Last night we slept under the stars.

Although it was a warm-ish night, 55°F or so, without the flysheet set it felt quite cool, in my 0°F bag I was hot and I kept it unzipped all night. I took this picture as a homage to a picture from day 29 of my Original 2007 365 days project.

We had cleared up and were away by 10:40 am. By 10:55 we were back on the trail proper. The Ozark Trail and Berryman Trails had split just before we crossed Little Brazil Creek, so now we were on the Berryman trail only. The day started with a modest two hundred foot ascent over about half a mile. There was a lot of evidence of trail improvements and changes being made, with very recent tracks of a large bulldozer in several places. Once up on the ridge, the trail ran nicely along the contours winding in and out of lots of very steep hollows. At one point the trail was blocked by a fallen tree. Ginger managed to scramble over it, I elected to take a more sedate bushwhacking route.

There was some evidence of spring to be seen in the hollows, with a few flowers and some leaves showing along the trail. The five miles to Brazil Creek Campground passed quickly, and by two pm we were descending the very muddy switchbacks down to the creek. Up until that point the day had been sunny and warm, but it soon clouded over, and while we were examining Brazil Creek Campground trying to decide what to do next it started to rain. We quickly set up the tent and decided to stay put. In the evening we had a great fire in the provided fire rings.

We’d foregone lunch in the morning’s hike so we had double rations – partly to try and reduce our pack weights. We had chicken couscous, Creole albacore and a very yummy upside-down lemon pie for dessert.   

Today’s alternate shots & extras

Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.