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Winter view from Hercules Glades Wilderness
Winter view from Hercules Glades Wilderness. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. When I set off, I discovered that when bushwhacking it was much more difficult to find and keep in view the points I was going toward. Everything looked very samey when smeared with snow.
Even so, it didn’t take long to get to the forest road that leads back to the trail. Some helpful neighborhood deer had been using the forest road, making it very easy to follow. I just had to watch out in case they decided to leave the road at any point.
In all, it took me twenty minutes to get to the trail, which was pretty good going.
I was sure I could see where the trail ran up the hill to the east. There was the downed tree that you had to skirt around, but the trail didn’t look right beyond that. Off I went, only to be blocked by another fallen tree. I spent a short time wandering around before deciding to go in what looked like the right direction, and pretty soon, I was confident I was on the trail.
There must be a few little Bermuda Triangles along this part of the trail!
Staying on the trail wasn’t easy. The snow weighed down the scrubby trees’ branches, effectively hiding the trail’s route and dumping lots of snow on both me and my pack. The only indication of where the trail might be was the slightest indentation in the snow.
I lost the trail two or three times. Interestingly, where I often lose the trail even when the conditions are good. There must be a few little Bermuda Triangles along this part of the trail!
The good news was that the snow was deep enough to make walking over ice and rocks much easier than it had been the day before. Out in the open glades, it was easier to follow the trail’s open gap in the grasses. I got that idea for spotting the trail in the snow right!
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Gary camped here
Gary camped here. There was a fair buildup of snow around the edge of the tarp from where the snow kept sliding off. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. My first lesson of the day was that everything seems to take twice as long when it is cold and there is snow around. It takes time to ensure the snow is brushed off of everything and to keep wet items away from my dry gear.
My second lesson of the day was that, in my opinion and experience, Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki is almost vomit-inducing and only fit for the trash. You might wonder why I was eating Chicken Teriyaki for breakfast. Well, I wasn’t planning on going out so soon, and my new order of freeze-dried food hadn’t arrived when I left, so I had to make do with what leftover packets there were.
With constant snow and/or snow falling from the branches it was a full wet weather breakdown of camp. That requires keeping the tarp up until last and working in the confined space under it. At least it kept the snow off of me and my stuff.
My trail clothes for the snowy conditions were:
- Cap with a wool hunter orange beanie, and a buff to keep my ears warm.
- Merino wool top, with my shemagh, light down jacket, and my rain shell over that.
- Ginger’s gloves. 🙂
- Bass Pro base layer bottom with Bass Pro rain pants over, and these were both tucked into my Sealskinz socks.
- Inside my Sealskinz socks, I wore a pair of Marino wool crew socks. The Sealskinz socks are normally cold, probably because of the moisture evaporating from the outer fabric. I thought adding a pair of socks inside them would help keep my feet warm. Spoiler alert — I didn’t have cold feet at any time with this arrangement. It worked perfectly.
- My Xero trail running/gym shoes.
By one-thirty, I had everything packed away and was ready for the trail. I worked out a rough compass bearing and off I set.
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Snow covered treetops
Snow covered treetops. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The ‘doors’ on my bad weather tarp help keep the weather out and the warmth in. I could have set the tarp closer to the ground, but I prefer more standing room.
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Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025 Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025
Hammock camping in the snow, January 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Wintery view from my hammock
Wintery view from my hammock. Copyright © 2024 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Keeping my nose and ears warm
Keeping my nose and ears warm. I’m just out of bed, and I didn’t bother to remove the buff I use to keep my nose and ears warm while I sleep. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Hammock camping in the snow
Day Two
Hammock camping in the snow. 7:20 a.m. and it’s been snowing for around nine hours. I was nice and cozy in my hammock. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Waiting for ‘Snowmageddon’
Waiting for ‘Snowmageddon’ — there’s five to seven inches in the forecast. Should be fun! Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day One stats
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Creek and spring in ‘Deep Hollow’
There was water in ‘Deep Hollow’ creek — time to top up my water before it gets dark, and the storm arrives. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I arrived at my campsite above ‘Deep Hollow’ just after three. The ice had slowed me down considerably. Once I passed the Devil’s Den junction, I studied the trail as I went along, trying to determine what clues might be visible when the trail became covered in snow.
I thought the gap in the grasses left by the trail might be evident if the snow did not flatten them. I also tried to commit some landmarks to memory.
Trail Journal
1300 — Cedars Trail Jct. Lots of ice in the prev[ious] section.
1325 — Elephant Tracks Crossing. Water. Lots of ice between Cedars and here.
1350 — Glades Trail Jct. Ice between here & E.T.C. [Elephant Tracks Crossing]
1410 — Devil’s Den Jct. Ice near the Glades Jct.
1450 — FR Jct [Forest Road Junction]
1500 — Leave FR 243°W.
1510 — Arrived — Water in creek running.
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My first icicles of 2025
My first icicles of 2025. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Glades (Upper Pilot) Trail Junction
Glades (Upper Pilot) Trail Junction. The good thing about all the ice on the trail is that it means there’s plenty of water. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Ice Crystals
Ice Crystals. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Icy conditions on the Pilot (Tower) Trail heading west
Icy conditions on the Pilot (Tower) Trail heading west. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I wasn’t expecting to find a lot of ice on the trail, but this was typical of the trail conditions almost all the way from the Pole Hollow Cairn to the Devil’s Den (Lower Pilot) Trail junction.
The Ice slowed me down a lot, wherever possible I walked alongside the trail, in other places I had to tread very carefully, I didn’t want to slip and fall. I need to check out micro spikes if I want to go hiking in these conditions in future.
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Pole (Pete) Hollow Cairn selfie
Day One
Pole (Pete) Hollow Cairn Selfie — It looks like someone may have tidied the cairn. I didn’t have time to check, I have places to be before it gets dark. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I was on the road by ten-twenty — an early start for me — and arrived at the trailhead shortly before noon. The trailhead was deserted. I wasn’t surprised.
When I signed in, I saw that no one else had signed in for a couple of days. From the registration point, it took me twenty-five minutes to get to the cairn, which is pretty much on form for me. Apart from some deadfalls, the trail was clear and easy.
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Another empty trailhead parking lot
Another empty trailhead parking lot. Copyright © 2025 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. There might be a good reason the parking lot is empty. A winter storm is due in nine hours. There are five hours of daylight left, and if things go according to plan, I’ll have camp set up above ‘Deep Hollow’ by then and I’ll be settled in to watch the storm from my hammock.
In early 2021, I realized I had no suitable footwear for cold and wet hikes, so I bought and tested some Sealskinz waterproof socks for wet and snowy conditions. The socks worked well on a couple of very wet hikes, but I’ve never had a chance to try them out in the snow.
The approaching winter storm is an excellent opportunity to test those socks out in winter conditions. The forecast is for snow starting late Thursday through Friday afternoon, followed by a balmy 40°F day on Saturday. We have dinner with my former boss arranged for six o’clock on Saturday. This ought to be just enough time to fit in a quick two-night trip and my first experience of camping and hiking in the snow.
Hercules Glades Wilderness
My planned route for my trip — The Pilot (Tower) Trail At one time it felt like I visited the Glades every month, but recently, I’ve been preferring longer, less popular places to hike. I’ve not spent a night at the Glades since April 2024.
Most of the trails at Hercules Glades are easy to follow, the exceptions being:
- Some parts on the northern section of the Pees Hollow Trail.
- The area of Long Creek Trail where it runs along the creek.
- And the western end of the Pilot (Tower) Trail after its junction with the Devil’s Den (Lower Pilot) Trail. That latter section is very little used, overgrown, and difficult to follow in places. I sometimes think I’m the only person who hikes that section nowadays.
The Pilot (Tower) trail runs to the north of both the Upper and Lower Pilot Knobs and is mainly tree-lined. With a few exceptions, visibility to the south is blocked by trees, ridges, and knobs. The dense oak woodland restricts visibility to the north. There used to be good views just before and just after Lower Pilot Knob, but the scrub has grown and encroached on the glades, limiting the places where you can see beyond the Wilderness’s boundaries.
The trail is somewhat even going, descending slowly towards the west. It has several reasonable climbs/descents, but the large loose rocks, so common in the Ozarks, can make for slow going. The level sections of the trail can be very wet from various ‘seeps.’ After heavy rain and in wet seasons, it’s not uncommon for the trail to resemble a creek more than a trail!
Weather
Windy.com The above image is courtesy of my subscription to windy.com (Check out the free version, it is the best weather site I’ve found. If you are a weather nerd, subscribe! I’m not an affiliate; I just want to see them remain in business).
The various weather models on Windy.com agree fairly closely on when the storm will arrive but disagree on how much snow will be dropped on the glades. The forecast is for a total snowfall of between two and a half and seven inches. Temperatures will be lower than I like to hike in, but I’ve recently hiked at 26°F, so the predicted 30°F to 40°F hiking temps should be fine. Overnight lows of 17°F are also lower than I usually like, but I’ve been out at 15°F before and was too warm, so I’ll survive.
Gear
This trip calls for my full winter setup of 10°F rated under and top quilts, and my bad weather tarp. Because of the low temperatures, I won’t be taking my water filter. I’ll be using Aquatabs instead. If needed I can always melt some snow.
Clothing. I’ll have my usual Merino wool top, Bass Pro base layer bottom, some Merino wool socks, my Sealskinz waterproof socks, and my wooly toe socks. I’ll also have both my down jackets, some buffs, shemagh, snow pants, a pair of fleece pants, and I’ll be stealing Ginger’s gloves (again). There’s some duplication here in case stuff gets wet. You’ll notice that I haven’t included my Bass Pro base layer top. I’ve not used it on recent trips, so it’s time to leave it behind, saving some space and pack-weight for the other extras I’m packing. Finally, I’ll have my LightHeart Gear rain jacket, and a pair of Bass Pro rain pants to keep my legs dry in the snow.
Footwear. I’m not taking sandals on this trip! I’ll be hiking in my Xero Terraflex II trail runners/gym shoes, and I’m taking my ‘outside’ Crocs for use as camp shoes.
Food. In addition to my usual supplies, I’m packing full dehydrated dinners, not noodles, for lunches. The extra calories and hot meals will keep me happy. Just in case I arrive late at ‘Deep Hollow’ I’m carrying in 3.5 liters of water.
I checked my pack weight, and it was 32lbs including all the food, water, fuel and spare clothes. Not bad, as that’s over 7lbs of water I’m carrying.
The Plan
I’ll be out for two nights, hiking most of the length of the Pilot (Tower) Trail and back, at Hercules Glades Wilderness, camping at ‘Deep Hollow’ and ‘Twin Falls Hollow.’
- Day One. Hike the six miles to a spot I’ve named ‘Deep Hollow.’ I’ll be able to check the water situation when I cross ‘Twin Falls Creek’ just over three miles into my hike. If the creek’s running, there should be water at ‘Deep Hollow.’ The snow is due to start falling around nine p.m., giving me plenty of time to settle in.
- Day Two. The storm is set to end in the afternoon. I’ll leave as early as I can and hike back to ‘Twin Falls Hollow’ and spend the second night at one of my favorite spots overlooking the hollow. The western end of the Pilot (Tower) Trail is going to be ‘interesting’ to hike if there is a lot of snow. I’ve never hiked in snow, and I’m pretty sure the trail is going to be all but impossible to see, so I’ll need to allow a good long time for the hike — three to four hours.
- Day Three. Hike the three miles back to the trailhead. I want to be on the trail before noon to allow plenty of time for the hike and the drive back to Springfield. I need to be home before five to get scrubbed up and ready for our dinner with Bishop Diane just after six o’clock.
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Journal: Four days hiking the Berryman Trail, Missouri, December 2024
This will be my last backpacking trip of 2024. I’m nowhere near my goal of hiking 240 miles in 2024, but I’ll be spending the next four days hiking the twenty-seven-mile Berryman Trail near Potosi, Missouri, which will get me a bit closer. However, the trip didn’t start quite as smoothly as I anticipated.
For details of this trip
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Berryman Trail — Day Four stats and a summary of the trip
USGS Map. 20 ft. Contours. Despite the health scare on Day One, in four days, I hiked a total of 28.7 miles and climbed 1,995 ft. I very much enjoyed the hike, though I would have preferred the trail to have been a bit less populated, and definitely could have done without the ATV/Side-by-side convoy. But everyone else is just as entitled to be out enjoying the forest as I am so I cannot complain.
Health
We know I have AFIB and other health issues and that’s just a fact of life. I have medications and best practices that ought to but don’t always keep things under control. I put off changing my medication before my last trip and made the changes when I returned. I wasn’t planning on going out again this year, but when the opportunity arose, I wasn’t going to turn it down. I carry my InReach Satellite Communicator and SOS beacon with me, so if I cannot self-rescue, I can call for help.
Solo backpacking during the winter season, in particular, provides many opportunities to consider one’s mortality. Ginger and I are well aware that a heart attack or stroke out on the trail cannot be ruled out, and if it happens, even if I manage to get out an SOS, I’ll not survive. And we are okay with that. It would be much better than ending my time in a hospital bed.
In a few years, my cardiologist is going to insist on aggressive anticoagulants. I’m going to have to radically review my strategy when that happens, but for now, I’ll keep taking the pills and carry on backpacking.
What worked & Lessons learned
- My summer quilts were fine in the temperatures I encountered.
- My clothing was fine, though once again, I took and didn’t wear my spare base layer top and spare pair of undies.
- I love my Fancee Feest alcohol stove1, and as usual it worked impeccably. I took my wood stove and didn’t use it. It may be better to leave it behind when it’s cold and damp.
- My summer tarp kept everything dry through several hours of gusty rain.
- My decision to carry on was the correct one. We’ll never know if my contingency plans would have worked.
- On the past couple of trips, I’ve been carrying an extra half-liter water bottle just for my electrolytes. It fits comfortably in the side pocket of my pack along with my one-liter plain water Platty.
- The LED camp light is a better option for winter camping than the LED light string.
- I found a better way to attach my Hunter orange vest to my pack. The key element was a small bulldog clip that held the collar in place on top of my pack.
- I shall double the number of meds I take with me. I don’t want to have to consider bailing on a trip because I’m low on meds ever again.
- Make absolutely sure any changes in my medication regime have fully bedded in before going out for several days.
- In future I should use the tools on my GPS to work out distances rather than guessing. Failing that I’ll have to carry a compact pair of navigational dividers (I have a huge pair I used to use when sailing).
All in all, for a last-minute trip, it turned out much better than I would have thought at the end of Day One. I like the Berryman Trail and may need to hike it more often.
Notes: 1 It looks like the Fancee Feest stove is no longer available. The website has been down for over a month now. I found a message from the owner posted in June 2024 saying he had plenty of stoves in stock, but there’s now no way to get them. That’s a shame, but at least I have three on hand!
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Hike over back at the Berryman Campground Trailhead
Hike over back at the Berryman Campground Trailhead. The Berryman Trail, December 2024. Copyright © 2024 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I went a bit faster today and arrived back to the trailhead at two thirty-eight. It was a good hike out, and I encountered one cyclist on the trail. That’s the first person I’ve seen in a couple of days., and that’s how I like it!
Now for the two-and-half hour drive home.
