Three days hiking at Hercules Glades Wilderness, April 2023

  • A change of plans for the weekend

    My original plan for the weekend was to drive Jim and Carol home yesterday (Thursday) afternoon after Jim’s eye surgery and stay with them for the weekend. I had beers — okay, steady my miss-beating heart, a beer — some target practice, and some time on the deck in mind. Ginger was scheduled to come and get me Sunday afternoon after time with Katie, who is in town for the weekend.

    That plan was scrapped when Jim and Carol showed up at around ten-thirty Thursday morning, declaring that there was no follow up required until Friday morning in Ava. We quickly devised Plan B. Ginger took them home just after lunch (I had meetings scheduled through to five).

    I had a quiet Thursday night to myself and drove down to pick up Ginger Friday morning.

    We were home by lunch time, leaving the question of what I was going to do with the rest of my Friday off and the weekend?

    I decided to head down to Hercules Gades for a couple of nights. That suited Ginger. She was keen to usher me out of the door so that she and Katie could have some mom & daughter time without me cramping their style.

    Day One

    A change of plans — One thing I didn’t notice, was that my weather app was not working properly. Winds above 20 mph should go from green to yellow to red. I didn’t spot the 40 mph gusts in the forecast until a lot later. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Checking the forecast apart from some rain Friday afternoon, and maybe overnight, it was clearing, and looked to be good hiking weather, not too hot during the day, and not too cold. at night. Standard summer kit with my merino wool shirt and some base layer pants in case it got cold.

    Gary at the Pole Hollow trail Junction

    Day One — Gary at the Pole Hollow trail Junction. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    So here I am at my obligatory photo op of the Pole Hollow Cairn. I decided I’d head down to my usual haunt at ‘Deep Hollow.’ That would give me a weekend hike of 12 miles. I was secretly harboring a plan on upping that to around 18 miles by adding in the Pees Hollow Trail on my way back. We’ll see how that goes, as that was my plan the last time I hiked The Glades back in February. Then I was late leaving ‘Deep Hollow,’ tired, and I stopped at ‘Twin Falls Hollow’ instead. The next day I hiked straight back to the trailhead, leaving out the extra five-and-a-half miles of the Pees Hollow Trail.

    Note. The phone camera software completely screwed up the background. If I want to blur the background, I’ll do it myself using a proper lens and camera. Thank you very much.

    Orange hat because it is still turkey hunting season.

  • Trailside curiosities

    Not allowed — It seems that another ATV has been on the trail. Not the ATV I met, this is a much larger specimin., and in a different section of the trail. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    New Witness Tree, old sign. The original tree blew down a few months ago. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    The last time I hiked this trail, it was night, and I met a lost farmer on an ATV. This trip I noticed that another, much bigger, ATV has been on another part of the trail. From what I could see of the tracks it looked like it came in from the Tower Trailhead and made it about two-and-a-half miles down the trail before turning around and going back. My tracking skills, even of large heavy beasts like this, aren’t well honed so I could be wrong, but it definitely went both ways.

    The second thing I saw was that the sign marking a witness tree, bearing tree, or something else had been fixed to another tree. The original tree blew down some time last year. I’m not sure what sort of a mark it is, as it is illegible (to me). I’m not sure why someone went to the effort of setting it up again when the markings have faded so much. Maybe there are plans to come back and replace it. Who knows.

  • Here’s where I leave the Pilot Trail

    Everything has gone green in the last few weeks. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Everything has gone green in the last few weeks. This is the point where the forest road I take to my ‘Deep Hollow’ campsite joins the Pilot Trail. Neither are that obvious from this viewpoint, looking southeast across the Pilot Trail which is running left to right just beyond the grasses in the foreground.

    It started raining just before I arrived at the Devil’s Den Trail junction and stopped around forty minutes later when I took this picture. With all the drips falling from the trees, I left my rain gear on, even though I was getting a bit warm.

  • Day Two — Starts with a lazy morning

    Day Two — Enjoying a morning cuppa at ‘Deep Hollow.’
    Enjoying a morning cuppa at ‘Deep Hollow.’ Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Yesterday Evening I arrived at my campsite just before six-thirty. I used my compass to get me in the general vicinity, and then the GPS to save me spending too long playing hunt the trees.

    It rained briefly while I was down at the creek getting water and started up again in earnest around half past eight. By then, I was all sorted out and settled in for the evening.

    Despite turning in around nine-thirty last night, I didn’t wake up until nine. I must have been tired!

    The days are much longer now, sunset isn’t until eight o’clock, so I planned to lollygag in camp and leave between one and two. I had decided to hike the Pees Hollow Trail tomorrow and set up camp at ‘Wahoo Point’ tonight, which is pretty much the start of the trail going clockwise. If I leave on time, I should be at my next campsite by six, six-thirty.

    Meanwhile, I’d enjoy sitting and watching the trees shaking off the night’s rain and the vultures soaring on the uplift from the nearby bluffs. There was also breakfast and lunch to be prepared and consumed!

  • Once again camped at ‘Deep Hollow’

    My ‘Deep Hollow’ camp from the south. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Summer tarp time. The bugnet was needed, the moths and insects flocked to my hammock as soon as I turned my light on. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Lollygagging

    Lollygagging — it was quite cold early in the morning, I was glad I bought my big puffy jacket and some base layer pants to wear. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Packing away

    Packing away — It rained quite a lot last night and the drips were still falling from the trees, so I kept the tarp up while I packed everything away. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Preparing and eating lunch

    Lunch before hitting the trail. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Lunch before hitting the trail. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    And finally the sun has come out!

  • Sig Sauer P938 Extreme, Alien Gear Shape Shift Holster, and a spare magazine

    Photograph of a SIG Saurer P938 Extreme with and Alien Gear Shape Shift retention holster with a spare magazine on a background of fall leaves.
    Sig Sauer P938 Extreme, Alien Gear Shape Shift Retention Holster, and a spare magazine. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I could have sworn that magazine was full when I headed out. This picture shows the ‘clean’ side of the Sig and the holster, that is, the side facing me and my pack. Fortunately, my holsters take the worst of the wear and damage meted out by rocks, dirt, and stones when I set down my pack. My guns aren’t ‘Safe Queens.’ They go out in all weathers and sometimes end up in the dirt with the rest of my gear.

    The Sig’s been out in the rain and damp a lot recently. I researched how to fully strip it and the magazines down for cleaning and discovered that this combination of grips and frame was sold as the P938 Extreme. Hmm. I bought it new and didn’t even notice that. I just thought it was pretty 🙂

  • Pilot Trail

    Pilot Trail — I’ve taken pictures here before, but each time the light, the vegetation and the trail are different. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Fire ring by the trail

    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. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Pilot Trail

    I’ve taken pictures here before also, but, again, each time the light, the vegetation and the trail are different. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • 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. https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/rose-verbena-rose-vervain Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Day Three – tea in bed at ‘Cab Creek’.

    Day Three – tea in bed at ‘Cab Creek’. Note the sun just rising above the edge of the hollow. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    ‘Cab Creek’ and not ‘Wahoo Point’. While hiking yesterday, I decided that if I arrived at the spot where I needed to start bushwhacking towards our ‘Wahoo Point’ campsite before six, I’d carry on and camp at ‘Cab Creek’. I arrived at six exactly, and carried straight on for another couple of miles or so, stopping at ‘Cab Creek’. Doing so upped my day’s hike from under six miles to nearly eight.

    This area was farmed and clear-cut not too long ago, so it is very scrubby. It was also cold overnight. So much for the forecast. It dropped to 33°F, that said, I was warm tucked up in my hammock. That expands the temperature range of my summer gear, which is comfort rated to 40°F. Excellent news — weight and space savings when hiking in the ‘Shoulder Seasons’.

  • Camped at ‘Cab Creek’

    Camped at ‘Cab Creek’. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Finally, the sun is high enough to start warming things up. I went and sat in the sun on the other side of ‘Cab Creek’ and enjoyed the morning.

    Camped at ‘Cab Creek.’ Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    2018: Standard feet in front of the fire shot, only with added headlamp lighting this time. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I don’t think that the fire ring, which is so neglected it can hardly be seen in this picture, has seen a fire since May 6, 2018. And that’s also when we left the stack of firewood for future campers too. This is no longer a well-frequented spot.

    I enjoyed the sun and the quiet, drank some tea, prepared lunch, broke camp, and finally set on my way just after two. With around four and a half miles to go and a long uphill climb, I expected to be back sometime between four and five. Which meant I’d be home just after six. That was perfect timing if it worked out.

    ‘Cab Creek’ was hardly flowing. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Hike over, back at the trailhead

    Back at the Trailhead — Two nights, 18.5 miles, and 1400 ft. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    It took me a smidge under two hours to hike the four-and-something miles from ‘Cab Creek’ to the Tower Trailhead. At the Brushy Creek crossing I met two people hiking the trail counterclockwise. The only people I saw in my three days’ stay. It was a warm hike out, and I missed packing a lightweight Tee shirt. Lesson learned (I hope).

    This was an excellent trip, with enough miles and plenty of time spent watching the underbrush grow – apparently, the Dutch have a word for this practice, ‘niksen’ – I also managed to spend a couple of hours sitting in the sun. I’ll count both of those as wins!

    Lessons

    My preparation was a little off. I packed a base layer top, shorts, an extra buff, and an extra bandana. I’m not quite sure what I was thinking.

    I made one silly mistake, and that was to use my two-liter clean water pouch for collecting creek water. I gave it a good wash and a dilute bleach bath when I got home. Everything else was just fine.

More posts on Breakfast in America

Start typing and press enter to search

Scroll to Top