Gary at the Camp Five Pond Trailhead — It's time for another visit to Irish Wilderness. This trip I'm going to abandon the main, Whites Creek Trail, and see if I can find some of the older trails, south of the Whites Creek Trail South Loop.
Backpacking – 04-07-2025
Four days exploring Irish Wilderness, Missouri, south of the Whites Creek Trail. For pictures, stats, maps, and my notes on the trip Click Here.
New trailhead signage at Camp Five Pond — And a rant about apparent illiteracy/lack of care. 3
Trail-side Dogwood. Whites Creek Trail, South Loop, Irish Wilderness, April 2025.
Rain-cleared trail — In many places, the recent rains had cleared the leaves off the trail.
Dogwoods on the Whites Creek Trail South Loop.
Whites Creek on the Whites Creek Trail South Loop — The trail at the bottom of the descent down to Whites Creek had been washed out, and parts of the trail were knee-deep in water. Nothing unexpected after all the rain we have had.
Whites Creek on the Whites Creek Trail South Loop — Looking upstream
Whites Creek had been running hard a couple of days earlier — The trail was buried in debris and had been submerged under many feet of water. 2
Camped overlooking Whites Creek near Fiddler Spring.
Established primitive campsite near Fiddler Spring — Someone has been able to clear this site up. The left behind tarps and crates have gone. With the wildflowers the site was looking much better. I was just passing through to climb my way up the ridge on the right.
Fiddler Spring, Irish Wilderness, April 2025.
Looking back down the trail to Fiddler Spring — This is the start of the 'Social' trail heading down to Fiddler Spring. I was camped on the ridge in the distance to the right last night. This bit of trail is very steep, so steep that you can't see the rest of the trail from this point.
I found a pond — exactly where I expected one to be. Exploring south of the Whites Creek Trail South Loop. 1
Open woodland — Exploring south of the Whites Creek Trail South Loop. Irish Wilderness, April 2025.
Ooh! I found a well-maintained and clear trail. This bodes well for my plans for this trip. Although this trail is in excellent condition, I've still got a mile or so of Bushwhacking to look forward to, to get to the end of the ridge I want to camp on.
Camped overlooking Slash Bay Hollow. 1 3
Signs of recent trail maintenance. I have noticed this before. The 'less official' trails are frequently in better condition than the official trails. I wish the North Loop Trail was this clear and easy to follow.
At the top of a very marshy area, a dammed pond — All the recent rain seems to have topped it up.
As seen on Google Earth — It's just a downed tree. And I make a navigational blunder. 1
Woodland pond in the last of the day's sun.
Getting water for the night.
Evening light — overlooking the pond from my hammock. I've been backpacking in the Ozarks for fifteen or so years. You would think that I would have remembered that water plus Spring equals peepers and other very noisy critters. 1
Breakfast — A cup of hot chocolate, a Pop-Tart, and biscuits and gravy. Irish Wilderness, April 2025.
Trail food for the day.