I had set up camp a hundred yards from the pond. I figured the water would attract a few animals, and I wanted to be far enough away not to disturb the wildlife coming for a nocturnal drink.

I’ve been backpacking in the Ozarks for fifteen or so years. You would think that I would have remembered that water plus Spring equals peepers and other very noisy critters.

Nope.

As night closed in they became deafening. I have a sound meter app on my phone, and it recorded a maximum sound level of 80db. That’s the equivalent of loud music according to the app.

Fortunately, I always pack some earplugs (in case an opportunity for some target practice arises). Although I was reluctant to forego the loss of my ‘situational awareness,’ my desire for sleep won, and I put them in. Bliss.

They kept up their racket all night, only stopping at sunrise, at which point they handed the baton of noise to the woodpeckers, who busily drummed their way through the morning.

I’d spotted something long and white on the ground in the woods on Google Earth. After I’d set up camp, I went to investigate it. It was a downed tree (just as I suspected).

Bushwhacking to this spot was okay, but there were a lot of downed trees to negotiate.

Heading back to camp, I made a silly navigational blunder… Fortunately, my navigational ‘Spidey sense’ kicked in after a short while, …

Heading back to camp, I made a silly navigational blunder. In getting ready for this trip, I’d prepared a route to this point from the pond, and as I had originally planned to set up a basecamp on the ridge, I’d plotted a different, more direct route back.

I had the GPS screen zoomed in and mistakenly took my compass bearing from the pre-planned return route, and not back to where I was actually camped. Oops. Fortunately, my navigational ‘Spidey sense’ kicked in after a short while, and checking my location and direction again, I realized my mistake.

Oh well, I had nothing else to do, and the extra bit of hiking didn’t harm me.

I have noticed this before. The ‘less official’ trails are frequently in better condition than the official trails. I wish the North Loop Trail was this clear and easy to follow.

This bodes well for my plans for this trip. Although this trail is in excellent condition, I’ve still got a mile or so of bushwhacking to look forward to, to get to the end of the ridge I want to camp on. Nowt for it other than to press on.