Day Two — Breakfast. As usual, I’m heating my water on my Fancee Feest alcohol stove. And I’m using my boxed Firebox Nano wood stove to keep the alcohol burner off of the ground. +1
Whites Creek Trail
Dawn, Day Two on the Whites Creek Trail. Tales of stupidity, critters, and angry deer in the night Two-minute read.
December 13, 2024 6:57
Dusk in Irish Wilderness. A couple of hours later and I’d left the trail in search of a spot to stop for the night. It was just about to get dark as I selected some suitable trees for my hammock. +1
December 12, 2024 16:55
Camp Five Pond, Irish Wilderness. December 2024. What a wonderful afternoon to be hiking in the woods! This is the view from the trail across the Camp Five Pond earthen dam. +1
December 12, 2024 14:36
Camp Five Pond, Irish Wilderness. December 2024. +1
December 12, 2024 14:34
Gary at the Camp Five Pond Trailhead, Irish Wilderness — It’s late in the day (14:30), and I’m carrying 4 liters of water. I want to get around four miles in and camp set up before it gets dark, in about three hours.
December 12, 2024 14:32
Journal: Four days solo backpacking on the Whites Creek Trail, Irish Wilderness, clockwise, January 2024. A break in the weather means I’m off on a four-day hike of the Whites Creek Trail, South and North Loops at Irish Wilderness. Journal: 8 40
February 2, 2024 18:00
Day Four & Trip Summary — Whites Creek Trail, North Loop. Whites Creek Crossing to the Camp Five Pond trailhead.
February 2, 2024 16:30
Loop Finished — And I’ll admit the trail kicked my butt. I wasn’t as fit as I thought I was, and my heart deciding to throw a wobbly at the end of day three didn’t help.
February 2, 2024 14:03
There’s a trail there somewhere — The trail can be very hard to follow (for me anyway). The signs are so faint that if I look away, I can lose it.
February 2, 2024 12:39
Unintended trail markers. Sometimes when you cannot see the trail you just have to look around for a downed tree that has been cleared.
February 2, 2024 12:30
Breakfast in my hammock. Irish Wilderness, Missouri
February 2, 2024 10:15
All this bushwhacking is scratching up my feet and legs.
February 2, 2024 9:45
Morning tea in my hammock — Irish Wilderness, Missouri.
February 2, 2024 9:42
Eleven Point River, scenic overlook — And the only scenic overlook on the Whites Creek Trail. You had better enjoy it! The trail along the top of the bluff is a tad sketchy in places, but it is fine here, though you need a head for heights to step out on the overlook.
February 1, 2024 11:12
Irish Wilderness Day Two — Fiddler Spring to the end of a ridge overlooking the Eleven Point River.
January 31, 2024 17:00
Appearances can be deceptive — A quarter of a mile upstream the creek was dry. I had to backtrack a little way to get water for lunch and to stock up with water for the afternoon and night. There wasn’t going to be any water where I planned to stop.
January 31, 2024 13:55
At the Float Camp Junction of the Whites Creek Trail — I was last here in March 2023.
January 31, 2024 13:47
An hour later, Whites Creek Cave — The unofficial trail came out exactly where I expected. I’d hiked the top part of it on my last visit, and obviously missed where it turned to go down to Fiddler Spring. The main Whites Creek Trail was easy to follow, until it wasn’t.
January 31, 2024 13:29
Irish Wilderness Day One — Camp Five Pond Trailhead to Fiddler Spring — It was a loverly warm afternoon. At two pm I had to stop and get rid of some layers, have a bite to eat, and a drink. The South Loop was easy to follow, until, that is, I dropped down to Whites Creek, where it had been washed out in several places. But that’s par for the course. Two-minute read
January 30, 2024 16:30
Evidence of Busy Beavers on Whites Creek, Irish Wilderness, Missouri. They’ve been very busy, and at the moment, it looks more like wanton destruction than a lodge building exercise. Video: 34 seconds
January 30, 2024 15:41
New notice boards and a registration point at Camp Five Pond. And a warning about not taking maps or a GPS. +1
January 30, 2024 13:21
Ready to get on the trail — I’m planning on spending four days hiking the Whites Creek Trail. This time I’m starting with the South Loop (I don’t know why they call it a loop it is not. But hey!).
January 30, 2024 13:10
At the Camp Five Pond Trailhead — It’s good to be back. It might be a challenging trip, it’s very early in the season so the trail is going to be difficult to follow. I’m hiking the trail backwards — clockwise, leaving the eight-mile, possibly water-less, section for the last two days.