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Trip write-up: Three nights at Hercules Glades Wilderness, April 2022
Rainy Sunday morning – quick picture before I break camp. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I’ve not had a chance to draw breath this year. Work has been super busy, plus the weather and catching up with chores at home have managed to keep me off the trails. I didn’t turn down an unexpected opportunity for a quick break in the woods.
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New work profile pic
Gary Allman, April 12, 2022. Copyright © 2022 Ginger Allman, all rights reserved. I received a request for a profile pic for my voluntary work, and I don’t like the goofy picture I’m using for my profile at work, so I got out the tripod, set up the camera, and asked Ginger to take some pictures and got both fixed.
I also took a selfie on my way home from Kansas City this afternoon. I’ll get around to posting that sometime I guess.
This is the one I picked.
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Kitchen table still life
Kitchen Table Still Life – I was eating dinner when I noticed the light on these pots that Ginger threw at a pottery class she’s been taking. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I was eating dinner when I noticed the light on these pots that Ginger threw at a pottery class she’s been taking. After I’d finished eating, I stacked the dishwasher and fetched my camera.
Kitchen Table still life – what caught my eye. Sitting down to dinner I thought the light was looking good for a picture. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The scene I actually saw is in the picture to the right (above if viewed on a phone). The clear glass wasn’t very photogenic, and one of my favorite pots was tucked away at the back. Half a poinsettia wasn’t going to add to the composition either so some slight re-arranging was necessary.
Finally, the dark blue glass vase wasn’t visible against the black background (a large piece of black card I was using to remove the visual clutter of the kitchen counter). This was only supposed to be a quick five-minute picture, not a photographic masterpiece, so I opted for a simple solution and used a keychain flashlight, stashed behind the pots to light it up.
And there you have it. A few minutes of tidying up in Lightroom and I was done.
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Milwaukee Fastback 48-22-1990
Milwaukee Fastback 48-22-1990 – I’ve finally got around to replacing the pocket knife I gave to Katie. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I gave Katie my old Milwaukee Fastback knife in 2019 when she was living and working in Colombia.
It’s an inexpensive workhorse, but as I discovered, this model, the 48-22-1990, seems to have been superseded by the 48-22-1520. I love the 48-22-1990 knife. It’s a great, dependable EDC option. You can open it with a flick of the wrist, and if you are careful, you can close it one-handed.
Reviews by people trying to buy the 48-22-1990 knife on Amazon say they were sent the wrong knife, and even the Milwaukee website has pictures of a different knife in their product listing (and still does four years later in 2026. See the screen capture below). Notice how the blade is a different shape. The description claims the wire pocket clip is reversible, which it is on the real 48-22-1990. A close examination of the product pictures they currently have show the knife does not have a reversible clip, nor interestingly, does it have the model number stamped on it — which mine has.
Not the Milwaukee Fastback 48-22-1990 that I’ve owned for many years… Image: Milwaukee Tool website I could have had a 48-22-1990 shipped to a store near me for $15, but I didn’t want to mess with being sent the wrong knife. Instead, I indulged in a bit of online research, which led me to a seller on e-bay who has a stock of real 48-22-1090s in their original packaging, so I snapped one up. With postage, it cost me a bit more than the $15-$18 it should have done, but I’ve now got an exact replacement for the one I gave away.
I didn’t put a lanyard on my original knife but given these are getting hard to find I think I might have to now.
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Sunday cleaning & oiling. Sig Sauer P938
Sig Sauer P938. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I’ve been trying to get my hands on a Sig P938 for a long time (over a year). For some reason, they are rarer than hen’s teeth. Everywhere I’ve checked they have been out of stock. This is the 9mm version of Katie’s 380 Caliber Sig Sauer P238 handgun.
I probably paid a bit more than I should have, but I’m okay with that to finally get one. This particular version is the P938 Extreme, featuring a Nitron-coated stainless steel slide, black anodized frame, Hogue G-10 Extreme Grips, additional checkering on the frame, and SIGLITE Night Sights. It’s a superb-looking handgun that shoots well. It features a single-action mechanism, equipped with an ambidextrous thumb safety (no decocker) and firing pin block. It’ll hold seven or eight rounds, depending on which magazine I use (six or seven rounds in the magazine, plus one in the chamber).
The Sig is half the weight of my Beretta, and I’m planning on it taking over from the Beretta as my backpacking handgun. This evening, I performed a quick, basic strip-down, cleaned, and very lightly oiled it, ready for its first trip down the range. Look at this post to see the Sig broken down for a more thorough cleaning.
The odd-looking maroon bullets in the picture below are ‘Snap caps’ dummy rounds for practice use plus testing the feed and ejection mechanism. I also use them to protect the firing pin when ‘dry firing.’ That being said, the firing pin on the Sig is ridiculously simple to replace.
Weekend clean & oil – Sig Sauer P938. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Updates
- June 2025 – Updated the text to include the version type (P938 Extreme) and the main differences to the standard P938.
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Last set of shelves
Last set of shelves – Fitting them was not easy… Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. We finally got around to fitting the last set of shelves bringing an end to all the major work on the Utility Room Project for the moment. The delay was caused in part by problems with the paint, and in the greater part by my reluctance to do the job because to get them fitted we had to take down one of the tall wall units. Those things are big and heavy, and I wasn’t looking forward to refitting it.
The job went fairly well with only a small amount of cussing as we lifted the cupboard carcass and finagled it back into place.
I still have a fair bit to do, but it’ll keep while I finish off some other projects (like my backpacking gear closet) and get the last of our planned storage closets built.
Outstanding work to do here includes,
- Fill and paint all the holes I made in the walls when I fitted ledger boards to hold all the cupboards up as we installed them.
- Kickboards to be fitted.
- Baseboard trim fitted.
- Counter tops.
- Build a unit to hold dirty washcloths and a space for a cat litter box.
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March Hibiscus
March Hibiscus – we moved our hibiscus plants inside for the winter and they have rewarded us by flowering every now and then. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. We moved our hibiscus plants inside for the winter and they have rewarded us by flowering every now and then.
I try to step away from my desk and walk for five minutes a couple of times each hour. At the moment, I’m not succeeding very often. It was getting dark – past six p.m. and I was finally stretching my legs when I noticed the hibiscus in the utility room was flowering. The last of the light was catching it just right. I thought it was going to be too dark to get a picture, but I did, and this is exactly what I saw. I love it.
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Bedroom plants
Bedroom Plants – Same old story, I liked the light. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Utility room shelving unit finally fitted in place
Shelving unit finally fitted in place – and with five coats of paint. At least the color matches now. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It’s taken a long time to get this shelving unit made and finished, mainly because of problems with the paint. I’m glad it is now installed. However, there’s still more to do in this room before it is finished. Oh, and the doors were a challenge to fit. I probably should have stuck with my original plan of making a jig for drilling the mounting holes.
With the power of hindsight, Ginger suggested it might have been quicker and easier to move the door and use off the shelf wall units. She may be right.
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Trip over, back at the trailhead
Trip over, back at the trailhead. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Trip over, back at the trailhead, and a very modest 14 miles hiked with 962 ft. of elevation gain. I left camp just after noon, and was back at the trailhead at 1:45 p.m. Not, I should add, without incident, but I’ll write about that another time.
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Twin Falls
Twin Falls. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. One of my favorite, out-of-the-way places at Hercules Glades Wilderness.
Twin Falls. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Camped at ‘Ant Hill’
Camped back at ‘Ant Hill’ – The only problem with my new tarp is the large number of bits of string it has. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day Three
Yesterday, I’d broken camp and set off around noon, seeking, once again, a route down to Beaver Creek, only to be thwarted again by the bluffs. I headed back to the Pilot Trail at around 12:55 p.m. and I was back on the trail proper by 1:30 p.m. It took me forty minutes to get to the Devil’s Den West Trail Junction, and it took another forty minutes to get to the arbitrary point I’d picked to turn off the Pilot Trail and start bushwhacking to ‘Ant Hill.’ According to my notebook, I followed a compass bearing of 53°E. It must have worked because I arrived at my destination seven minutes later!
There were storms and a lot of rain forecast overnight, so I played around with my set up lowering the tarp and hammock. Turns out I was a little too enthusiastic with the latter. More about that later.
The forecast was right, the temperatures dropped, the rain, thunder, and wind carried on through most of the night, and it was still raining when I ventured out in the morning. It rained a lot. Apparently, the trees I’ve been using have a dip between them, which proceeded to fill with water, The ground on the downhill side was very soggy. My pack is touted as being highly water-resistant but it didn’t get tested as the uphill side, where it was, remained dry. Much to my alarm, I discovered that in setting the hammock low, I’d made it so close to the ground that my underquilt protector was dragging on the ground and quite wet. But it did its job and kept my underquilt dry.
Checking out the rain. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. A disadvantage of my new tarp is the huge number of tie-outs it has. Eight, yes eight more than my other tarp. There are four side pullouts, and a line to secure each of the four doors. Giving 14 tie-outs in total. But doubling up with multiple tie-outs on a single stake, I can get away with only eight or so stakes, depending on the conditions. The side pullouts do make a huge difference to the amount of room under the tarp, and despite the wet floor, I was nice and cozy, sitting in my chair, cooking and eating.
Time for breakfast. The large amount of steam was a matter of interest. It should have been a warning. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Speaking of eating, I was surprised at how much steam was rising from my cooking pot. I was also feeling a bit cold. Both should have warned me that the forecast temperatures of over sixty degrees were completely wrong. I just thought the dew point must be pretty high, and the damp air was making it feel cold. D’oh!
Wet ground and wooly feet. The ground under my hammock dipped a little so a soggy mess appeared under me. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Morning tea. Making tea while my breakfast rehydrates. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Forest Road
Disused forest road. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The forest roads can sometimes be difficult to find and see. This one, while quite obvious here, is not easy to spot where it meets the trail.
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Small falls in ‘Deep Hollow’
Small falls in ‘Deep Hollow’ Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It might be worth taking a dip here in warmer weather.
It seems I took a picture of these falls on December 26, 2020, at which time they were iced up.
Ice falls. Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Gary Camped to the north of ‘Deep Hollow’ Hercules Glades
Gary Camped to the north of ‘Deep Hollow’ Hercules Glades. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Day Two – The view from my hammock – Morning sunshine in the woods
The view from my hammock – Morning sunshine in the woods. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day Two
It was dark by the time I’d carried my water up from the creek, which was running quite well (I decided that I ought to pop down to take a picture of the nearest set of falls before I move on in the morning).
It didn’t take long to get the hammock up and dinner sorted. Then there was time to sit back and listen to the nighttime noises in the woods. I heard some Coyotes, a long way off, but apart from that, it was fairly quiet.
It was a tad chilly – first thing, but it warmed up later. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Confession time. There’s a good cell phone signal here, so I spent a small amount of time online before turning in. In the morning I even did some work before climbing out of my hammock (it is Monday after all).
I was toying with the idea of heading out early and getting some miles in. Instead, I decided to have a lazy morning, and hike back east along the Pilot Trail, stopping for the night at ‘Ant Hill.’ Before that, I wanted to have another try at getting down to Beaver Creek. Thus far the bluffs have thwarted me. And so it proved again. There has to be a way down, I’ve just not found it yet.
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On the Pilot (Tower) Trail to the north of the Lower Pilot Knob
On the Pilot (Tower) Trail behind Lower Pilot Knob. Cheesy grin, but a least my hat’s sorted out now. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Cheesy grin indeed. What I didn’t realize as I was taking this picture, was that in a couple of hundred yards I’d walk straight past the old forest road I need to take to get to my ‘Deep Hollow’ campsite. Oh well…
At least I had managed to give my hat some TLC before I took this picture. It’s looking a whole lot better now.
I’d overshot the forest road junction by several hundred yards when a glimpse of an old fire ring had me bushwhacking to take a closer look,and getting out my GPS to tag it’s location. That’s when I realized my navigational blunder.
Setting off in search of the missed junction, a normal person in this predicament would either use their GPS, or at least get out their compass so they can check what direction they are heading off in. Not me. I blithely hiked back up the trail, missing my turning point yet again.
After realizing I had made yet another navigational blunder, I finally got out the compass, turned around, and started looking for the tree and rock that marks the turn. Having found the junction, it was just a matter of hiking along the forest road until I was on top of the ridge where I needed to turn west. At that point, using the compass I headed off in the general direction of the campsite.
I’ve tried navigating in dense woodland using the GPS, but I’ve found that a compass works better. Especially when I’m bushwhacking. It’s a lot easier to take a bearing, pick a mark (a tree) fifty to one hundred yards or so away, walk to the tree, and then take another bearing. The trees are so thick that you can’t see much further than that.
I arrived at my campsite around five-thirty — just as the sun was going down. So I set up some lights (to make it easy to find my way back to the camp) and headed down to the nearby creek and spring to get water for the night.
Hike for the day done.
With my little accidental excursion up and down the trail, I’d hiked over seven miles in three-and-a-half hours. I’ll take that.
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Looking back (east) along the Pilot Trail
On the Pilot Trail – Getting near to Lower Pilot Knob. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. This section of the trail doesn’t get a huge amount of traffic, and as you can see, the trail is not that easy to spot. It’s there though, winding between the brush on the right of the frame.
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Distant Hills
Distant hills – Hercules Glades, Missouri. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The view to the northeast from the Pilot (Tower) Trail, near Lower Pilot Knob.
When we first started backpacking in Hercules Glades in 2010, there were a lot more views to be had. In the intervening 12 years, the scrub has grown to the point where it’s getting difficult to find any views of the surrounding countryside.
The shrubbery closing in on the trail is making some less frequented routes a lot harder to hike. I do my bit by clearing deadfalls, and the equine users sometimes tackle the larger trees across the trails. But the glades that the area is named after are slowly disappearing, and navigating is getting harder (well, that’s my excuse). Places, where the old forest roads could be clearly seen a few years ago are becoming overgrown.
Growing scrub or not, this afternoon I managed to get a glimpse of the hills in the distance.
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Day One. Back on the trail
My first trip out since November – maybe that’s why my hat is looking a little neglected. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Work — at work and on the house — and the weather has been keeping me off the trails since November. After such a long break, I once again couldn’t make up my mind, whether to try and pile on the miles or just go sit in the woods.
I’d taken a couple of (well earned) comp days, but because I was working on Saturday, I couldn’t get away until Sunday, and quite late in the day at that. I can’t remember what the delay was, but I do know, that as I was driving to the trailhead, I was thinking I might need to cut my planned six-mile hike short if I didn’t want to be setting up camp in the dark.
I decided to review the situation when I got to the ‘Twin Falls Creek’ crossing which is slightly over halfway to my planned destination of “Deep Hollow’ on the western edge of the wilderness.
The weather was forecast to be 61°F today, and low forties overnight. A wonderful 69°F was forecast for Monday, and again low forties overnight with a lot of rain and potential thunderstorms heading in. Tuesday was set to remain rainy in the early morning drying off with a high of 57°F. I was anticipating a hike out in the rain. Nothing new about that. And I was looking forward to giving my new tarp a good run out in some wet weather — that’s what I bought it for! My only constraint was that I had to be home early in the afternoon for Ginger to get to her pottery class.
I arrived around 1:30 p.m. and I stopped for a chat with a guy camped at the trailhead. We lamented the tragic decline of the Weather Underground phone app since it had been taken over by IBM.
Daylight was burning, so I hurried on. The sun was shining, and it felt hotter than I expected. It was great to be back on the trail. I met one couple on the trail shortly before the Pole Hollow Cairn.
Guess where? Yes, back at the Pole Hollow Cairn. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I met another couple soon after I passed the cairn. They were the last people I was going to see on this trip. The chap was wearing a tartan kilt, and I was feeling overdressed in my long pants. He’s the first kilt wearer I’ve met on the trails. It’s good to know there’s at least one other person venturing out in a kilt. I should have taken a picture! His parting comment was ‘You’re brave,’ referring to my huaraches. A prophetic statement as it turned out.
It was lucky I bumped into them when I did, a few minutes later and they would have encountered me in the middle of a trailside clothing change. It was far too hot, and I needed to lose my base layer top and switch to my hiking kilt. Though it would have been good to have been wearing my kilt when I met them.
I arrived at ‘Twin Falls Creek’ at 3:30 p.m. I was going to stop for lunch, but I decided to grab some water and keep going, eating summer sausage and cheese on the trail. If I moved quickly I ought to be able to get to my campsite around 5 p.m. thirty minutes before sunset.
Stopped for a snack – A peanut Snickers. Tasted like a Reese’s cup to me. Over an hour later and I’ve still not sorted out my hat. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. By 4p.m. I was at the Devil’s Den West trail junction, and onto the lesser-traveled trail leading behind Lower Pilot Knob, and a bit further on, where I’d be taking an old disused forest trail north before bushwhacking to my campsite.
