive falls.
Add in 96-degree heat and 97-percent humidity (that's what it felt like) and what seemed, in the beginning, undemanding, ended unrelentingly. We ignored not only the sign, it turns out, but also an early omen. We were on the trail just a few minutes when the strap on our little ice-filled backpack broke. I stuffed the bottles in my pockets but abandoned the ice.
"Batan Death March," was a phrase that the Great Love of My Life uttered with a hissing sound as she glared at me with squinty, dark eyes from a deep red, flushed face as though I were Mephistoles in the flesh. It is a tribute to the fine prenuptial counseling provided by Pastor Brad Morgan of Williams Memorial Methodist Church that our marriage survived this crisis.
The Lord was graceful enough, and the bride courageous enough, that in time we reached the falls and began the arduous journey back. By that point, I was silently running mental calculations, weighing the possibility of darkness falling before we escaped the trail. I also noted that, given the dense forest, an injury would require rescuers to climb down that ravine and drag us out. These are the sorts of thoughts that ran through my mind while I tried to present a confident and optimistic front.
Climbing back up the mountain was a rock-by-rock struggle and each stone, it seemed, was anointed with large dollops of sweat.
Joy marked the moment we came back across the backpack, which at this point held a couple of cups of ice water. I poured it into my empty Gatorade bottle and handed it to Beautiful Bride. Only after a few huge gulps did the dark furies that were her eyes begin to soften and offer hope that I might not have to spend the night (now upon us) sleeping in the Forester.
Competent
Which would not have been all that bad. Among its many fine points are the Forester's cabin, which is large for its class, well-appointed and surprisingly comfortable.
Redesigned for 2019, the new Forester sits on Subaru's global platform, which is inherently resistant to noise, vibration, and harshness. Subaru has worked to tune out certain frequencies to make conversation or listening to music at highway speeds more comfortable.
Front and rear-seat comfort are well above average for the class and attention to detail in technology, fit-and-finish and materials is meticulous. The cargo area floor, sides, and rear gate interior trim offer a textured surface to resist dirt and scuffing, such as when carrying camping equipment or other outdoor gear.
Some critics fault the engine sounds of the Forester's 2.5-L boxer four-cylinder engine, now with direct fuel injection and higher compression. We like its muscular sound and really appreciate the lower center of gravity and more balanced handling the design allows.
Critics also dislike the droning nature of the Forester's continuously-variable transmission, but, again, we find no reason to pick that nit. The powertrain is not the quickest in class, but the car has plenty of power for passing log trucks and entering freeways.
Most importantly, we loved the Forester's 33 mpg highway and 28 mpg combined fuel economy. You have to get a hybrid to do better.
Safety first
Two things we really like about Forester are price and safety. Unlike many manufacturers, Subaru does not demand the former to provide the latter. The Subaru comes in five trims: Base, $24,295; Premium. $26,695' Sport, $28,795; Limited, $30,795, and Touring, $34,295.
All come standard with EyeSight driver-assist technology, which includes Automatic Pre-Collision Braking, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure, and Sway Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Pre-Collision Throttle Management, and Lead Vehicle Start Alert.
The Forester can tow up to 1,500 lbs. Standard Trailer Stability Assist utilizes yaw sensors to monitor trailer sway and then can brake individual wheels to stabilize the vehicle and trailer.
Bottom line
Consumer Reports, which tends to be more quantitative than qualitative in its assessments, makes the 2019 Subaru Forester the top-rated small SUV, edging out the Mazda CX-5. I tend to be more qualitative, and love the Mazda's driveability, but I have to concur. Forester is valedictorian of this class
Footnote
A couple of days later, while we strolled back to our top-floor room at the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, after an afternoon of couples therapy-private jacuzzi, full-body massages, facials, and foot treatment, plus flirting and giggles-at the Quapaw Bathhouse, Blonde Bride quietly slipped her hand into mine-a signal that while our mountain misadventure will never be forgotten, it was perhaps forgiven.