Journal: Hercules Glades in the snow, January 2025. A forecast winter storm in Southwest Missouri on January 9 and 10 was just what was needed to let me get some time out when the trail conditions would be a bit more challenging. 15-minute read, +44
Pilot Trail
Back at the Tower Trailhead. No tracks — so no one else has been here. Now I’ve got to get all that snow off the car.
January 11, 2025 13:51
Getting close to the trailhead — heading east on the Pilot (Tower) Trail.
January 11, 2025 13:24
Heading east on the Pilot (Tower) Trail in the snow — Watch out for those low hanging boughs, they’ll dump their snowy burden on you if you touch them.
January 11, 2025 12:52
View across Hercules Glades Wilderness, looking south from the Pilot (Tower) Trail — This is one of the few places on the trail with a view to the south. I climbed up a little bit above the trail to get a clearer view of the horizon.
January 11, 2025 12:30
Junction of the Cedar (Middle) Trail and the Pilot (Tower) Trail, looking west — I was half expecting to find some tracks at this point. But no, it seems I’m the only one mad enough to be out at the moment.
January 11, 2025 11:56
Glades (Upper Pilot) Trail Junction in the snow. It’s odd how mine are the only tracks in the snow. +1
January 10, 2025 15:20
Pilot (Tower) Trail heading east.
January 10, 2025 15:10
At the Devil’s Den (Lower Pilot) Trail junction. The Pilot (Tower) Trail is straight ahead and should be easy to follow from here on. I stopped to re-secure my camp shoes which had come loose and to brush some of the accumulating snow off my pack.
January 10, 2025 14:55
A fleeting burst of sunshine. Right place, right time. A lucky shot as the sun shone for just a minute.
January 10, 2025 14:45
The trail wasn’t always obvious. There was a slight indentation where it ran, and I’d already figured out to look for the gap in the grass stalks.
January 10, 2025 14:34
Winter view from Hercules Glades Wilderness. Two-minute read.
January 10, 2025 14:32
My first icicles of 2025.
January 9, 2025 14:31
Glades (Upper Pilot) Trail Junction. The good thing about all the ice on the trail is that it means there’s plenty of water.
January 9, 2025 13:52
Ice Crystals.
January 9, 2025 13:51
Icy conditions on the Pilot (Tower) Trail heading west — I wasn’t expecting to find a lot of ice on the trail, it slowed me down a lot, I need micro spikes for these conditions.
January 9, 2025 13:11
Pole (Pete) Hollow Cairn Selfie — It looks like someone may have tidied the cairn. I didn’t have time to check, I have places to be before it gets dark.
January 9, 2025 12:17
Journal: Two days solo backpacking in Hercules Glades Wilderness, April 2024 — I decided to get out for a one-night trip to Hercules Glades. Apart from our Eclipse Trip I’ve not been out this month. An overnight stop at my camping spot near Deep Hollow would be just what the doctor ordered. Trip write-up: Two-minute read, +8
April 21, 2024 17:30
Journal: Three days solo backpacking in Hercules Glades Wilderness, January 2024 — I’m off out for three days, blowing away the cobwebs and walking off some holiday season excesses. Four-minute read, +9
January 4, 2024 18:00
Just to prove that I was there.
January 3, 2024 14:00
Rose Verbena (Rose Vervain) — Bit of a nothing picture. At the time, though, I’d just finished hiking through a section of dense trees, and the colors in the sudden patch of sunlight really popped.
April 29, 2023 15:19
I’ve taken pictures here before also, but, again, each time the light, the vegetation and the trail are different.
April 29, 2023 15:10
Fire ring by the trail. Look at all the flowers! You might think the trail goes straight on. It doesn’t it runs to the left of the fire ring.
April 29, 2023 15:08
Pilot Trail — I’ve taken pictures here before, but each time the light, the vegetation and the trail are different.