• Keeping warm in my hammock

    A self portrait photograph of Gary Allman keeping warm in his hammock while winter camping. December 2022.
    Keeping warm in my hammock. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    The low was 23°F (-5°C), well within the 10°F rating of my quilts. I was nice and cozy. A forecast of 20°F is my lower limit, not because I cannot keep warm at lower temperatures, I can, but because it is not enjoyable sitting around and doing camp chores when it is that cold. I do this for funsies, not to prove anything.

  • The forecast Lied. Again

    Day Four

    Start of Day Four. It was 23℉ overnight – A bit cooler than the pre-trip forecast of 31℉, and I did not set my tarp last night. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Despite not setting the tarp and leaving some of my clothing layers back at the car yesterday, I stayed nice and warm overnight in the hammock, and the stars were spectacular. As I’ve mentioned before, 20℉ is the lowest temperature I plan to go out in. Not because I don’t have the gear for lower temperatures, but because doing camp chores and whiling away the hours of darkness when it’s below 20℉ is not a lot of fun.

    My plan was for a leisurely start to the day. Idling until after lunch, and then hiking up Mary Hollow, back to the McGarr Ridge Trail, and back to the Hwy CC Trailhead. From there, it is an hour or so drive back to Ginger at her parents’, where the plan was to spend the night in the Farm Cottage.

    After three days of solitude, my early morning was interrupted by voices coming down the trail on the opposite side of the hollow. I heard them a good twenty minutes before they arrived. The couple went very quiet when they finally spotted my hammock. They carried on towards Mary Hollow, presumably to complete a loop from the McGarr Ridge Trailhead. So, thus far, I had only seen two people in four days. Not too bad.

  • Camped above McGarr Spring, Devil’s Backbone Wilderness

    Day Three

    Ruminating on my broken backpack in the morning, I decided to pack up camp quickly and backtrack to the point where I stopped for water yesterday and search for the missing backpack spreader bar. On the one hand, a bright shiny black metal bar ought to be easy to spot. On the other hand, it would have probably taken a while to drop out and so could be anywhere.

    I was out on the trail early for me, before 10:30 a.m.! Going back added a couple of miles to my day’s hike, and I lost, and then had to regain, 300 feet of elevation. Despite searching, I didn’t find the bar. Oh well, I’d have to go online and order a replacement.

    Update: Zpacks have sent me two replacements free of charge. That is excellent customer service! When the replacements arrived, I discovered that the bar isn’t metal, but a carbon fiber composite. I’ve fixed my pack and stored the spare.

    It was around 11:40 a.m. by the time I got back to where I had started my day, and I could get on with the hike ‘proper.’ The good news was that the day was turning out bright and sunny, though fairly chilly. My plans for the day were as follows:

    Plan A was to try and find the trail to the North Fork Recreation Area, and from there, hike up to McGarr Ridge Trail, and then bushwhack down to McGarr Spring and camp near the spring. The bushwhacking section looks to be straightforward on the map. However, the last time I hiked the North Fork Loop, I could not find the trail to the recreation area, so in case I had the same problem,

    Plan B was to continue on the North Fork Loop back to the Ozark Trail. From there, I’d head back to the Highway CC Trailhead and then carry on across Highway CC to the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness. I could then hike the McGarr Ridge Trail and the unofficial trail to McGarr Spring and camp for the night.

    Remember what I said about the trail blazes on the North Fork Loop being very poor in places? Well, they are useless or nonexistent at the point where the trail to the recreation area is supposed to branch off.

    I lost the trail and considered bushwhacking my way down towards the recreation area, but with my late start, I wasn’t sure quite where I’d end up as the sun began to set, and according to the map, parts of the route I’d be taking are pretty darned steep. So Plan B it would be, once I could find the trail again, that is!

    North Fork Loop / Devil’s Backbone – Day Three

    I Bushwhacked in the general direction of the North Fork Loop/Ridge Runner Trail until I finally blundered back onto the trail proper. I made use of a closed section of trail signed as “Trail not Maintained…” to cut my hike back the trailhead down. It has to be said that the “Not Maintained” trail was far easier to follow and in better condition than the actual trail, and I made excellent time, reaching the Ozark Trail at 1:40 p.m. and about 5 miles into my hike.

    Once on the Ozark Trail it took me twenty minutes to hike to the trailhead, where my car was the only vehicle. I dumped my fleece pants and a top underlayer to save pack space and weight and carried on along the Ozark Trail to the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness. I did toy with the idea of driving to the McGarr Ridge Trailhead but decided not to. There was just one vehicle parked at that trailhead, and so far, I’d not seen a soul in three days.

    By 2:30 p.m. I was at the start of the unofficial trail to McGarr Spring. (Note this has since been converted to part of the official trail system). I arrived at the spring half an hour later and then spent ages wandering around the west side of the hollow looking for somewhere to set up camp. Some tape blazes told me that horses come up this side of the hollow, which suggests that my idea of bushwhacking down to the spring from the McGarr Ridge trail was practical.

    With a clear and not too cold night forecast (31°F), I decided not to set the tarp and enjoy a view of the stars. I did hang the tarp up, though, because the forecast for the morning was snow/rain, and I wanted to have it ready to deploy in case the bad weather arrived early.

    Camped above McGarr Spring, Devil’s Backbone Wilderness. Near the end of the third day of my trip. I surprised myself with an 8 mile hike today. Not bad. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Another view of the North Fork River

    Another view of the North Fork River – I took this picture because it seemed to be pretty much where I took a picture the last time I hiked this trail. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Glimpse – A glimpse of the sky and the river through the leaves (May 2021). Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I took this picture because it seemed to be pretty much where I took a picture the last time I hiked this trail.

    It was getting dark as I arrived at the stand of short leaf pines where I wanted to make camp. I didn’t want to mess around looking for the trees I used the last time I was here, and set up at the first pair I found that would work. It was dark by the time I’d got the tarp and hammock set up, and it was then I discovered two things.

    1. A tree right next to where I’d camped was secretly blazed — there was a nail with a reflective head in the tree — which means that this spot is used for hunting. And if the fact that I’m wearing hunter orange has escaped your notice, I’m doing so because it is deer and turkey Bow Hunting season. I wasn’t going to move my camp in the dark so I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen it.
    2. I discovered the metal spreader bar that runs across the top of my pack was missing. I immediately thought of the ‘boing’ I heard, and then spent some time considering if I needed to backtrack a mile in the morning to where I stopped for lunch. I managed to do a pretty good job of convincing myself that it would be a wasted effort and made a note to contact Zpacks when I got home and find out how to get a replacement. Fortunately, with the pack quite full it seemed to work pretty well without the bar in place.
    North Fork Loop – Day Two

  • The trail here is not for the faint-hearted

    The trail here is not for the faint-hearted – Not only is the drop-off steep but so is the trail. It drops 300ft in three-tenths of a mile. I don’t think I’d like to hike this trail clockwise and have to climb up it. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Not only is the drop-off steep but so is the trail. It drops 300ft in three-tenths of a mile. I don’t think I’d like to hike this trail clockwise and have to climb up it.

    I got to the bottom at three p.m. and stopped for an hour to have a hot lunch of noodles, plus some string cheese, summer sausage, and a cup of tea. I filled back up with water from the creek. Putting on my backpack I heard an odd ‘boing’ noise but thought nothing of it. I had just an hour before sunset to get to where I wanted to camp, time to ‘Pour on the coal’ on what was going to be an uphill climb.

  • Selfie on the bluffs overlooking the North Fork River

    Photograph of Gary Allman on the bluffs overlooking the North Fork River. Taken from the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri.
    Selfie on the bluffs overlooking the North Fork River – Being so high up, I checked for cell service, and immediately received some messages on WhatsApp from my daughter-in-law in the UK. So I took a quick selfie to show the folks where I was. I still forget to look at the darned lens when I’m taking a selfie with my phone. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • The North Fork River from the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop – take two

    The North Fork River from the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop – The bluffs here are impressively high (well they are to me). I was glad that the trees had shed their leaves, otherwise, the views would have been pretty boring. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • The North Fork River from the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop

    Photograph of the North Fork River from the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop. Mark Twain National Forest. Missouri.
    The North Fork River from the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop – The bluffs here are impressively high (well they are to me). I was glad that the trees had shed their leaves, otherwise, the views would have been pretty boring. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • The forecast lied …

    The forecast lied … Not only did it rain overnight, but the temperature was a lot lower than forecast. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Not only did it rain overnight, but the temperature was a lot lower than the forecast at 30°F.

    Day Two

    I woke up to a dull, dreary day. I had a good night’s sleep, but I was too hot and I discarded layers to get comfortable. Somehow, despite being up and about by eight a.m., it wasn’t until eleven-thirty that I was back on the trail.

    An hour later I was at the Junction of the Ridge Runner North Fork Loop and the Ozark Trail. Sure enough, the trail was covered in loose leaves and was difficult to follow in places. Someone has been through and added new blazes, which made life a little easier, though the placement of the blazes seemed to be a bit erratic at times (three blazes within thirty feet at one point the next day, and at one place two within five feet on a straight section of trail). The apparent absence of blazes at a key point in the trail slowed me down a little until I decided just to bushwhack my way along until I found the trail again.

  • Camped near the Ridge Runner / Ozark Trail & My plans for the next four days

    Hammock camping off trail on the Ozark Trail / Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop, December 2022.
    Camped near the Ridge Runner / Ozark Trail – I last camped near here in May 2021 on my first hike of the North Fork loop of the Ridge Runner Trail. Then the leaves were out, it was warm, and I deliberately missed a large section of the trail in order to explore Steam Mill Hollow. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I last camped near here in May 2021 on my first hike of the North Fork loop of the Ridge Runner Trail. Then the leaves were out, it was warm, and I deliberately missed a large section of the trail in order to explore Steam Mill Hollow.

    On this trip the views should be unobstructed by foliage, I was going to stick to the official trail and the forecast was chillier, with a predicted low of 31°F. The North Fork Loop of the Ridge Runner Trail is lightly used. This means that with its covering of fallen leaves, the lack of traffic to maintain a clear path will make it challenging to follow in places.

    The Plan

    • Day One — Hike in and camp near my previous campsite off the Ozark Trail. There’s no water (there is a stock pond but as a rule I don’t like drinking water from stock ponds) so I’d be carrying a lot of water, around 4 liters – 8.8lbs.
    • Day Two — See how far around the trail I could get while taking it easy and probably camp near where I camped on the second day of my Ridge Runner Trail Hike in 2021.
    • Day Three — Try and find the elusive trail that leads to the North Fork Recreation Area, and from there into the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness and Bushwhack my way down from the McGarr Ridge Trail to McGarr spring. If I can’t find the trail, hike the Ridge Runner Trail back to the HWY CC Trailhead and on to the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness, and on to McGarr Spring for the night via the unofficial trail to the spring.
    • Day Four — Hike out either via the unofficial trail to McGarr Spring or via Mary Hollow.
    • Weather — The warmest day was going to be Friday. Saturday was forecast to be cold but clear, and Sunday morning threatened snow or rain. So I decided to take my full winter gear, plus some fleece pants to keep me warm while lounging away the long dark hours.
    Trip weather forecast

    Click to access fseprd884969.pdf

    Day One

    I arrived at the Highway CC Ridge Runner Trail trailhead at six o’clock yesterday (Thursday). I have a couple of days off work, and my plan is to spend a total of three nights out on the trail.

    Oodles of noodles – not to mention bacon, Snickers and M&Ms. Everything the healthy backpacker needs. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Sunset is currently around five p.m., so it was already getting dark when I arrived, which is my excuse for not taking any pictures yesterday. I had hoped to arrive at the trailhead around four p.m. but work ran late, and I took a lot longer to pack for the trip than I should have. Not checking my supplies meant that my packing also included a trip to the local Asian store to buy a large pile of noodles. Enough for my lunches on this and many future trips to come.

    The result was that we left home a couple of hours late. I say we because Ginger was going with me as far as her parents’ and the Farm Cottage where she spent a few days doing some business planning while I was away playing in the woods.

    Red eyes at night, hiker’s fright

    (Not really but it reads and rhymes much better than ‘Red eyes at night, hiker’s curiosity’).

    The first part of the Ridge Runner Trail shares its route with the Ozark Trail, which means it is in tip-top condition and exceptionally well-blazed. I’ve been doing a lot more night hiking and the trail was easy going in the dark with my headlamp plus a half-moon, with increasing cloud cover. I’d hiked 1½ miles by seven p.m. According to the GPS, I was near where I camped on the first night of my previous trip, so I decided to bushwhack west aways and find a couple of trees to hang my hammock on.

    North Fork Loop – Day One

    After a while of stumbling around in the dark, I found some well-spaced trees. I could hear something else moving through the leaves, and scanning around caught two red eyes blinking at me. I couldn’t make out what it was in the shadows, but it wasn’t startled when I started moving toward it. After I’d taken a few more paces, it turned away and moved slowly off. My best guess is that it was a coyote. A deer’s eyes would have been higher, in my experience shine more yellow, and once they move off they tend to move quickly. I guess we’ll never know what sort of critter it was.

    I decided not to set my tarp, as there was no rain forecast, and I fancied watching the clouds scudding past the stars as I fell asleep. Dinner was quite late — ten-ish, and I was just getting ready to turn in when it started to rain. Well, that wasn’t expected. Oh well, I put the tarp up, and there would be no view of the skies.

  • Cottage Still Life

    Orange colored seventies style table lamp on a blue dresser, with hat, shotgun and chair.
    Cottage Still Life – This picture started life as a joke picture for the girls and then took on a life of its own requiring a second ‘shoot’ just to put right a few of the details. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    This photo started life as a cell phone picture taken by Ginger and sent to the girls. It took on a life of its own when I decided to create my own version this morning. This is the view (sort of) from the sofa in the Farm Cottage.

  • Titanium backpacking wood stove modifications

    Photograph of drilling air holes in a titanium backpacking wood burning stove.
    My titanium wood stove needs a bit more air. This afternoon I added some more air holes. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    On my last backpacking trip I tried out my titanium wood-burning stove. My thoughts were,

    It works but needs some modifications. Specifically, more air holes because in its current form It smokes far too much. It needs air holes in the sides and back to help fuel burn …

    Today, spurned on by some crisp (30℉) sunny and breezy weather, and thoughts of winter backpacking, I decided to tackle the job of adding the holes. I’ve not drilled titanium before, and even though I know it’s not a lot stronger than steel, I was expecting it to be harder to drill out than it was. It took longer to mark out all the holes than it did to drill them.

    If you are wondering why I’m home when the weather is ideal for backpacking. The answer is I’m catching up on some home chores after the past few months of working like a madman. My goal for today was to do a load of tidying up and clear the garage/workshop so that we can move the car inside again. It’s been parked in the drive for nearly a year now and I am long overdue in making room for it in the garage.

    Now I need to come up with some plans to go backpacking and test my modifications ‘in the field’.

    Update

    • I tried it out on a trip to the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness in December 2022. It was better, but still smoked more than I like, so I’ve stopped using the stove for the moment. You can read the post about that here.

  • Trees, snow, and sky

    Trees, snow, and sky – We woke Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow which had mostly melted by the evening. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Snow in the yard and on the field

    Snow in the yard and on the field – We woke Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow which had mostly melted by the evening. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Cottage in the snow

    Small farm cottage in the snow. Missouri, US.
    Cottage in the snow – We woke Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow which had mostly melted by the evening. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    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.

    View from the kitchen window – which includes a vista over the road and across a field, and some bonus farm buildings. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    This weekend was my first chance to visit the cottage since the work began, and my first chance in ages to spend some downtime with Jim and Carol on the family farm. We arrived Friday and woke up Saturday morning to find a dusting of snow making everything look magical. Once the sun came out the snow didn’t last long, but it was great while it lasted.

  • Kansas City skyline

    Kansas City nighttime skyline from the La Quinta hotel.
    Kansas City Skyline. Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    As I predicted it’s been a super busy time at work this October. More so than previous years and I’m about to finish this spurt with an 87-hour work-week.

    I took this picture at 6:40 a.m. and I’d already been working for an hour and a half. Tonight is the Annual Convention Eucharist and reception. I’ll be busy behind the scenes, and then retreating back to the hotel to complete all the slides for the convention tomorrow. Then maybe, in a week or two, I can get out on the trails again. Though before that I need to catch up on some work around the house that’s been languishing while I’ve been busy with work.

    It has been painful watching the wonderful fall color and weather from the confines of my office. With thoughts of mortality, it is time to review my workload and start packing in as much time outdoors as practical while I am able.

  • Another end-of-trip selfie

    Another end-of-trip selfie – Solo backpacking at Piney Creek Wilderness, September 2022. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Time to drive home and return to “civilization.” It has been a good trip. Four days of lakeside solitude. I only saw one other person, he was on horseback a quarter mile away, and I heard, but did not see, a group of two, maybe three people on horses, again over a quarter mile away. And that’s to be expected, as a major horse trail runs along the other side of the lake from where I camp. While I knew they were passing through, they were probably (hopefully) oblivious to my presence.

    My plan was to sit, watch the scenery, and think. I did it all. However, it must be admitted that there was little deep thinking.

    Stats

    Final Thoughts

    I’m not pushing the backpacking “envelope” at the moment, partly because of the bugs and the heat, and partly in deference to my health. My gear has remained remarkably stable for quite a while now, and apart from experimenting with the titanium woodstove, bringing along my digital camera, and trying out some different food, this trip was pretty much like any other this year — only fewer miles and a change of scenery.

    I am looking forward to the first frost and the coming of fall and winter. Though that, of course, coincides with one of my busiest periods at work. Right now some significant rainfall is needed to replenish the springs and creeks to make longer trips practical. Finding water out on the trails is becoming increasingly difficult. I need to research some new hikes where water sources are not going to be a problem.

    I want to look at my gear again and see where I can reduce weight while still keeping my comforts. Bringing along the camera adds 1⅛lbs. My electronics bag seems to have put on weight, weighing in at 2¼lbs (satellite communicator, phone(GPS), headlamp, camp light, and battery pack).

    For this trip, the four-day supply of food was heavy, especially as I have some canned food in my stash that I’m trying to use up. But cooking-wise, there’s not a lot I can do to shave off weight.

    My spare clothing was heavy, but I used everything I bought along, except for a spare shirt. I had a fleece and base-layer leggings for the cooler evenings and mornings. I probably should have packed my down jacket instead of the fleece. It does a better job and weighs less, but it feels like overkill at this time of year.

    Once the bugs go away I can leave the bug net at home, but that’s only 2-4oz. My emergency bag — first aid, spare “string,” alternate firestarters weighs only 6oz. It’s probably a bit “light” in the first aid department. It is one of those things I keep meaning to review and don’t.

    I did learn two lessons on this trip.

    1. The sun in September is still strong enough to get you sunburned — duh!
    2. Deet keeps the bugs off of where you apply it, the blighters still get you on any uncovered areas.

    Bug bites and sunburn aside. This trip was just what I needed, a chance to recharge my mental and spiritual batteries.

  • It’s always good to see the car where I left it

    It’s always good to see the car where I left it. Solo backpacking at Piney Creek Wilderness, September 2022. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I left just before two, and it is now nearly four-twenty. Allowing for my stop for water and a bath, a couple of hours for the hike isn’t bad, and an hour and twenty minutes to climb my way up from Piney Creek was better than I expected, especially with the two 80ft. deep hollows you have to cross just before the trailhead. ‘Shelob’s Lair’ lived up to its nickname, though it was nowhere near as bad as it was on my way in. There were still plenty of cobwebs and spiders to deal with.

  • Black Eyed Susan and backpack

    Black Eyed Susan and backpack. Solo backpacking at Piney Creek Wilderness, September 2022. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    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.

    From here it’s about a two, two-and-a-half mile hike uphill to the trailhead.

  • Looking east towards the lake

    Looking back the way I’ve come, east towards the lake. Solo backpacking at Piney Creek Wilderness, September 2022. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
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