Meds — It seems that the older I get, the more meds and supplements it takes to keep me functioning.
Missouri
Words and pictures featuring Missouri
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.
February 20, 2026 13:22
Big Piney Trail, South Loop along the top of a ridge, heading west near the Little Piney Creek Overlook. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, February 2026.
February 20, 2026 12:21
The trailside fire rings have been rebuilt — At first I thought it was just the odd one here and there, but all the fire rings I encountered and remember seeing on previous trips had either been rebuilt or cleared away. Many, like this one, had a supply of wood in them or nearby. 2
February 20, 2026 11:40
Camped at ‘Paddy Creek Trolltunga’ — this is such a great place to hang a hammock. Not so good if you want to set a tarp, though. I never have when stopping here. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, February 2026. 2
February 20, 2026 9:15
Preparing second breakfast — Peak Refuel Biscuits and Gravy. I’m glad I anticipated the burn ban and brought along my butane stove.
February 20, 2026 9:03
View from my hammock at ‘Paddy Creek Trolltunga’ — The real Trolltunga is around 2,300 feet above the lake below it.
February 20, 2026 8:35
Coffee and an (out of shot) Pop-Tart in my hammock. Eight o’clock and it’s warming up just a tad.
February 20, 2026 7:59
It got chilly last night – Day Three — not quite as bad as the forecast at 26°F. My plan worked, and I was too warm at times. 1 2
February 20, 2026 7:20
Big Paddy Creek was low enough to ford at the old crossing point — It’s the first time I’ve been able to cross here in quite a while. All the weed in the creek shows how low and slow the creek is at the moment. 2
February 19, 2026 14:22
Gary at the Big Paddy Creek Scenic Overlook, Paddy Creek Wilderness — It was very windy up on the ridge, and the wind was quite chilly, which was nice as it was 82°F in the sun. This is another Ozarks view I never tire of. 3
February 19, 2026 13:34
Big Paddy Creek Scenic Overlook, Paddy Creek Wilderness — I’ve taken pictures of this view before, but what the heck, here’s another. 2
February 19, 2026 13:33
Big Paddy Creek Scenic Overlook, Paddy Creek Wilderness — This is looking to the southeast. The campground is somewhere near the light patch in the distance.
February 19, 2026 13:22
Blazes? We don’t need no stinking blazes — Yes I’ve used that image title before. Then it was on the Berryman Trail.
February 19, 2026 13:05
Paddy Creek Road Looking southeast, Big Piney Trail, Paddy Creek Wilderness — Day Two. This is the first Paddy Creek Road crossing if you are hiking the trail clockwise. To the south of the road is Paddy Creek Wilderness, to the north, Mark Twain National Forest. 2
February 19, 2026 12:26
South Loop/North Loop Short Cut, Big Piney Trail, Paddy Creek Wilderness — just a short way further along the trail it drops down towards Little Paddy Creek. In that section I encountered some very thick wood smoke. Even though I know from experience that smoke can travel miles and still be very thick, it was a bit disconcerting!
February 18, 2026 16:29
Gary on the Big Piney Trail, Paddy Creek Wilderness, February 2026 — Time for another quick selfie. It’s after four pm, and I have a couple of miles left to go.
February 18, 2026 16:12
All that remains — The homestead chimney at the junction of the South Loop and the shortcut to the North Loop, Paddy Creek Wilderness. There’s a well and circular foundation nearby too.
February 18, 2026 16:10
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.
February 18, 2026 14:23
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
February 18, 2026 14:22
Start of trip selfie, Paddy Creek Wilderness — I’ve not taken one of these in ages, so why not? The only issue right now is that it is just after two pm, my campsite is seven miles away, and it gets dark between five and six. I’d better get moving!
February 18, 2026 14:06
Hot Pink Mess at the Roby Lake Trailhead — I was confronted with this pile of what appears to be hot pink trail blaze tapes as I was signing in at the Roby Lake Trailhead of the Big Piney Trail at Paddy Creek Wilderness. My initial guess was that someone had been over-enthusiastically blazing the trail, and had some spare blazes left over. Whatever.
February 18, 2026 14:05
Looking south from City Market — (I’ve also seen this area referred to as River Market). We spent a couple of hours soaking up all the exhibits at the Arabia Steamboat Museum – https://www.1856.com/. The Arabia sank in 1856 and was excavated in the 1980s. The museum provided a fascinating insight into the goods being shipped by steamboat into the Midwest
February 13, 2026 14:54
Chinatown Food Market — Lots of tasty morsels were purchased along with enough packets of noodles for many backpacking lunches.