Exploring some old trails, Irish Wilderness, April 2025

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It is time for a change of strategy. Reviewing my last backpacking trip (See Berryman Trail revisited, March 2025), I concluded that in my recent trips, I’d been putting a lot more emphasis on crushing miles as quickly as possible, and not taking the time to slow down and enjoy the wilderness.

I need to review my overall strategy. I’ve realized that my trips are becoming more mileage and stats driven. I’m (supposedly) doing this mainly for funsies, not to gain bragging rights for setting records for the most miles, feet of elevation, speed, or endurance.

As a result of this revelation, the plan for this trip to Irish Wilderness was going to be different. Besides the Whites Creek Trail, there are many other unnamed trails marked on the USGS map, and a huge area of wilderness south of the Whites Creek Trail waiting to be explored. I dedicated this trip to checking out a couple of the unmarked trails, researching a couple of potential water sources, and seeking the Holy Grail of a good campsite with an overlook of the Eleven Point River.

Irish Wilderness

Irish Wilderness is a 16,277-acre wilderness, designated in 1984. It is named after a group of Irish immigrants who lived in the area. The settlement was destroyed and subsequently abandoned during the American Civil War, after which the area was extensively logged, farmed, and over-grazed until it became untenable and abandoned for a second time.

The land was purchased by the USDA Forest Service when the Mark Twain National Forest was created, and the area replanted in the 1930’s. Irish Wilderness now comprises a dense forest of oaks and hickory, with some stands of shortleaf pine. The terrain includes several steep elevation changes of around 200 feet and is bounded on its western side by the Eleven Point Wild and Scenic River. Water can be scarce in many areas of the Wilderness. The primary water sources are Whites Creek and two reliable springs — Bliss Spring and Fiddler Spring, both have easy access from the Wilderness’s main trail, the eighteen-mile Whites Creek Trail.

Whites Creek Trail is divided into the North and South ‘loops.’ The trail can be particularly challenging to follow in places. You’ll need a GPS, good maps, and excellent trail reading abilities to follow it. There are plenty of old forest roads and trails crisscrossing the Whites Creek Trail, to make things even more interesting.

There are two main access points for Whites Creek Trail. Bawley Pond Trailhead, and the Camp Five Pond Trailhead. I’ve only used the Camp Five Pond Trailhead, which is on State Highway J some sixteen miles south of its junction with Highway 60.

The Weather

The above image is courtesy of my subscription to windy.com (Check out the free version, it is the best weather site I’ve found. If you are a weather nerd, subscribe! I’m not an affiliate; I just want to see them remain in business).

We had a lot of rain last week, six to eight inches. Hopefully, water was not going to be an issue. The high winds and storms that kept me off the trail in March were particularly bad in this area, with an EF3 tornado running through (and leveling) a lot of the town of Fremont, which is just before the Highway 60/State Highway J junction. There was a strong likelihood of trees and limbs down on the trail, especially on the exposed ridges.

From the forecast, as I planned to hike Monday through Thursday, in planning my gear load-out, all I had to cater for was a chilly first night.

Gear

I’ve had enough of chilly nights, so I decided to pack my 10°F under quilt, paired with my 40°F top quilt, plus a base layer top, bottom, a pair of fleece pants, and my down jacket. That lot would keep me warm in the evenings and early mornings. For hiking I had a tee shirt or my Merino wool top plus running shorts.

I made a major change to my dehydrated food, trying out the very calory and protein dense Peak Refuel meals (not an affiliate link). They are heavier than Mountain House meals, but typically almost twice the calories. Based on that I decided to not take my usual lunchtime noodles, saving some pack space. Despite promising myself that I’d be lightening my food load, somehow my trail mix, the heavy hot chocolate powder, and my beloved Pop-Tarts still made it into my food bag.

Unfortunately, I’ve completely forgotten how much my pack weighed, and it seems I forgot to note it down. D’oh!

The Plan

My plan was fairly simple.

• Day One. Hike the Whites Creek Trail South Loop to Fiddler Spring, stop the night on a nearby ridge I’d scoped out on a visit last year. It’s been a couple of days since the rain stopped so the creek should be easy to cross.
• Day Two. Hike up onto the ridge south of Fiddler Spring and bushwhack my way south and then northeast, to see if a depression with a pond in it I’ve seen on the map is still has water. I’ll carry extra water up with me, just in case there is none. Once I’ve checked out the water situation, I’ll then head southeast and see if I can find a trail which in the 1930s was a forest road. If it’s still there, I’ll use it to hike southwest and then bushwhack out along the ridge between Stillhouse and Slash Bay Hollows. I’ll set up a basecamp there, hopefully with a nice view of the Eleven Point River.
• Day Three. Head off northeast towards the other potential water source I’d seen on the map, check it out, and also check out the odd white line, I’d spotted on Google Earth, in the woods nearby. And then return to basecamp. If I’d failed to find water at either spot, I’d be returning to Fiddler Spring. Could be a long day, especially if the trail no longer exists and I have to bushwhack all the way.
• Day Four. If I’m still on the ridge, Break camp, and I’ll hike northeast again. The USGS map shows a trail leading up to the White Creek Trail, but it’s not on the 1930s map, so once again could be bushwhacking all the way until I get to the Whites Creek Trail, and hence back to the trailhead. If I end up camped back near Fiddler Spring, then it’ll be a simple reversal of my Day One hike.

Day One

I left home just after nine-thirty. The damage from the March EF3 tornado near the Hwy 60/State Hwy J junction was sobering. Huge shortleaf pine trees had been snapped off twenty to thirty feet above the ground and many knocked flat. I arrived at the trailhead just after Noon.

There are new signs at the trail registration point, complete with a couple of major typos. The retired editor in me cannot help but spot them. I took some pictures, and signed in. At twelve-forty I was finally on my way.

Note. Always register when visiting a wilderness. Wilderness funding is based on usage, so the more people registering, the better. Most wilderness areas have a simple sign-in sheet. Irish Wilderness has complicated registration cards that seem to be deliberately designed to put people off registering! I made the effort and filled the card in.

The weather was bright and clear with a cold breeze. I was glad I’d brought along my long-sleeved Merino Wool top. I turned left (south) at the trail junction and was on my way along the South Loop of Whites Creek Trail. There was quite a lot of debris in places, though the heavy rain had also managed to wash a lot of the trail completely clear of leaves, which was an unexpected bonus.

It took me forty minutes to hike to the point on the map that showed one of the old trails joining the Whites Creek Trail. Sure enough, I could see a clear trail heading south. That bodes well for the old trails I plan to be hiking on still being viable.

On the drop down towards Whites Creek I managed to lose the trail at one point. I followed a run-off, thinking it was the trail. It didn’t take me long to recognize my mistake, which was, I guess, inevitable given how the rain had cleared the trail in many places.

Dogwoods by the trail

I was expecting Whites Creek to be a little high, and the section of trail that runs by the creek to be washed out in places. The final section of trail before the first Whites Creek crossing runs along a dry creek bed. Today it wasn’t dry, I was hiking along in over knee-deep water. The crossing point was unrecognizable. I kept moving down stream looking for a suitable point to cross Whites Creek.

I ended up crossing Whites Creek further to the west than usual. Right here, I didn’t even get my ankles wet. However, check the bank on the right in the above picture. Where are all the leaves on the ground? Also, notice the bunches of leaves caught up in the branches. These were the first signs of interesting times ahead.

Having crossed the creek, it didn’t take me long to bushwhack to the trail. I then backtracked east to see how I’d missed the usual crossing point. When I arrived, the way was blocked by a tangle of downed trees. That explains that then! Now to head west toward Fiddler Spring.

The second Whites Creek crossing had been scoured out a little, but not too deep. Carrying on, large portions of the trail were buried under a foot or more of leaf litter, pine needles and other debris. The trail had been under five (and more) feet of water just a couple of days ago. It was slow going. There were also several downed trees to get around.

When I arrived at Fiddler Spring, it was good to see that the campsite there had been cleared up and was not looking as trashy as it had on previous visits. I wasn’t stopping there, though. I bushwhacked northeast to Whites Creek, crossed over the creek, and went up the ridge on its north side. I went a long way up the ridge to ensure I got some early morning sunshine.

Having set up camp, I went back down to Whites Creek to get water.

The creek here must have been very impressive when it was in full spate — around fifteen feet deeper than it appears in the pictures above! Having got my water, I returned to camp and an excellent Chicken Pesto Pasta dinner (950 Calories) and a Pop-Tart desert, washed down by hot chocolate.

Day One Stats

Day Two

I had a cozy and warm night, though the temps dropped to 29°F. I was pleased to be up on a sunshine-bathed ridge and not stuck in the shadows around Fiddler Spring.

Breakfast was my usual Pop-Tart, followed by Peak Refuel Biscuits and Gravy (1100 calories). I’d broken up the whole biscuits into smaller pieces, which softened up wonderfully. I agree with the reviews; the sausage has an odd, crunchy consistency, but it tasted great, and it was fine once I got used to it.

Once again, there was a cold wind, with temperatures in the low forties. According to my journal:

Spent the morning lollygagging waiting for it to warm up. It didn’t!

1200 On my way

• stopped at Fiddler Spring and got 2+ liters of water. Hard climb away from the spring! Lots of weight.

I climbed up the very steep unofficial trail up the ridge to the south of Fiddler Spring. The unofficial trail is located a fair way east of the spring, running alongside a gully coming down the side of the ridge. When I reached Whites Creek Trail, I scouted around a bit. Looking up towards the top of the ridge, there were traces of a trail to be seen I’m guessing it was probably a former route of the Whites Creek Trail. It was not well used, but clear enough to follow, which I did until I deemed it time to turn east, bushwhacking my way into a stand of pines. That was a mistake. The area was full of briars, prompting me to name it ‘Cat Briar Hell.’ Once through the pines, I was into open woodland and turned north-ish bushwhacking towards the low spot that looked promising for water on the map and Google Earth.

1300 Big pond where expected. Stopped for food, a drink and topped up my water.

1430 Back on my way.

With only two or three miles left to go I took advantage of the warm sunshine to have a leisurely lunch and explore the area around the pond. Judging but the vegetation the pond ought to be a reliable water source. The recent rain had filled it up well beyond its normal capacity. The water was clear and tannin rich.

I did a quick circuit of the pond before leaving, heading southeast. It didn’t take long to find the trail, which I was expecting to be unused and overgrown. It wasn’t. It looked very well used and maintained. That was going to speed things up! I hiked the trail southwest towards the ridge between Stillhouse and Slash Bay Hollows.

1500 left trail bushwhacking – hard work

1600 arrived at end. No view 🙁

1630 Thought I’d found camp, then thought better of it. Spent ages looking for places, then moved back along the ridge. Spent 90 mins looking for a campsite!!!

1800 New campsite.

Made a mistake it is on the south side of the ridge and there is a south wind.

• Cold. put on fleece pants & windbreak on top of my base layer.

Despite setting up camp on the wrong side of the ridge, it was a reasonable site, and at least there was no poison ivy or widow makers around, which was the problem with the other sites I’d considered. The recent storms seem to have wreaked havoc on these high, exposed ridges. There are lots of trees down, slowing my progress bushwhacking, and it was hard work too.

Dinner was Peak Refuel Beef Pasta Marinara (1140 Calories), which was very nice and followed by my obligatory Pop-Tart for dessert!

Day Two Stats

Day Three

It was a much warmer night; the temperature only dropped to 38°F. I woke up to the sound of chainsaws and heavy equipment to the south. I couldn’t tell which side of the Eleven Point River the noise was coming from. That disruption to my peace and quiet decided me to change my plans for the day.

I was originally planning on establishing a basecamp here and going to look at another potential water source I had seen on the map, also, there was a mysterious object I had spotted on Google Earth that I wanted to investigate, a long straight white line. With all the noise and the lack of a decent view, I decided to abandon the basecamp idea and shift camp to wherever I ended up today.

I had my usual breakfast of hot chocolate and a Pop-Tart followed by biscuits and gravy.

1110 On my way.

1142 back on the trail

• went past water and sink hole without seeing either!

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.

1225 overshot [the] creek. Because there is no creek! it’s just a low marshy area.

• hiking up to see if there is a source
• Big pond, but probably only because of recent rain.

It didn’t take me long to find the second potential water source I’d identified on the map. The map shows a creek running down from here, but the reality is that there is just a wide marshy hollow. I had hiked past the hollow because I was looking for a creek crossing the trail. There wasn’t one. A quick check of the GPS put me right.

It’s difficult to tell how big this pond is in normal circumstances, but judging by the bushes I saw, it’s pretty small. I wandered around a bit before deciding to camp on the north side.

Setup hammock.

1435 off to investigate whatever I saw on google earth.

• quite windy & warm.

1456 Just [a] tree down

1506 hiking back

Bushwhacking to this spot was okay, but there were a lot of downed trees to negotiate.

Heading back to camp, I made a silly navigational blunder… Fortunately, my navigational ‘Spidey sense’ kicked in after a short while, …

Heading back to camp, I made a silly navigational blunder. In getting ready for this trip, I’d prepared a route to this point from the pond, and as I had originally planned to set up a basecamp on the ridge, I’d plotted a different, more direct route back.

I had the GPS screen zoomed in and mistakenly took my compass bearing from the pre-planned return route, and not back to where I was actually camped. Oops. Fortunately, my navigational ‘Spidey sense’ kicked in after a short while, and checking my location and direction again, I realized my mistake.

Oh well, I had nothing else to do, and the extra bit of hiking didn’t harm me.

Dinner tonight was Peak Refuel Chicken Coconut Curry. I found it rather meh. Not one I’ll be getting again.

I had set up camp a hundred yards from the pond. I figured the water would attract a few animals, and I wanted to be far enough away not to disturb the wildlife coming for a nocturnal drink. One hundred yards was not far enough away.

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.

Nope.

As night closed in they became deafening. I have a sound meter app on my phone, and it recorded a maximum sound level of 80db. That’s the equivalent of loud music according to the app.

Fortunately, I always pack some earplugs (in case an opportunity for some target practice arises). Although I was reluctant to forego the loss of my ‘situational awareness,’ my desire for sleep won, and I put them in. Bliss.

They kept up their racket all night, only stopping at sunrise, at which point they handed the baton of noise to the woodpeckers, who busily drummed their way through the morning.

Day Three Stats

Day Four

Despite the noise I got a good night’s rest. Now I had to decide how I was going to get back to the trailhead. I could retrace my steps to Fiddler Spring and then hike the Whites Creek Trail back to Camp Five Pond. Or I could carry on exploring and continue east along the trail that got me here and then take the trail that led northeast back to the Whites Creek Trail. I was pretty sure the trail I’d been using was going to go south and head to the edge of the wilderness, and the trail linking to the Whites Creek Trail might be difficult to find.

That wasn’t just guesswork. There are a couple of facts to support that idea.

1. I’d already seen where the trail joined the Whites Creek trail, and that section of trail wasn’t as well used, or anywhere near as obvious as the trail I have been on.
2. The 1930s map showed the forest road the trail has followed so far headed south and east to join the road.

I concluded that if the trail linking to the Whites Creek Trail couldn’t be found, I could bushwhack the entire way back to the Whites Creek Trail if necessary.

I decided it would be much more fun to carry on exploring, so I’d continue on heading east. An updated weather forecast had shown incoming thunderstorms in the early afternoon (I was surprised to find I had cell service!). Before I went anywhere, I had to eat breakfast, pack up camp and get ready for the trail.

Typical food for the day:

• Protein bar.
• Trail Mix (almonds, M&Ms, raisins, roasted peanuts).
• Pre-cooked bacon rashers.
• Drinks and medication (Electrolytes, caffein pills, Orange and Ginger tea, and my noon pill).

I’d packed up camp and was on my way, bushwhacking to the trail before eleven-thirty…

1120 On my way.

1137 on the trail

1140 leaving [the] trail no sign of the trail I want [Heading] 60° east.

1243 back on the Whites Creek Trail.

Food & make up water + Gatoraid.

1325 at the W.C. [Whites Creek] Trail jct.

The trail junction I was looking for was a short hike from where I rejoined the trail. I scouted around a bit and couldn’t see any sign of it. I took a compass bearing from the map and started bushwhacking. I came across a trail from time to time, but it was very hard to follow. I finally picked up a more consistent trail and made good time back to the junction with the Whites Creek Trail. I’ll have to try hiking this bit of trail backwards to find out where it goes. It certainly didn’t start where the map suggested it did.

My hike back to the trailhead was accompanied by distant and not so distant rumbles of thunder. Although it got very dark, it didn’t rain — it held off until I was driving home.

Arriving back at Camp Five Pond I was surprised to see another vehicle in the parking lot.

Day Four Stats

Trip over. I’d hiked 16.8 miles and climbed 887ft. No records broken, but definitely a change from my recent more ‘fast and furious’ hikes.

End of hike thoughts

It was a good, enjoyable hike with no major issues. I didn’t even need the first aid kit, which makes a change after the last couple of hikes. I’ve definitely got some more exploring to do south of the Whites Creek Trail. There’s a hint on the maps that there might be some more old homestead ruins to be seen.

I reckon I’ve already found the best campsite overlooking the Eleven Point River, but without checking every ridge I’ll not be sure. Maybe that’s a target for next winter.

What worked

It seems I’ve got everything pretty well dialed in. I’m still looking to lighten my pack weight, but thus far, all I’ve managed to do is nibble away a few grammes while I cannot part with some of the heavier items.

• Peak Refuel dehydrated food. Overall, it was tasty, used less water than the Mountain House meals, and seemed to fill me up more.
• Taking water from a pond. In fifteen plus years hiking in the Ozarks (and elsewhere), I’ve not taken water from a stationary water source, unless you count Table Rock Lake. The water from both the ponds I encountered, filtered and treated, was fine if a little tannin colored.
• 10°F Under quilt and cold weather clothing. It was very nice to be warm right through the night on the coldest day of the trip. The mornings and evening were also chilly, and I was pleased to have layers to put on as it got colder.
• My pre-trip research. Spending time pouring over the maps on gaiagps.com and studying the aerial views over time on Google Earth certainly paid off. In particular looking at the older maps hinted at where more prominent trails might still exist today.
• GPS and Compass. Getting a bearing to a waypoint from the GPS and then using the compass to keep me on track has worked well over the years and did so on this trip too. There’s another technique you can use, where you go in the general direction you want until you hit a geographic feature — like a creek — to get a rough position fix. I find the Ozarks woodland so samey that I do not use that method, unless there is a ‘whack you round the ears,’ unmistakable and obvious feature to use.

What didn’t work, and what I didn’t use

• GPS and Compass. There appears to be a disagreement between my Suunto compass and my phone’s onboard compass. I paused writing this to run some tests, and discovered the Phone is between 15°-5° off, even after I recalibrated it. Just as well I don’t use my phone’s compass for navigating. Hopefully the GPS software doesn’t either. There is a 2°-5+° error in my compass, but further investigation found that to be down to me — see the Updates below
• Ground sheet. As an experiment, I didn’t use it, and I didn’t miss it. Next to zero weight saved, but it does take up space in my pack’s back pocket.
• Camp Light. I didn’t take my camp light, and I didn’t miss it. That’s a few ounces saved.
• Wood Stove. Yes I took it again. See below for what I’ve learned.

Lessons

• Using a creek marked on the map as a way point. Yeah, the creek didn’t exist anymore.
• Check you are following the correct GPS route. It didn’t do any harm, but I followed a route I’d set which led away from my campsite, when I should have been going back to my campsite. That was a rooky mistake. Zooming out and checking the map would have caught the error.
• If you value your sleep and your hearing, don’t stop too near to a body of water in the spring!
• I realized why I’m not using my wood stove. I’m taking far too much alcohol fuel (a full winter loadout), which results in me being lazy and not lighting the wood stove. I can save weight by switching back to my warm season fuel bottle.
• Using the GPS for navigation there’s another area where errors can be introduced. Which is down to the accuracy of where I place the pins, and where within the pin image the actual coordinates lie. I’ve always assumed the bottom center of the image, but if it’s the center, then some fairly large errors can be introduced (some research is required).

I managed to get everywhere I planned for this trip, and despite the disappointment of not finding another Eleven Point River Overlook campsite, successfully bushwhacking my way around and discovering ‘new to me’ trails was well worth the effort.

I’m already thinking about the possibility of fitting in another trip before the vegetation, heat, and ticks get too out of hand.