Cottage in the snow – For the past couple of months Ginger has been working with her parents on a remodeling project, converting the one room with ensuite ‘Little House’ into a Writers/Get Away Cottage. It now has a living room/kitchenette, bedroom, HVAC and a wraparound deck out back. +1
Kansas City Skyline. Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. When I took this picture at 6:40 a.m. I’d already been working for an hour and a half.
Another end-of-trip selfie – Time to drive home and return to “civilization.” It has been a good trip. Four days of lakeside solitude. Two-minute read, +3
It’s always good to see the car where I left it.
Black Eyed Susan and backpack – Before heading up the ‘Farm Track Trail’ and into ‘Shelob’s Lair’ I stopped to fill up with cool creek water and a dunk in Piney Creek. It was cold but very refreshing.
Looking back the way I’ve come, east towards the lake.
Hiking westwards along Piney Creek. Much nicer than trying to cross ‘Cat Briar Meadow.’
Please don’t do this. If you can pack it in, you can pack it out.
Packed up and ready to leave – Day four and it is time to go.
Noodles for lunch – I cooked breakfast on the wood stove. I decided to use the Fancee Feest alcohol stove to heat water for my lunch.
Clear-up after breakfast – I’ve used this stove a lot on this trip, and its final outing was heating water for my breakfast – biscuits and Gravy, and my morning cup of mocha. +2
Day Four – Bluffs and hill by Piney Creek.
Dinner, campfire, a visitor, and dreams. I don’t have a campfire very often nowadays. But it seemed like a good way to celebrate my last evening, and what use is a fire ring if you don’t use it every now and then? +1
Twilight at PIney Creek Wilderness.
Day Three – Enjoying the last of the sun – With the sun already set on the other side of the lake, the foreground really pops in this picture. 2
Visitor – midland water snake. It appeared like a periscope sticking eight inches vertically out of the water, making a point of studying me and tasting the air with its flickering tongue. I must have passed the test because it swam past where I was sitting and proceeded to hide in a hole in the nearby rocks. +1
Resting spot in the sun.
Mountain House Southwest Breakfast Skillet and a cup of tea (PG Tips), enjoyed against the backdrop of the lake.
Pelicans at the end of the day – And that low line of bluffs in the distance is where I went swimming today, and intend to spend a good part of my day tomorrow.
A screen of trees. They let me see out, and stop people from seeing my campsite.
Meanwhile back at camp – The last time I was here these trees were in the water. +1
It looks like the hot weather and receding lake have not been kind to the turtles. I found two empty shells on my hike. +1
Looking west towards Piney Creek – Exploring east along the northern shore of the arm of the lake, I found that two of the ‘hunting’ camps I’d discovered here in 2018 had either been dismantled and removed or had fallen apart and been consumed by the undergrowth. One-minute read, +5
Table Rock Lake at Piney Creek Wilderness, looking east. The lake is usually at the top of these bluffs. Solo backpacking at Piney Creek Wilderness, September 2022.