2011 Trips
Hercules Glades
15 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain • 3 nights
Hot, wet and very buggy. Lost count of the ticks we removed, and the mosquitoes were veracious.
The falls were running well. I was very glad we didn't see the four foot water snake until the day after I'd been in the water.
May 26 – May 29, 2011
1
May 20, 2011
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area, Missouri - Silver Trail
3 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
A short day hike between school runs to see the dogwoods in bloom.
We parked in the South parking lot off of State Highway A. Following some recent rain the trail conditions were fairly wet though not as muddy as on our hike here a couple of week ago. All the ephemeral creeks we saw had running water in them.
We decided to go anti-clockwise around the Silver trail, which involves a couple of 200' ascents one fairly steep and the other very long, rough and rocky. The worst part of the hike was the steep descent down from the top of the first big climb. The recent rain had washed a lot of the gravel out, but there was still enough left to make the descent very difficult. We were both glad to have our hiking poles.
On top of the ridge I photographed a tree that had been struck a glancing blow by lightning, we'll have to see if it survives.
We took it easy and got around in two hours including a stop for lunch and several stops to take pictures - that left just enough time to visit some flea markets on the way back to pick up the kids.
April 20, 2011
Meramec State Park, Missouri
3 miles of hiking • 0' elevation gain • 2 nights
Short hike on the Bluff trail and back to the campsite
March 24 – March 26, 2011
March 19 – March 24, 2011
Busiek State Park and Wildlife Area - White and Orange Trails
5.5 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
This morning we drove down to Busiek and hiked the white and orange trails, about five and three quarter miles with a couple of two hundred foot ascents. It was muddy and most of the creeks and a lot of the trails had water in them, which meant we had to be inventive in finding way across without getting wet; until we had to cross camp creek that is. It was too wide to jump and there weren’t any stepping stones. Ginger cleverly had flip-flops and a microfibre towel for just this eventuality. I managed barefoot.
On our way back we decided it would slow us down too much getting out of our shoes and then getting dried at each crossing, especially as we needed to cross the creek about four times. We just walked straight through, the advantage of wool socks is that they soon warm up even when sopping wet. We completed the trail quite quickly, something we’ve been regretting since as we’ve quite a few aches. One wonders when this will get easier.
Somehow we bodged all our preparations and forgot to take lunch, my driving licence and ID, map, hiking poles, bags to put wet things in, and worst of all we forgot the kids got out of school early! The kids got themselves home okay, we’ll be working on a packing list for day hikes which will include the item ‘Check calendar’.
February 28, 2011
2
Devils Backbone Wilderness, Missouri
12.5 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain • 2 nights
Day 1
Over the past week we've checked the maps and pictures of the wilderness we found online. We had a rough plan of action, starting at the Collins Ridge trail head. There was no other vehicles in the parking lot, checking the registration log, it appeared no one had entered the wilderness from here for a while.
We had a good hike along the Devils Backbone down into Mary Hollow. Ginger particularly liked all the pine trees at the start of the hike. The Devils Backbone was quite impressive with a significant drop off on each side. The point where the trail drops into Mary Hollow is incorrectly marked on the map (it comes out about an eighth of a mile to the east of where it is shown), which caused us a bit of backtracking while we looked for the trail to McGarr Spring. We found the trail but couldn't find the spring, there was evidence of water but there was none running.
We decided to camp further down the Hollow towards the North Fork river, so that we could pick up water in the morning. The trail was very easy walking being mainly soft dirt. It would have suited my Vibram Five Fingers which I hadn't brought along. My Mark II huaraches worked well, but as expected weren't tough enough for the the trip, so after a couple of repairs, I gave up and resorted to trainers for hiking and flip-flops around camp. In total we hiked about 4.25 miles today.
The overnight temperatures dropped into the mid forties, but we were nice and snug.
Day 2
It's our second wedding anniversary, and what better way to celebrate it than backpacking? I sure do know how to show a girl a good time! Ginger it should be added, surprised me with an anniversary gift - a CD. We had no way to play it though.
After breakfast and breaking camp, we hiked down Mary Hollow and followed the trail north and west to the North Fork River. The trail was obstructed by fallen trees in many places, and only a couple of trails are marked, so you need a map and to read the ground to make sure you stick to the right trail. We stopped briefly to admire the bluffs on the North Fork and to be completely disgusted at the mess left behind presumably by people camping in the wilderness while floating down the North Fork River. The almost complete lack of trash on the trails of the wilderness would suggest that this is the case.
We then climbed the 360 feet to the top of McGarr Ridge, and walked along the ridge and then negotiated the very steep 360 foot descent to visit Blue Spring, where we filled up with water (we have a filter pump and chemically treat our water), and had lunch.
Our plan was to camp somewhere near where we'd first seen the river, and that meant retracing our path, climbing and descending McGarr Ridge again. We surprised oursleves by getting up the ridge quite quickly. Our new (but low-cost) trekking poles, brought for this trip, proved themselves invaluable going up and down the ridge. Once back at the river we didn't want to stop at the campsite that had been abused by all the floaters, so we followed the trail North a short while and then cut down to the river. We found a nice secluded gravel bank where we spent the night, accompanied by the sound of running water.
We had managed around 4.25 miles again, though the climbs and descents took their toll on our legs.
Day 3
It had been quite cold overnight and it started to rain just as we were about to break camp. As the rain had been forecast, we had set the tent up so that we could take it down with the rain fly still up - which meant we were able to put just about everything away dry.
The trail up Collins Ridge doesn't appear to be marked, and we encountered several trails that aren't marked on the map, which made for some educated guesswork on the navigation, which proved correct once we could see the lay of the land and check it against the topo map. The hike started with another 300+ foot ascent, quite enough for us out of condition hikers.
Before too long we were back where the trail along the Devils Backbone splits off, and shortly after that we stopped by a stone pile which acted as a tripod for today's picture. Once back at the trail head, Ginger looked at the trail head check-in, and the log had been changed and maps left. We saw that four people had been in on a day hike yesterday, but in the two and a half days we'd been hiking the trails we'd not met anyone. We saw and heard lots of Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), and the tracks of a bobcat (Lynx rufus) but no people, which is pretty much how we like it.
The van was where we left it (always a worry). It was just a matter of dropping our packs in the back and heading off home.
February 19 – February 21, 2011
Sac River Trail - Springfield, Missouri
2 miles of hiking • 0' elevation gain •
A short hike in the snow.
February 5, 2011
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area - Silver Trail
3 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
This morning we went on a short 3 mile hike on the Silver trail at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. The hike might have been short but it included two, two hundred foot ascents. We’ve been slacking and not hiking much recently, so we’re a bit out of condition. We paused briefly half way up the first hill to catch our breath and take this picture. The temperatures were due to get up in the fifties today, but when we started hiking were still below freezing. By the time we got half way up the second hill we were hot. The only wildlife we saw was an armadillo, which I managed to get within three feet of, but didn’t get a picture as I was too busy laughing at the bouncy way they run.
January 26, 2011
Compton Hollow
3.5 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
Spurred on by the need to do something we decided to go out and hike somewhere new.
Ginger picked Compton Hollow Conservation Area, about 20 miles East of Springfield. By the time we’d got there it was already past 3pm, and I was feeling justified in bringing along my headlamp ‘just in case’. As it turned out we finished our hike at half past five, with the light fading fast.
We managed to hike a large portion of the trails, about three and three-quarter miles. It was quite wet and muddy, with a couple of reasonable hills with descents and ascents or around 140′. This was our first hike of the year and we were both surprised how out of condition we’ve got in the two weeks since our last venture out into the wilds.
January 15, 2011
View trips from: 2011