The schools in Springfield were closed on Friday, so we took advantage of the long weekend to go on our first backpacking trip since last September. A couple of things influenced our choice of where to go. First Lanie was staying with the Grandparents. Second we are both very out of condition. We wanted to be able to take things easy, but also see some new sights. There’s a set of bluffs on the western side of Hercules Glades that we’d found on the maps and explored a little on Google Earth. This was a great opportunity to go and have a look.
We left home on time to meet up with Ginger’s parents at Ava at 11:30am. Jim treated us to lunch at the Subway at Ava, and then off we went. Shortly after 2pm. we were on the trail.
You can read my write up of our trip on Ozarks Walkabout. The highlight of the trip was spending Saturday afternoon resting and enjoying the spring sunshine on top of a 260 ft. bluff overlooking Beaver Creek. In total over the three days we only hiked 10 miles and climbed 1500 feet.
We got back to the trailhead around 1:30pm on Sunday and then went to Ginger’s parents for a family afternoon and dinner.
Ephemeral creek by the Devil’s Den Trail. We pumped 10 liters of water from here on the way in and a couple of liters on the way out
Ginger’s Platy and the campfire
View from our tent – North of Lower Pilot Knob – Hercules Glades
Stock pond and cattails
Stock pond and cattails
Seeding Cattails by a stock pond
The edge of the wilderness
Unknown puff balls – Hercules Glades
Spring is coming to the Ozarks
260ft. Bluff over Beaver Creek
View from the bluff
View from the bluff
View from the bluff above Beaver Creek
View from the bluff above Beaver Creek
View from the bluff above Beaver Creek
Old man’s beard on the trees at the edge of the bluff
Old man’s beard on the trees at the edge of the bluff
Camped near the top of the bluff
Camped near the top of the bluff
Sunday Morning – the view from our tent
Pilot’s Trail near Lower Pilot Knob – Hercules Glades
