• Small Falls on Long Creek

    Small Falls on Long Creek. Hercules Glades – Day Three. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Small Falls on Long Creek. Hercules Glades – Day Three. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Meet the Flintstones

    Flintstone Furniture. Hercules Glades – Day Three. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    It looks like somewhere Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles might live. It’s another overhang campsite, but this one has more home comforts and a rock-edged path down to the creek where there is a wide pool.

  • Long Creek. Hercules Glades – Day Three

    Long Creek. Hercules Glades – Day Three. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    This is the spot nearest to my campsite and where I drew my water. What you can’t see in this picture are the frozen bits.

    The amount of water is surprising because The Falls were dry. Despite looking on my way in (and out) I didn’t spot any feeder creeks that were running, so there must be a fairly decent spring between here and The Falls.

  • Overhang Campsite

    Overhang Campsite – When I camped here in May 2019 I ended up in the ER the next day. Hercules Glades – Day Three. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    When I camped here in May 2019 I ended up in the ER the next day. This campsite was about 50 yards to the west of where I camped this time.

  • Getting ready to break camp on Day Three

    Getting ready to break camp on Day Three. Hercules Glades – Day Three. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Having said I’ve learned my lesson and don’t camp down in hollows anymore, here I am at the bottom of a hollow with Long Creek only about 100ft away. It’s a sweet spot though.

    I was up early, but it’s dark until around 8 a.m. That’s the disadvantage of winter camping. The great advantages are that it’s not too hot, and there are no bugs, so no bug net required — though the moths were mobbing my camp light last night.

    Despite spilling a load of fuel for my alcohol burner yesterday lunchtime I used the alcohol burner last night and this morning. I’d used my wood burning stove for my evening meal and breakfast on days one and two respectively, so I had plenty of fuel.

  • Lower Pilot – From the Coy Bald Trail, Hercules Glades Wilderness

    Lower Pilot – from the Coy Bald Trail, Hercules Glades Wilderness. I started my day camped about three-quarters of a mile to the west (left) of the Lower Pilot. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I started my day camped about three-quarters of a mile to the west (left) of the Lower Pilot. The sun will set in an hour and a half, and I have to decide where I’m going to camp. Tomorrow’s plan is to hike the Blair Witch Ridge Trail out and back. My original plan was to camp overlooking Long Creek about ½ a mile upstream from The Falls. Considering my options, I decided that I’d camp by The Falls. That would position me nearer to the start of the Blair Ridge Trail. Today was Sunday, the trails were quiet — I’d only met eight people on the trail, two couples, and one small group — there shouldn’t be anyone else camping at The Falls.

    I was wrong. There was a couple at The Falls when I arrived. It wasn’t clear if they were going to camp or not, but that decided me to carry on westward towards the overhang campsites I’d visited in May 2019. There was a good spot nearby I fancied trying out. And that was what I did. I arrived at 5 p.m. It was getting dark and cold (the weather was supposed to be getting colder), so I concentrated on making camp, getting my evening meal ready, and not taking pictures.

    Notes on the photograph

    Firstly, it is worth noting that this picture was taken on my 14-year-old Fuji FinePix F30 point and shoot. Secondly, it’s a combination of two vertically stacked pictures to fit in the play of light in the foreground and the wonderful clouds.

    I love the pictures the camera produces, but the problem with the camera is that it is almost impossible for me to see what I’m taking a picture of. Screen technology has improved by leaps and bounds in the fourteen years since I bought it. I don’t have this problem with my current camera or cell phone. Unfortunately, over this period my eyesight has deteriorated significantly too, making this camera more difficult to use.

  • The Pilots

    The Pilots – Seen from the Coy Bald Trail, December 27, 2020. Lower Pilot to the left, Upper Pilot to the right. I started my day camped about three quarters of a mile to the west (left) of the Lower Pilot. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Looking up Long Creek (east)

    Looking up Long Creek (east). Hercules Glades – Day Two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Bluffs over Long Creek, Hercules Glades – Day Two

    Bluffs over Long Creek. Hercules Glades – Day Two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I stopped for lunch and to refill my water bottle, and I learned a lesson while I was about it.

    I am so used to just stopping where I want, getting my stove out, and making a hot drink and meal, I didn’t stop to think about the gusting wind. First, it blew my chair over, then it blew over my stove spilling all the alcohol which flared up (presumably, it’s impossible to see the flames in bright daylight). It took a long while to burn out — I could hear it even if I couldn’t see it! When I first got my Fancee Feest cat-can stove, I was concerned it would get blown over in windy weather, but as it never happened, I’d forgotten about the possibility. It’s a shame I didn’t think of it before I started trying to heat my lunch. I was very glad (and lucky) I had it set up somewhere that couldn’t burn.

    Lesson learned, I moved everything to a more sheltered spot and tried again. The whole debacle cost me half an hour, so it was starting to look like I’d be ending my hike in the dark — sunset is around 5 p.m. — but the light starts to fade a lot earlier down in the shade of the hollows.

  • View out of Hercules Glades Wilderness to the north

    View out of the wilderness to the north. Hercules Glades – Day Two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    View from a glade. Hercules Glades – Day Two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • About to break camp

    About to break camp. Hercules Glades – Day Two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    There are three things to note in this picture.

    1. My camp chair has been blown over.
    2. The hunter orange tabard hanging on the tree is being blown out horizontally.
    3. And finally, note how the wind is pushing on the tarp.

    A windy day had been forecast, I was expecting it, but I didn’t stop to think about the implications. My plan was to finish my day camped somewhere sheltered. My lack of comprehension of the possible implications was to cause me some problems and teach me a lesson later in the day.

  • Food for the Day

    Food for the day. Hercules Glades – Day Two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I get my day’s breakfast and trail food out first thing so I don’t forget to unpack it before I break camp and put everything in my backpack.

    Today’s breakfast and trail food are:

    • Breakfast. a cup of hot chocolate and a cup of tea; dehydrated biscuits and gravy. (Alternatives are dehydrated breakfast hash or Oats).
    • Trail Snacks. Two handfuls of almond and raisins, two mini Snickers bars, and a couple of rashers of pre-cooked bacon.
    • Lunch. A sachet of tuna, noodles, and a cup of tea.

    The only items missing above are my evening hot drink and my evening meal, which I won’t get out until I’ve set up camp in the evening. My evening drink is usually hot chocolate (Cadbury’s of course), and my evening meal is whatever my current favorite dehydrated meal is. On my favorites list right now are:

    • Chicken and dumplings,
    • chili mac with beef,
    • beef stroganoff,
    • lasagna with meat sauce,
    • spaghetti with meat sauce, and
    • beef stew.

    My total food for a day weighs in at around 1½-2lbs.

  • Good Morning. Hercules Glades – Day Two

    Color photograph of Gary Allman reclining in a Dutchware Chameleon hammock, Hercules Glades Wilderness, Missouri, USA. December 2020.
    Good Morning. Hercules Glades – Day Two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Camped by ‘Deep Hollow’

    Camped by ‘Deep Hollow.’ Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    After years of camping down in hollows to be near water, I am now learning the advantages of going higher and putting up with a longer trek to fetch water. The main advantages are:

    • It’s warmer,
    • It gets dark later and light earlier,
    • the ground’s flatter.
    Sunset by ‘Deep Hollow’ Copyright © 2021 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Ice in ‘Deep Hollow’

    Ice falls. Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Okay, so I managed to let one of my hiking poles fall into the hollow while taking the previous picture. Which meant I had to climb down and retrieve it. While I was there, I took this picture.

  • Ice falls

    Ice falls. Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    At the beginning of my hike I’d added a waypoint on the trail where I thought I’d need to turn north to find the top of the hollow I wanted to try and hike down to Beaver creek. I was very surprised to find that the spot I’d picked was exactly where an old forest road turned north off the trail. Ginger was initially quite skeptical that I’d found an old road, as it wasn’t marked on the current map. I checked a 1930 map and sure enough there it was.

    Pretty soon I was bushwhacking west down into the hollow, which due to the 100ft high and very steep southern side, I’ve dubbed ‘Deep Hollow.’ The hollow’s upper stretches were dry until I came across a spring — you can see all the green grass growing where the spring emerges in the top left of the above picture. The creek seemed to drop in a series of 10-15ft falls covered in ice. With the very steep sides and the ice coating, I decided that I’d found water, even if it wasn’t Beaver Creek, and that was good enough for me. The slope to the north of the hollow was much easier, and I climbed up to the top of the ridge to make camp.

  • A rather sluggish grasshopper.

    A rather sluggish grasshopper. Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Given the freezing temperatures we’ve been having recently, I guess it is no surprise that it was quite slow-moving and reluctant to flit off the branch and out of the sun.

  • Gurgling

    Gurgling – it was interesting listening and watching the creek flowing under the ice. I stopped here to refill my water bottle. Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    It was interesting listening and watching the creek flowing under the ice. I stopped here to refill my water bottle, which I did a few yards further down the creek where it wasn’t frozen. I should add that this is my old favorite, ‘Twin Falls Creek.’

  • Unexpected ice

    Ice – there was a lot more ice on the trail than I expected. Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Ice – there was a lot more ice on the trail than I expected. Hercules Glades – Day One. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
  • Journal: Last Backpacking trip of the year, December 2020

    The Pilots – Seen from the Coy Bald Trail, December 27, 2020. Lower Pilot to the left, Upper Pilot to the right. I started my day camped about three-quarters of a mile to the west (left) of the Lower Pilot. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I’m planning on staying out three nights, finding my way to Beaver Creek to the north of the bluffs, and hiking the only trail here that I haven’t hiked yet.

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