Back at the trail junction — After three days spent exploring south of the Whites Creek Trail South Loop. 1
Hammock camping in Irish Wilderness, April 2025. Camping near the pond may have been a mistake. The frogs and peepers were loud (80db), and didn’t stop until sun-up when the woodpeckers took over with the racket making. 3
April 10, 2025 10:29
Trail food for the day.
April 10, 2025 8:45
Breakfast — A cup of hot chocolate, a Pop-Tart, and biscuits and gravy. Irish Wilderness, April 2025.
April 10, 2025 8:29
Evening light — overlooking the pond from my hammock. 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. 1
April 9, 2025 18:34
Getting water for the night.
April 9, 2025 18:22
Woodland pond in the last of the day’s sun.
April 9, 2025 18:19
As seen on Google Earth — It’s just a downed tree. And I make a navigational blunder. 1
April 9, 2025 14:56
At the top of a very marshy area, a dammed pond — All the recent rain seems to have topped it up.
April 9, 2025 12:47
Signs of recent trail maintenance. 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.
April 9, 2025 11:50
Camped overlooking Slash Bay Hollow. 1 3
April 9, 2025 9:06
Ooh! I found a well-maintained and clear trail. 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.
April 8, 2025 14:46
Open woodland — Exploring south of the Whites Creek Trail South Loop. Irish Wilderness, April 2025.
April 8, 2025 14:45
I found a pond — exactly where I expected one to be. Exploring south of the Whites Creek Trail South Loop. 1
April 8, 2025 14:37
Looking back down the trail to Fiddler Spring — This is the start of the ‘Social’ trail heading down to Fiddler Spring. I was camped on the ridge in the distance to the right last night. This bit of trail is very steep, so steep that you can’t see the rest of the trail from this point.
April 8, 2025 12:24
Fiddler Spring, Irish Wilderness, April 2025.
April 8, 2025 12:18
Established primitive campsite near Fiddler Spring — Someone has been able to clear this site up. The left behind tarps and crates have gone. With the wildflowers the site was looking much better. I was just passing through to climb my way up the ridge on the right.
April 8, 2025 12:18
Camped overlooking Whites Creek near Fiddler Spring.
April 8, 2025 10:33
Whites Creek had been running hard a couple of days earlier — The trail was buried in debris and had been submerged under many feet of water. 2
April 7, 2025 18:20
Whites Creek on the Whites Creek Trail South Loop — Looking upstream
April 7, 2025 15:08
Whites Creek on the Whites Creek Trail South Loop — The trail at the bottom of the descent down to Whites Creek had been washed out, and parts of the trail were knee-deep in water. Nothing unexpected after all the rain we have had.
April 7, 2025 14:53
Dogwoods on the Whites Creek Trail South Loop.
April 7, 2025 14:03
Rain-cleared trail — In many places, the recent rains had cleared the leaves off the trail.
April 7, 2025 13:44
Trail-side Dogwood. Whites Creek Trail, South Loop, Irish Wilderness, April 2025.