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Good morning!
To get up or not to get up? Now that’s a question when it is cold out. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Actually, there is not much to debate, whether I want to or not, I’m going to have to get up and answer nature’s call. It wasn’t as cold last night, around 26°F, cold enough to set a good frost.
Speaking of nature calling, the coyotes have been on good form. On Sunday night they were on the other side of the lake. Last night there were a load of them on my side of the lake — no doubt picking away at the deer carcass — they sounded very close.
I’ll have to add a recording of them howling nearby when I get a chance to edit it.
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Day Three – view from my hammock
Day Three – view from my hammock. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. One of the great things about winter camping is that you don’t have to get up early to get up with the sun.
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Contemplating
Contemplating – nothing of great import, and I don’t think I wrote more than half a dozen words. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It was nice and warn sitting in the sun in my hammock, having a few inches of downy goodness (in the form of my under-quilt) beneath me helped a lot too.
I did not spend the entire day sitting around. I wandered around a bit, took some pictures, and gathered firewood so I could have a campfire in the evening.
Shelf fungi on a fallen tree. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Camped by Table Rock Lake
Airing out – My 10°F orange top quilt can also double as an extra bit of Hunter Orange. The blue bags are a spare gallon of unfiltered water. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The astute will notice that this is not my regular camping spot by the lake. The reason is quite simple; some expletive deleted hunter decided that a good place to leave the carcass of a deer they’d dressed would be right by the fire ring of my usual camping spot. I was not inclined to drag the carcass away, and anyway, the blood had soaked into the ground. As I didn’t fancy being anywhere near where night-time scavengers and predators might come looking for easy pickings, I set up camp a few hundred yards farther east.
In the above picture I’ve switched my hammock around. For the first night I set the head end to the left. I decided I wanted to be able to look out over the lake when I woke up on my last morning here, so I turned it this way around in the morning.
I spent most of the day reading, thinking and watching the view.
Camped by Table Rock Lake – before dawn, notice the frost on the tarp. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Day two, first sunlight. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Frosty tarp – the view from my hammock at the start of day two. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Enjoying the view. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Early morning sunshine
Early morning sunshine. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Mist & Frost – Table Rock Lake, Missouri. -
Decay
Decay – Leaves, shells and a stick covered with frost, and some monofilament fishing line leading to an unseen dead bird in the water. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. An excellent example of how discarded fishing gear damages the environment. I was annoyed with myself for not spotting the dead bird that was in the lake, wrapped in this line, out of shot until now. This had been where I’d been collecting my water from. Oh well, that’s why I filter and treat my water.
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Sunlight brushing the tops of the hills
Sunlight brushing the tops of the hills. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The start of Day Two at Piney Creek Wilderness.
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Frosty Morning
Frosty morning – On Table Rock Lake at Piney Creek Wilderness. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The predicted overnight temperatures were 30°F. It dropped to 21°F. Fortunately, I’d anticipated this and I was nice and warm in my hammock. One of the marginal advantages of getting older is the need for rising early to answer nature’s call. I awoke to this pre-dawn scene, where the mist had frozen on the shore and nearby trees. The mist over the water was moving very quickly and was wonderful to see (I’ll add a video).
I also watched a beaver swimming in the lake — the beaver took a surprisingly long time to realize I was there and then dived out of view. Several seconds later it made a mistake and surfaced next to the rock I was standing on. I didn’t really get a chance to see it, I just heard a splash, and saw the swirl of water and trail of bubbles as it swam away from the shore.
All in all, it was magic and well worth the minor discomfort of wandering around in the frost.
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Winter twilight on the lake
Twilight at Piney Creek. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Sunset at Piney Creek Wilderness
Sunset at Piney Creek. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Gary by Table Rock Lake
Gary at Table Rock Lake – January 2020. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Here I am squinting into the sun with a sad case of hat hair. I plan to be camped up on the left-hand shore somewhere behind my head.
And here’s the reason for my hat-hair…
Gary at Table Rock Lake – January 2020. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Another year, another picture of Table Rock Lake in January
Another year, another picture of Table Rock Lake in January. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Here There Be Beavers
Signs of beavers. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. There are lots of signs of beavers down near the lake, which is good, the scrub here could do with being cut back a bit. There’s one place where the trail runs through what is a spindly grove of young saplings, it would be great if they cleared that. Though there is a tree down across the trail at the trail entrance to the grove, so the trail is probably going to move somewhere else over time.
Notice how the sun’s not shining? Well it is, only the sun has already dropped down below the top of the hollow. It’s only 3:30 p.m. Where I’ll be camping the sun won’t go down until around 5:30.
I didn’t know it at the time, but the next morning I was going to meet a busy beaver.
Signs of beavers. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
The last few yards to the lake – I’m glad the beavers are munching their way through this. It is pretty near impenetrable in the summer. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
More Creek Crossings
Crossing Piney Creek – Looking downstream. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Crossing Piney Creek – Looking upstream. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Crossing Piney Creek – I remember having lunch near here on 11-11-2011. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Here’s a link to our 11-11-11 hike I’m pretty sure it is the same spot.
And finally, you have to cross Piney Creek one last time (no pictures this time) and then cross a feeder creek before stating the final stage of the hike — crossing what I have now named ‘Cat Briar Meadows.’
Crossing a feeder creek, I often pick up water here, it’s just before you cross what I have now named ‘Cat Briar Meadows.’ Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Piney Creek Trail
Piney Creek Trail. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The Piney Creek Trail can get a little ‘brushy’. In the summer it is almost impassable. For added fun there are lots of cat briars to get scratched by and snagged on.
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First Creek Crossing of the Day
First Creek Crossing of the Day. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The trail I was following down to the creek joined just a few yards before this crossing point.
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The trail got a bit steep
The trail got a bit steep – Yes that’s the trail bottom left of the frame. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The drop down into Piney Creek was ‘interesting’, especially with all the loose leaves over everything. I took it slow and steady and didn’t have any mishaps. It was an excellent test of my new huaraches, which worked impeccably.
A bit of steep downhill hiking – there is a trail in this picture, and it’s about to turn right and go down the hill. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Looking out across Piney Creek – The creek’s down there somewhere. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Happy Gary in the woods
Happy Gary in the woods. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Here I am, about a mile in and I had warmed up enough to stop and take my jacket off and drink most of my water. I’ll be able to fill my water bottle up when I get to Piney Creek.
The Hunter Orange beanie is a concession to the last two days of the ‘Deer – Firearms, Alternative Methods’ season1. I figure I don’t need to wear a Hunter Orange vest during the alternative season because the hunters have to get closer to their prey, and so are much less likely to mistake me for a deer. However, as someone on the MDC website pointed out, the problem is not only being mistaken for game, but being in the line of fire and not seen. That could get you into trouble.
My complete pack (picture below), weighed in at 26lbs including food, fuel and water. My front pack added another 5lbs to that, bringing the total up to 31 lbs (excluding the clothes on my back). Not too bad considering I took along the fleece throw on a whim and that weighs 1.5lbs.
A more serious Gary in the woods. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
A quick stop to remove my jacket. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
The trail behind me. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.Here’s a link to a complete list of my gear for this trip.
1Alternative hunting equipment includes atlatls, crossbows, bows and arrows, muzzleloaders, and air rifles. They may have also added pistols into the mix this year.
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Trail Not Maintained
Trail Not Maintained. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Well, I guess that’s better than ‘Not A Trail’. I’ve never hiked this trail, and it is not marked on any of the maps I have, including the 1930 USGS map. I can make a rough guess on where it comes out, we shall see.
As it would appear that none of the trails in Piney Creek Wilderness are maintained by anything other than the passing foot and horse traffic, this sign suggests I might be in for an interesting hike…
… And so it proved. This trail runs along what must have been an old farm road, but there was one point where I managed to lose the trail for a few minutes. I knew what direction it was heading and just bushwhacked along for a while. The route stuck to the east side of the ridge most of the way. There were no viewpoints or overlooks to break the view of trees, but I enjoyed this trail. It was a nice and easy hike, except for the drop-down to Piney Creek at the end. That was very steep, and I can see why they might want to discourage people from using this trail.
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Not A Trail
Not A Trail – Piney Creek Wilderness. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It looks like a trail to me! New trail signs have appeared in places. This trip I’m planning on taking a trail I’ve never hiked before, I’ve already explored the ‘Not a Trail.’
