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Looking up ‘Deep Hollow’
Dry creek bed. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Not a lot of water. The main spring comes out from under the grass middle right of the frame. There was nothing running now though. I was glad to find the small pool that I did.
There’s a huge catchment area for this spring so I was surprised to see that it had stopped running. This suggests that my plan ‘B’ to camp in ‘Spring Hollow‘ would not have put me near to water either — though there is a very tannin-rich stock pond nearby.
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Looking down ‘Deep Hollow’
The springs and creek were dry. I found a small pool with a few gallons of clean-looking water in it. The bathing pool was completely dry, which surprised me. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. My earlier guess that the overnight rain would not do anything to get the creek running proved to be correct. Here you can see my water filter at work, filtering water from the small pool I found. This is the view looking down the hollow, and the bathing pool is on the other side of the drop-off. The bathing pool was still completely dry, much to my disappointment.
All the very green grass indicates that the seeps are still releasing some water, but not a lot.
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Day Two — Camped back above ‘Deep Hollow’
Camped back above ‘Deep Hollow’ Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day One continued
On arriving, the first thing I did was to get my chair set up, have a rest and then venture down into the hollow to see if I could find any water. It was touch and go. The springs had dried up and I had to take water from a small pool. Looking closely, there was a trickle running, just enough to disturb the surface in some tiny puddles. I had been looking forward to another bath in the bathing pool, but it was dry. Instead, I took a ‘one-scoop bath.’ A scoop of water, around 12oz, into which I dipped my microfiber towel and used it as a flannel.
I had a church with technical problems which I needed to monitor. Knowing this part of the wilderness has good cell phone reception was another reason why I decided to camp here. When I got back to camp I checked my email for problems and discovered that Ginger had accidentally emailed me earlier in the afternoon instead of directly messaging my InReach satellite communicator. It wasn’t good news. She’d got two liters of water from a pool and that was it. The spring near her was dry too. I told her I hadn’t set up camp yet, and asked if she wanted to bale out on the trip.
I didn’t get an answer, and it was starting to get dark so I set up camp. We could sort things out in the morning.
After dinner I spent some time staring at the dark and listening to the coyotes. After a while I retired to the hammock and watched a couple of YouTube Videos (another advantage of having good cell coverage).
There had been lightning flashes and lots of rumbles to the west and north all evening. When I finally turned in the odds were it was going to be a restless and stormy night.
Sometime around two, a big storm hit, with lots of thunder, lightning, and torrential rain. I was nice and cozy. With the tarp in porch mode, the damp was misting in, but I couldn’t be bothered to drag myself out to snug it down.
Day Two
The morning was pretty wet, It didn’t stop raining until around eight, and it took ages for the trees to shake all the water off. I had breakfast out of the rain and drips under the tarp, and went back to sleep until gone eleven. It wasn’t until around noon that everything had dried enough for me to venture out. Ginger messaged me first thing, and told me she had managed to collect water from the rain, so we were set to stay until Monday as planned. After that, I sat around, did a little tiny bit of journalling, and mainly just looked at the trees. It was very humid! I didn’t hold out much hope of there being any running water in ‘Deep Hollow Creek’ but at least my little pool should have been replenished.
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Hercules Glades scenic overlook
Overlook re-visit. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I took a quick detour to check out the scenic overlook. It was looking a lot greener than when I was last here in April.
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Gary on the trail
Back at the Pole Hollow Trail junction cairn. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Back at the Pole Hollow Trail junction
I was last here in May. This time, instead of spending one-night camping with Ginger, I left Ginger at the Pees Hollow Trail junction (she declined my offer to immortalize the moment with a picture), and she set off to spend some time business planning at her ‘Wahoo Point’ campsite, and I carried straight on down the Pilot (Tower) Trail.
I’m heading the six miles to ‘Deep Hollow‘ for some quiet time of my own, and to collect some trash I accidentally left on my last visit. it’s going to be a hot hike — high eighties. Today’s the hottest day of the trip. The rest of the daytime temps are set to be in the low to mid-eighties. There is also the potential for some rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, so I want to get a move on and get camp set up before any bad weather rolls in.
Lunch stop
I cooked some noodles for lunch. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. ‘Twin Falls Creek’ marks the halfway point of the hike to ‘Deep Hollow’ on the western edge of the wilderness, and it’s where I often stop for a break and to replenish my water. The creek wasn’t running, and the pools had mostly dried up, so I decided not to refill my water — there’s a spring nearby, but I didn’t fancy spending a load of time bushwhacking down to it — so I rationed my 1 liter of water, using most of it to heat noodles for lunch.
I get my noodles from the Asian store, and I’m impressed with how good they are. There is no comparison to generic Pot Noodles. They are also very salty, a good thing when you are hiking in hot weather.
Disheveled Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Lunch is over, and I’m ready for the trail. Apparently, I am making looking disheveled an artform. My belt should be above my pack’s hip belt buckle, and I ought to have noticed that I’ve also caught my shirt on the hip belt. I guess it is just as well I didn’t meet a single soul on the entire three-day trip.
Re-visiting the scenic overlook
Gratuitous Selfie. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. An hour later, and I was past Lower Pilot Knob. I decided to take a couple of minutes to leave the trail and check out the overlook again. It was worth the detour.
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Waiting for our return
Waiting for our return – some slightly cooler weather has enticed us out for a couple of days. Strangely, there was only one other vehicle parked at the trailhead. Tower Trailhead, Hercules Glades Wilderness. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day One.
The weather’s cooled off enough for us to get out for some backpacking. It’s just going to be a repeat of our recent visits to Hercules Glades. I was wondering how much water we might find, and Ginger was confident we’d have plenty because of some recent heavy rain. Checking out the creeks we drove past and over on the way here, it was hit and miss, but most had some water in them, which was hopeful.
I was expecting the trailhead to be busy, but I was wrong. There was just one other vehicle there, and no one camping.
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Journal: Three days backpacking in Hercules Glades, August 2022
A different view of camping in the woods. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Three days backpacking in Hercules Glades. Once again I went backpacking with Ginger, and once again we each went our own way. Ginger to ‘Wahoo Point’ to do some business thinking, and I went to ‘Deep Hollow’ to stare at the trees.
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Backpacking Goodies in the Gear Closet
Backpacking goodies in the gear closet. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. There must be over 100 mini Snickers bars there. I won’t be taking any on our next trip. It will be too hot, and melted Snickers are very messy. I know, I’ve tried.
We are heading out for a three-day, two-night trip. I’m either going to hike to ‘Deep Hollow,’ or I may drop Ginger off at the Hercules Glades Tower Trailhead and drive over to Piney Creek for a couple of days by the lake.
Ginger won’t visit my Piney Creek campsite while the trail is overgrown. I totally get that, I hate fighting through the nasty snakey vegetation too. So, there’s a very good chance it will be both of us camping at Hercules Glades (again).
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Exercise – Mowing the front yard
Oops. It seems I might have pushed a bit too hard dealing with the overgrown mess that our front yard had become.
Today the temperatures eased off slightly for the first time in many weeks. It was just low enough for me to venture out to tend to the front yard for a few hours. At my age 164 BPM is higher than I should push it but nowhere near as high as it got when I was hiking back in May. I need to remember to take a bit more care, and stop and check my heart rate more often when I’m exerting myself. 155 BPM is the recommended limit for me.
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Day Three — Trail Buddies and the end of the trip
Trail Tortoise #1 – I found this little fella/fellette on the trail. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. a quick check of my pulse confirmed what I thought. I was in AFIB again. I took a pill, tried to relax
It had been a good night, but I woke up feeling very unsettled and a quick check of my pulse confirmed what I thought. I was in AFIB again. I took a pill, tried to relax — hard when your heart is going all over the place — and worked out a plan of action for the day. I was due to meet Ginger between noon and 1 p.m., the latter being the deadline we’d set to head back to the trailhead from Ginger’s camp. That meant I had to leave by 9:30 latest. I could have messaged Ginger’s InReach, and delayed our exit, but I didn’t want to do that and mess with the plans for the rest of the day. I decided to take it easy until around nine, and hope that my pill and some gentle exercise hiking out would help to settle my heart back into a regular rhythm.
By 9:15 a.m. I was ready to get on the trail. I was feeling a bit better and I made sure I drank plenty of water on the hike out.
I’ve met several tortoises on the trail over the years, so seeing the one (above) wasn’t a huge surprise. But less than an hour later I came across another!
Trail Tortoise #2 – less than an hour later I came across another little fella/fellette on the trail. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
The hike out went without incident (thankfully) though the final climb up to the Pees Hollow Trail Junction was harder than it should have been. Once I got there I managed the descent down to Ginger’s camp in 10 minutes. When I arrived Ginger was already packed and ready to head out. However, I needed a rest before turning round and climbing back up to the trailhead.
At 1 p.m. we set off, and the climb out to the trail junction took nearly 30 minutes with lots of stops. From there it was only a short 10-minute walk to the trailhead and the end of our trip.
Later in the day I checked my heart rate for the hike and discovered that I’d maxed out at 177 BPM on the last climb on my way to meet Ginger. That’s way above my recommended max of 155 BPM, and not good when I’m supposed to be recovering from/controlling a bout of AFIB. Taking it slow on the climb back to the trailhead kept my heart rate down where it ought to be, 151 BPM.
Lessons
- Backpacking, none really. It was a good trip. Nothing broke or went wrong. Life lessons, however, are a different story…
- Having access to all this health ‘information’ all the time, makes one wonder. What would I have done ten years ago? Just keep plugging along probably and hope for the best — which I tend to do now anyway — Is it actually good, or bad? Does having this knowledge make any real difference?
- Keep exercising regularly between trips.
- I have got to be more careful and less concerned with the clock and deadline watching. What is it they say — Better late than dead?
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Mini campfire
Mini campfire. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I left a full fuel bottle with Ginger, and while I had enough alcohol for dinner and breakfast, I decided to save fuel and get out my Nano Firebox and have a mini campfire to cook on.
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Bath time
Bath time. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I’m looking pleased with myself. That’s probably because I have warmed up after my wilderness bath. The pool wasn’t as deep as I thought — mid-thigh — and a lot colder than I’d anticipated, so I didn’t go for full immersion, but I did stick my head under the falls.
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Bathing Pool in ‘Deep Hollow’
Bathing Pool in ‘Deep Hollow’ — It looks very inviting, but the water was cold! Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Bathing Pool in ‘Deep Hollow’
Bathing Pool in ‘Deep Hollow’ — It looks very inviting, but the water was cold! Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Inaccessible
Inaccessible. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Well, almost inaccessible. Looking downstream from the Bathing Pool in ‘Deep Hollow.’ I timed my arrival just right as the sun was shining through a gap in the trees and lighting up the creek, pool, and falls.
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Meanwhile, back at basecamp
Copyright © 2022 Ginger Allman, all rights reserved. While I’m off hiking Ginger’s enjoying her spot in the woods.
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Day Two – Back at the Pole Hollow cairn
Back at the Pole Hollow cairn. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Here I am, back at the Pole Hollow cairn in Hercules Glades, but this trip is a little bit different.
The difference is Ginger and I came out yesterday and spent last night camped at Ginger’s new favorite campsite. Today, I left Ginger back at camp and I’m off on a solo one-night trip staying at ‘Deep Hollow.’ I’ll be back tomorrow, meet Ginger at her campsite, and we’ll hike out together. This plan gives Ginger some R&R time in the woods, and I get to hike a few miles.
It’s hot today and there’s a bathing pool at ‘Deep Hollow’ that I’m looking forward to cooling off in when I get there. But that’s six miles away, so I’d better get on.
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Journal: Two nights at Hercules Glades Wilderness, May 2022
Bath time — looking pleased with myself. That’s probably because I have warmed up after my wilderness bath. The pool wasn’t as deep as I thought — mid-thigh — and a lot colder than I’d anticipated, so I didn’t go for full immersion, but I did stick my head under the falls. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. A two-night stay at Hercules Glades Wilderness. Ginger and I hiked in Friday night and camped at a nice spot Ginger found last year. Saturday I hiked the six or so miles to ‘Deep Hollow’ and spent the night there. Sunday I hiked back to Ginger’s camp, had some lunch, and then we headed back to the trailhead.
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Ginger’s Glasses
Ginger’s Glasses. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I find them everywhere. I scoop them up from their hiding places and put them somewhere they can be found. She must have 10-20 pairs.
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Hike over
Hike Over. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Now to get back to Springfield and pick up a rental car and drive to Kansas City this afternoon.
Three nights, and 18-ish miles. That’ll do.
