Filtering water ready for the day’s hike. My revised plan is to take the Cedars Trail down to Long Creek, then the Long Creek Trail and Pole Hollow Trail back to the Pilot Trail and the trailhead. That way I can bag a few more miles from what has been a low-mileage trip so far.
Gary and hammock, ‘Twin Falls Hollow,’ February 2023. Hercules Glades Wilderness.
Morning view from my hammock.
Morning hot chocolate – I folded back my tarp so I could enjoy the view and the morning sun.
Day Three — Morning sunshine, camped at ‘Twin Falls Hollow’
Dinner time, camped at ‘Twin Falls Hollow.’ A change of plans was needed… +2
Trails snacks for the day and some exploring. +1
Day Two – Camped above ‘Deep Hollow,’ in the sunshine this time — everything is pretty much as I left it when I was last here in August last year. I was late to sleep, so I slept in this morning. It’s almost noon already.
Dusk at Hercules Glades Wilderness and some Shenanigans on the trail — On the Pilot (Tower) Trail at Hercules Glades Wilderness. Definitely time to turn on my headlamp. No more pictures, because — darkness — but my night hike was not without incident, and you’ll have to read the full post to find out what happened. 10-minute read.
Sunset Glow — On the Pilot (Tower) Trail at Hercules Glades Wilderness. I’m going to have to turn on my headlamp soon.
Dusk at the Pole (Pete) Hollow Trail cairn — Right on target, 25 minutes from the trailhead.
Sunset on the trail — Five minutes into my hike and the sun has almost dropped below the horizon.
Setting off — Here I am back at the Hercules Glades Tower Trailhead about to set off on my first backpacking trip of 2023. I am planning on spending two nights in the Hercules Glades Wilderness, starting with a six-mile night hike.
Packing for my first backpacking trip of 2023 — The temperature is forecast to vary from the mid-twenties overnight Saturday to the mid-sixties on Monday, so it is a full winter load-out plus some spring additions. The whole lot including food, water, and fuel weighs in at around 26 lbs. +4
Remington Model 31 12 Gauge shotgun – According to the barrel date stamp, it was manufactured in August 1931, so quite early in the production run (as the serial number confirms). Some of the other markings on it suggest it might be of military origin. +2
Guilty – We are cat-sitting our ‘grandcat’ Dick for a couple of months. This was, I suspect, Dick’s way of letting me know it was well past food time.
Journal: Four days on the Ridge Runner Trail & the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness, December 2022 – Work has been keeping me off the trail for too long. I took three days of comp time to get out in the wild and put a few miles under my belt. I’ve been wanting to revisit the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop ever since I first hiked the trail in May 2020. Journal: 10 42
End of trip selfie – and a summary of the trip. Three-minute read, +4
State Highway CC Wrangler Trailhead, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri. +2
McGarr Ridge Trailhead, Devil’s Backbone Wilderness, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri – Approaching the McGarr Ridge Trailhead. Almost at the end of my hike. +2
Looking up ‘Camp Hollow,’ the hike out, and more horses – It took me an hour to get to this spot, about two-and-a-half miles from McGarr Spring. I’ve named this hollow ‘Camp Hollow’ because, surprise, surprise, I’ve camped here a couple of times.
McGarr Spring, and on my way again – I had plenty of water for my hike out, so I didn’t need to collect any. The main Spring is located up the hill a ways and it drains down into this pool which is slowly filling with debris. It was a lot more ‘pool-like’ when I first came here a couple of years ago.
While I was getting breakfast ready it started to snow. I then spent a quiet morning enjoying the solitude until I was visited by a bunch of people on horseback. Two-minute read
Morning view from my hammock.