Hike almost over — it’s just a short way from here, at the edge of the wilderness, to the registration point and parking lot. All in all, I hiked a tad under 19 miles and climbed 1,500 feet of elevation. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, February 2026.
Blazes? We don’t need no stinking blazes — Yes I’ve used that image title before. Then it was on the Berryman Trail.
Big Piney Trail — these signs are easy to spot when they are new, but after a year or so they go gray and almost invisible unless you know to look out for them.
A while back, I met a Forest Ranger and a couple of guys near the trailhead. They’d been surveying the trail, assessing changes, as it had become eroded and rough in places. That work looks to have been completed. 3
Trail sign, the western end of Narrow Gauge Trail #1432. With my short road hike and excursion up a brief bit of Section 14 of the Colorado Trail, I managed six and a half miles for my second hike. Day 7 – Road Trip October 2025. 2
The western end of Narrow Gauge Trail #1432. The Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad Trail. Day 7 – Road Trip October 2025.
New trailhead signage at Camp Five Pond — And a rant about apparent illiteracy/lack of care. 3
Berryman Trail — twenty-six miles to go. My plan is to spend a leisurely four days hiking those twenty-six miles.
North Loop — At the start of the Shortcut to the North Loop. Paddy Creek Wilderness, February 2025.
Signs of confusion — It appears that the most popular route, along the North Loop to the falls (straight ahead) is no longer signposted. Plus, my plans and lots more confusion in general. Five-minute read, +4
The things people leave behind — a hillbilly hunting hide.
Seventeen miles down, another ten or so to go.
Trail Signs — The Berryman Trail forms part of the Ozark Trail, and the entire loop is looked after by the Ozark Trail Association, and a very good job they do too. -2 min | x3
Berryman Trail Mile Marker. There’s a couple of problems with the trail markers and blazes. First the wildlife likes to chew on them, and second, they curl up when they get heated by prescribed burns/wildfires.
Gary at the start of the Berryman Trail — Berryman Campground, Missouri. This will be my last backpacking trip of 2024. I’m nowhere near my goal of hiking 240 miles in 2024, but I’ll be spending the next four days hiking the twenty-seven-mile Berryman Trail. Three-minute read, +4
At the Float Camp Junction of the Whites Creek Trail — I was last here in March 2023.
New notice boards and a registration point at Camp Five Pond. And a warning about not taking maps or a GPS. +1
Yes, they are alive… Didn’t see any though. Cattail Marsh, Tyrrell Park, Beaumont, Texas.
Found it! The lost trail junction — At last, I have found the elusive point where the Ridge Runner Trail joins the North Fork Loop. And here there are very faint signs of the Ridge Runner Trail I’ve been hunting for over a year.
McGarr Ridge Trailhead, Devil’s Backbone Wilderness, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri – Approaching the McGarr Ridge Trailhead. Almost at the end of my hike. +2
Back to the start and some notes – From here there is just a short thirty-minute hike, south, down the Ozark Trail to get back to the trailhead. That’s it, trip over, though there’s still the two-hour drive home to complete.
Ozark Trail, trailblaze.
Whites Creek Trail completed – now just to hike the short spur trail back to the parking lot.
Looking back down the trail – the trail turns up the hill here (you can just about make it out in this picture). Most people (including me) appear to miss this. The trail marker is not particularly helpful either.