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Morning tea in bed
Morning tea in bed. The first hard frost of the year has got rid of most of the bugs, so no bug net required. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day Two
Some clues to the low temperature. (1) The amount of steam rising from my tea, and, (2) I’m using the thumb holes on the sleeves of my base layer!
The view from my bed. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Fire Tower at the Tower Trailhead
Fire Tower at the Tower Trailhead. Looking back to the trailhead from the Pees Hollow Trail. I thought I’d grab a picture of the remaining fall color in case I didn’t get another chance. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. And nearby I spotted this…
Found just off the Pees Hollow Trail. I’ve no idea why I’ve not spotted this before. It’s right by the trail. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
A picture of Tower Trailhead hunting glamping, plus my plans for the next few days
Tower Trailhead hunting glamping. Seen at the Hercules Glades Tower Trailhead. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Day One
The guys around here take their deer hunting and comforts seriously. Chatting with one of them, I discovered they’d already got their quota of one non-antlered deer per person and were getting ready to pack up.
I’ve taken a few days’ vacation, it’s firearms deer hunting season, so I decided against going to one of the more remote wildernesses opting for Hercules Glades (again). Anyone hunting here knows the trails get a lot of foot and horseback traffic. I camp well off the trail, which puts me right where the hunters are likely to be. I’ll be very visible, as I have my blaze orange tabard wrapped around my pack, and I’m wearing a blaze orange beanie. I must get a blaze orange hatband or cap for my usual hat, but I didn’t think of that until it was too late for this trip.
Initially, I was thinking of starting my hike going the six miles down to the bluffs on Beaver Creek. However, I’ve come across several hunting camps and blinds there. Plus, the area doesn’t see a lot of casual foot traffic, so I decided to err on the side of caution and start my trip with a visit to a new campsite Ginger found last week on the Pees Hollow Trail. According to the map, there’s a spring nearby. If I can find it, this will make another good off-trail campsite with a reliable water supply — I’m always on the lookout for new water supplies.
As for the rest of my time, I’ve not decided where I’m going to go yet, but I would like to get a reasonable amount of miles under my belt. I’ve not been out much this year, and I’m not in good shape (again). Work’s been intense for the past two to three months, and the home gym has been standing idle. We’ll see how it goes.
The only new gear I have this trip is a smart water bottle (everyone seems to use them, so I thought I’d find out what all the fuss is about), and I’ve got some hose and connectors for a gravity water filter, which will hopefully put less stress on the dirty water containers after I split one back in September.
The weather is set to be cold tonight, 33°F, and then get steadily warmer with a chance of rain on my last day. Despite tonight’s cold forecast, I’ve brought my summer (40°F) top quilt but I’ve paired it with my winter (10°F) under quilt. I’ve got my merino wool baselayer and my puffy jacket to keep me warm.
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Four days, three nights in Hercules Glades Wilderness, November 2021
Hercules Glades Wilderness from the Pole Hollow Trail – Looking east. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. A four-day, three-night trip to Hercules Glades Wilderness to relax and catch the last of the fall color. November 14 – 17 2021.
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Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’
Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The soft light on a dull rainy day on these flowers Ginger picked and placed on the kitchen table caught my eye.
Taking and post-processing this image sparked a blindingly obvious realization and explained why, behind the scenes, I’ve struggled with my photography over the decades.
I don’t see compositions, I see light. What caught my eye, and what usually catches my eye, is the play of light.
I don’t see compositions, I see light. What caught my eye, and what usually catches my eye, is the play of light. The composition is of little importance to me. And that often results in a disappointing photograph. I spend my time capturing the light, not the picture. The exception to this apparent inner rule appears to be with architecture, where the composition dominates the image.
Now I’ve realized this, can I use this knowledge to improve my shots? We’ll see, probably not. I accept that I’m a documentary photographer with fine art aspirations, not a fine art photographer taking occasional snaps.
Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender.’ The soft light on a dull rainy day on these flowers Ginger picked and placed on the kitchen table caught my eye. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Waiting for watching
Waiting for watching – it’s a dull rainy day, and I liked the light. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Ginger had been sitting in this chair journalling when I arrived, a cup of tea in hand.
While we sat and chatted, the light kept catching my eye, especially the brightness and color of the Christmas decorations we like so much we keep them out year-round. In the end, I had to go and fetch my camera to try and capture what I saw. This is it—sort of. I’m still not 100% happy with how I’ve chosen to deal with the view out of the window. Making it visible is too distracting, but letting it bleach out makes it look snowy outside.
If I get any better ideas, I guess I’ll post them.
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Early morning clouds
Early morning clouds. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Too much work equals awake at 4 a.m. and up and working at 5 a.m. Ginger dragged me away from my work to take a look at this wonderful play of daylight on the clouds while the street below was still wrapped in darkness.
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Wishbone
Wishbone – Jim Davis. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The latest of Jim’s creations.
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Hike over – back at the Tower Trailhead
Hike over – back at the Tower Trailhead. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Two hours later – back at the Pole Hollow cairn
Pole Hollow Cairn. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Lazing in my hammock
Lazing in my hammock. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I’m having a lazy day. And why not? Until the bugs and weeds die back a bit I’m quite happy to lay here and enjoy some peace and quiet.
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Back to the start
Camped on ‘Ant Hill’ overlooking ‘Twin Falls Hollow’ Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. More ‘hammock porn.’ After leaving Mores Branch yesterday, I decided not to bushwhack up to the top of the hill and then find my way down to Sunday night’s campsite. Instead, I climbed up the side of the hollow until I was at around the same contour line. Then I bushwhacked around the side of the hill to my destination. I hoped I might see something interesting during my hike. Nope. Just trees and more trees.
So here I am the next day, camped back where I started.
Last night was not without a bit of drama, though. I started getting satellite text messages from Ginger on the InReach, ‘Where are you?’ I grabbed my headlamp phone and rushed up the hill to get some cell phone signal. It turns out that in my rush to get going, I forgot to tell Ginger how long I was going to be staying out, and Ginger had forgotten how to ‘ping’ my location on the InReach. All was quickly resolved, and I was bushwhacking back to my campsite in the pitch dark (no Moon). The only trouble with bushwhacking in the dark is you don’t always see the thorns you are getting into. I was dripping blood at one point. I stopped to deal with that, not wanting any preditors visiting me in the night mistakenly thinking they had an easy meal!
It didn’t take long to find my way back, though I did congratulate myself on thinking of leaving some lights on in camp to make finding my way back easier.
Camped on ‘Ant Hill’ overlooking ‘Twin Falls Hollow’ Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Mores Branch, looking upstream
Mores Branch, looking upstream. It looked a bit too brushy in that direction. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. After lunch, which I heated up on my new titanium wood stove, I lazed around enjoying the sunshine, peace, and quiet. I’d not found any really good places to camp during my explorations, so I decided I might as well cut down the amount of hiking to do the next day, and return back to my previous campsite.
Before I packed up to leave I explored up the creek a little. That direction too was overgrown.
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Deep Pool on Mores Branch
Deep pool on Mores Branch. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. And deep it was. I had to leave my camera, clothes, and other gear behind because I was up to my waist within a couple of steps. I wanted to get to the end of the pool to see how easy the next section of the creek would be to hike. When I got there, the answer was clear. Nigh near impassable until winter arrives and the vegetation dies back. It was very overgrown and I didn’t fancy bushwhacking through the dense brush. I’ve done that before, and it’s not a lot of fun.
I ended up scrambling up the side of the hollow to the east (right of frame) and scouting out for camping spots, going in a big circle to get back and collect my gear.
Overall, it looks like my research paid off and I’d arrived at one of the few clear-ish sections on the creek. It was time to have lunch and then check upstream.
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Mores Branch – Hercules Glades Wilderness
Mores Branch. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. From the map, I could see it was under a mile of bushwhacking to get to Mores Branch. The hollow is steep but there was a point where a ravine ran into the hollow that looked like it would offer a good way down. I had studied the aerial photographs of the area and it looked like this section retained water year-round. What I found confirmed this. There was plenty of fish despite the lack of rain this summer. The water was running but not the highest quality, it needed some good heavy rain to flush out all the silt that was accumulating.
The ravine was filled with jumbled-up rocks and downed trees, and not worth trying as a route down, but I found a relatively low spot nearby and got down to the creek to explore, get water, have lunch, and look for a nearby campsite.
This picture turned out to be one of a fairly decent stereo pair.
Mores Branch. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Waiting for my Zoom meeting to start
Waiting for my meeting to start – This is what happens when you decide to take (a well-earned) impromptu comp day off without thoroughly checking your calendar. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Nice place for a Zoom meeting. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. This is what happens when you decide to take a (well-earned but) impromptu comp day off without thoroughly checking your calendar.
Somehow I forgot a meeting I had at 10:30 a.m. today. I realized my mistake yesterday and sent an email apologizing for my absence. But on the hike to my campsite, I thought of a way of attending that would be fun, if I could find a glade with a good cell signal. I hunted for a suitable spot last night and found one.
This morning I packed up camp and hiked up to where I could enjoy the sunshine and my meeting. I also took advantage of a good signal to put in a video call to the office before my meeting started. Oh, the wonders of modern technology!
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Camped on ‘Ant Hill’ overlooking ‘Twin Falls Hollow’
Camped on ‘Ant Hill’ overlooking ‘Twin Falls Hollow’ Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Yup, it looks pretty much the same as everywhere else in the Ozarks. And very much like the last time I was here, a year ago. This may have contributed to my decision not to sit in camp all day after my morning meeting, I decided to pack up camp and Bushwhack over to Mores Branch, where I reckoned there would be some water and maybe a nice place to camp. Before that, though I had to get to my 10:30 a.m. meeting on the top of ‘Ant Hill.’
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Sundown at Hercules Glades, looking southeast
Sundown at Hercules Glades, looking southeast – this was my final glimpse beyond the trees on the edge of the glade. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Hiking in today, I realized that I could attend my meeting the next morning if I could get a good cell signal. There is a good cell signal on the western edge of the wilderness. I reckoned if I climbed up to the top of “Ant Hill’ and dropped down into one of the glades on the western side I stood a good chance of being able to join my meeting via Zoom and also enjoy my time in the wilderness.
I was right. I called Ginger and had pretty much full signal strength.
Cell phone test over, I headed back. Instead of heading due east over the top of the hill and hence down to my campsite, I thought I’d explore a little first. There was no chance of seeing the sunset. The trees surround thing the glade were too high. I decided to head north through the woods on top of the hill and then return via the glade to the east. The glades form a series of concentric circles around the tops of the hills, which are typically crowned with a wooded area.
If it’s not a distant Cell Phone Tower, then it’s the Fire Tower at the Tower Trailhead, which (I think) is also a cell phone tower. And that’s what I did. I only found two points where I could peek out over the trees and see the surrounding countryside. The view above, and the one below. There was probably a good cell phone signal here too, as I could see what I think is the cell tower four miles away at the southeast corner of the wilderness.
Evening at Hercules Glades, looking east – this was my first glimpse beyond the trees on the edge of the glade. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Three days backpacking in Hercules Glades Wilderness, October 2021
Sundown at Hercules Glades, looking east – this was my final glimpse beyond the trees on the edge of the glade. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I took a couple of days off work so I could fit in a three-day, backpacking trip starting on Sunday. My main plan was to sit around and watch the trees, and maybe try and explore a little bit of Mores Branch.
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Gary and the Pole Hollow Cairn
Gary and the Pole Hollow Cairn – Time for the obligatory selfie at the cairn. I prefer this black and white version. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I got here from the trailhead in record time — 17 minutes. Maybe the time spent on the treadmill in our ‘home gym’ is paying off. I wish it would pay off with a weight reduction too.
At least this time I have my hat. I left it on the backseat of the car when we went on our recent Devil’s Backbone trip. The observant might notice that my glasses are different. I left the house wearing my work (2′-3′ working distance) glasses. I didn’t notice until I got into the dark under the leaf canopy. In the dim light I wondered why everything was out of focus. I was nodding my head up and down trying to work out why my varifocals were no longer working. When I took them off to examine them I realized my error.
Gary and the Pole Hollow Cairn – Time for the obligatory selfie at the cairn. Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I won’t bore you with how difficult it is to get the darned very illusive cairn into this shot. You’ll just have to believe me. It is. It would be much easier with a phone than it is with a camera with no forward-facing selfie display.
