Pushing it at Blair Creek

On June 14th and 15th I hiked the Blair Creek section of the OT. As the name suggests the trail follows Blair creek for much of it's length.

One of the great things about hiking near a good water source in the summer in Missouri is that you can travel very light. No need to carry a sleeping bag or under-insulation for a hammock and no need to pack in lots of water. That means you can do a lot of miles in a day. On this hike I pushed that hypothesis to the limit.

Below you can see a map of my trip. I hiked the entire Blair Creek section from south to north. At the north end it connects with the Karkaghne section I did back in May. At the south end it connects to the Current River section and was where I started on my Klepzig Mill hike. Since the trail was a point-to-point trail I decided to hike one way and bike back. I nearly bit off more than I could chew with that decision it turned out.

View Blair Creek Section Hike in a larger map
The beginning part of the hike is spectacular. I started late one evening, intending to get just a mile or two in before setting up camp. It was warm and humid and kind of magical because in the dusk I was surrounded with fireflies, blinking all around me. The trail rises steeply and I could see nice views of the river below. Then I came to Owl's Bend Bluff where there is a steep bluff with a great view. I decided to camp there so I could take a picture in the morning. I think it was worth it. Here is the view quite early in the morning.

After the bluffs the trail continues along the river for a bit and then heads north. It crosses a small creek called Little Blair Creek before you meet the real Blair Creek. Blair Creek in most places is 20 or so feet across and about a foot deep. The trail runs along side it for quite a ways. Here's a view of it from the trail at a point where the trail runs along a steep slope next to the creek.

Hiking in the summer in Missouri is not always pleasant. It was quite hot and I got sweaty. So as it got on towards lunch I stopped and took a bath in the creek and washed my clothes. I would have swam but the water wasn't deep enough.

A bit later I got my wish, although not in a way I would have wanted. After my bad experience at Karkaghne I decided not to risk bushwhacking. But it became necessary at one point because a large tree had fallen and blocked the path. I climbed on top of the fallen tree to look around and find the best way to rejoin the path. I was standing on what looked like a large, sturdy branch. Without warning it broke and I found myself on the ground in the midst of the branches of the fallen tree. After checking for broken bones I looked around and realized I couldn't get back to the trail from where I was. I reasoned that since the trail followed the creek I could just go to the creek and wade upstream until I found the trail again. However the creek had become rather deep at this point, although I couldn't judge how deep. My backpack is mostly waterproof so I didn't worry too much about it. But I held my camera and my map in my hand as I entered the water. Soon the water was over my head and I found myself swimming. I must have looked quite the fool swimming up the creek with my backpack on and one hand held out of the water holding my camera and map. But fortunately no one was there to see.

After 50 yards or so I was able to find a place where I could climb out and find the trail. My camera was fine but the plastic sheet protector containing my map had a few drops of water inside. Soon all the ink ran and the map became quite useless.

Shortly after this the trail crossed an open area and became quite difficult to follow. The grass and weeds were up to my armpits in areas. As a result I got some tick bites on my upper body (my legs were safe due to my pants being treated with Permethrin). On the upside there were many blackberry bushes in the field and the blackberries were ripe so I could just pick them as I hiked. That made a nice snack.

A little later I came to an area with a few caves in a small cliff. I walked up a narrow ledge along the cliff to see the caves. One of them was inhabited as you can see below!

That's the closest I've ever been to a Turkey Vulture. Notice the large egg you can see through the lower hole. I assume this cave was the mother vulture's nest and she was guarding her egg. I took this picture and then retreated, not wanting a territory dispute with a vulture.

The northern part of the trail is much less interesting. After it leaves the Blair Creek it runs right next to county roads for a few miles. It was hot at this point and I began to run out of water. I had stashed about 1.5 liters of water with my bike so I decided I'd have to skip the second night of camping I had planned and go all the way to my bike. I arrived before sunset and drank about half the water I had stashed. Then I hopped on the bike and began to ride back to my car. The hike had been about 25 miles and the bike ride was about 32 miles. As it began to get dark I realized this wasn't the best idea I had ever had. After about 15 miles of biking I couldn't go on any more. It was nearly dark at this point. I laid down on the side of the road and considered my options. I was tired and hungry. There was no place to camp since I was biking through farm country. I needed more calories to keep biking but since my food was dry that would require drinking the rest of my water (only 1/2 liter at this point). I elected to try and refuel and make it to my car where I had another liter of water. After eating some snacks and drinking all my water I got back on the bike. The next hour and a half are mostly a blur in my memory. The road had lots of ups and downs. For some of the ups I had to get off and walk because I was too weak to bike. I arrived at my car at about 11:15 pm, grateful to be alive. I felt similar to when I finished running a marathon a few years back. The difference was that I had trained for the marathon!

Lesson learned.

Car Camping at Marble Creek

I don't always go hiking when I camp. Sometimes when I bring one of the kids along we either hike just short ways or just camp right next to the car. This past weekend was one of the latter opportunities.

My three oldest daughters spent the week at "Girls Camp" which is a program the church runs every year for girls between 12 and 18. Natalie just turned 12 recently and so was able to go. We persuaded our oldest, Kimberly, to go again (she doesn't care for camping) so all three of them were there together and had a great time.

On Saturday morning I was supposed to go early to pick them up. So I decided to spend the night before the same area I did last year, Marble Creek. Last year I hiked the trail from the Marble Creek campground to Crane Lake. It was a hard hike because there were so many trees down but I remember it fondly. But I was disappointed that I spent so little time at Marble Creek itself. So this time I took my son, Hyrum, and we spent the night at the campground there. We hung our hammocks from trees near the car.



The creek itself is beautiful. The water has worn away all the soil, exposing the rhyolite bones of the area. Rhyolite tends to crack in straight lines, leaving square blocks or stair steps. So the creek looks as though some giant child has spilled their set of building blocks into the water.



Between these large, square boulders are many nice little pools. In the morning Hyrum and I went for a swim in one. Well probably more of a bath than a swim. But it was fun anyway. It's a great place to go splash around on a hot summer's day.



We hiked a bit upstream to where we could see a waterfall. We found that a dam had a been built at some point, possibly for an old mill that no longer exists, and the water fall was really water spilling over this old dam.



I recommend that if you are coming to hike the Marble Creek section of the Ozark Trail that you spend some time here.

Karkaghne vs Me

View Karkaghne Section Hike in a larger map
This past week I decided to tackle the Karkaghne section of the Ozark Trail. I hadn't heard much about it but it continues on where the Middle Fork section, which I hiked last year, leaves off. So it seemed like a good step on my quest to finish as much of the trail as possible.

Above is a Google map that describes the trip in detail (just click on the markers for my comments). The total distance appears to be 28 miles. However I made it longer by making some stupid mistakes. Mountaineers "conquer" a mountain when the climb it. The best I can say is that Karkaghne and I fought to a draw. I'll describe the blow-by-blow fight below.

I hiked south to north this time. The southern part of the trail isn't as nice as the northern part in my opinion. The trail runs along a gravel road for quite a while and that's not very pretty. In addition there are several places where people have dumped garbage right in the forest. Pretty disappointing.

My first crucial error was in choosing socks. I decided to wear running shoes rather than sandals this time and I choose some thin socks because it was going to be warm. I choose them because there were longer socks then some I had worn before and I wanted protection from ticks (treated them with Permethrin ahead of time). But they were just dress socks and did a poor job wicking moisture. So I ended up with blisters on both feet. I put some moleskin over them but still it made the rest of the journey unpleasant.
Round 1, Karkaghne

The Karkaghne section was hit pretty bad by the storm last year and there were many trees down. However sawyers have done a good job clearing the trail. But there was one section that either hadn't been cleared or had experienced more recent storm damage because the trail became nearly impassable. Bushwhacking around this blockage was harder than I thought. This section has a lot of thorny plants growing beside the trail and bushwhacking through them is very difficult and painful. I was glad to finally get past that.
Round 2, Karkagnhe

After my Klepzig Mill trip, when I was awakened more than once by little critters scurrying in the grass around me, I decided that it was time to get off the ground and "above it all" in a hammock. I also made camp on a gravel bar along the Bee Fork. It was a great place to camp and quite open so I expected not to be annoyed by any critters.

The Karkaghne section takes it's name from a mythical forest creature. That's a tidbit you learn on the Ozark Trail website. I didn't think about that much until about dusk when I was just finishing setting up camp and I heard some LARGE ANIMAL running directly toward me across the gravel bar. I summoned my loudest angry bellow (the one I save for dogs who harass me while biking). It had it's intended affect and the animal wasted no time in fleeing the scene. I did get a look at it and I think it was probably a coyote or perhaps a large dog. After that I enjoyed a campfire for a while and then slept soundly.
Round 3, Hiker

The next day the trail climbed out of the valley that the Bee Fork flows through and up to the Sutton Bluff area. I thought there was a side trail to find the bluff but I couldn't find any such thing. So I ended up bushwhacking, following my GPS. You'd think I would have learned my lesson from the bushwhack the day before. This one was even worse. The area off the trail was extremely overgrown also choked with fallen trees. A few times I was genuinely afraid I'd get stuck and never be found. After and hour or two of this I found the trail again. Then I found that the best view of the bluff was from the trail itself as you can see below. So my bushwhack was not only painful but worthless.

Round 4, Karkagnhe

At the bottom of the bluff is a campground with a river flowing through it. I stopped for a rest and a swim. The water was cold but refreshing. The swimming hole is at the base of another bluff.

Afterward I tried to find the trail again but it seemed to have disappeared. I was afraid that Karkaghne had won again. But a camper saw me and told me that he had seen OT trail blazes about a half mile down the road. He even took me there on his ATV. So I'll chalk that up as a victory, even though I needed help to do it.
Round 5, Hiker

The rest of the trip was quite nice. The trail was much better and the views were quite nice. The trail runs along high ridges and you can see the surrounding valleys quite well in places.

I ended up back at my car at about dusk. Karkaghne nearly had me a few times but I figure any time I don't give up I win.
Decision, Hiker

More Pictures of Klepzig Mill

In my last entry I posted only a few pictures of my trip. Normally I'm a bit embarrassed about my photography so I don't put very many pictures in a post. But I've received some requests for more pictures of the mill so here they are.



The mill owner originally built a concrete dam across the shut-in creek (a real travesty since it's such a beautiful spot!) which forced the water down this raceway toward the mill wheel. The dam is now gone. There are just a few places where you can see residual concrete stuck to the rocks.

Since it was springtime and the leaves were out the view of the mill is somewhat obscured from the across the creek. However there is a nice photo during leaf-off time at this post by another blogger, Jeff Moore, at his blog, Missouri Backpacking

Klepzig Mill

I'm continuing my quest to see the sights I've been meaning to see here in Missouri before I move to Pennsylvania. This past weekend I returned to the Current River section of the Ozark Trail to visit Klepzig Mill. I had heard that it was one of the nicest spots along the trail. It's the site of an old grist and saw mill located on a shut-in creek.


This was an out-and-back trip. The map above shows the path I took. I started at Powder Mill, where the Current River and Blair Creek section meet. Klepzig Mill is at the very bottom of the map, a distance of about 6 miles. I arrived late on Friday and hiked in the dark for about a mile or so. I slept on the ground with my poncho pitched above me. During the night it rained but I stayed dry. During the night I was awakened by some rustling in the grass as some little critter was coming toward me. I shined my light and saw a little armadillo scurry away. That's a first for me -- to see a live armadillo (as opposed to a dead one on the highway).

Spring is in full swing and the Ozarks have exploded with grass and leaves and flowers. The air was full of the scent of flowers.

The hiking was pretty easy and the weather was great.

Klepzig mill is on a shut-in creek. That means a place where a creek is confined to a narrow channels because of a large rock formation. I have a bunch of pictures but none really do the place justice. Here are the best ones.


While there I had a swim in the shut-in creek. It was cold but very refreshing.

After hiking back to my car I drove a few miles to another place I've been wanting to see: Blue Spring. It's one of many springs in Missouri but probably the most picturesque. It's apparently 310 feet from where the water comes out of the cliff up to the surface of the pool. This depth, combined with dissolved minerals in the water give the distinct color. The spring seems quite still but in fact the flow of water is significant. A good-sized creek begins it's life at this spring.

Floating the Eleven Point

It turns out that I will soon be moving from Missouri to Pennsylvania. So I'm trying to see as much of the Ozarks as I can before I leave. I had never hiked the Eleven Point section of the Ozark Trail. This trail follows the Eleven Point river so I decided that rather than hiking it I would take a 2-day canoe trip down the river and camp overnight on a sand bar and see the same territory from a different perspective.

I rented a canoe from Richard's Canoe Rental. Richard moved out from St Louis in the early 70s and he and his daughter run the place. The eleven point river is not as popular a destination as the Current or Jacks Fork rivers apparently. That means that it's much less crowded although some people I know who have floated both claim that the Eleven Point is nicer.

The eleven point river is spring fed, and not just from one spring. There are many springs along the river, some of which are quite impressive and add significantly to the flow. This one is called Roaring Spring because of the sound it makes as the water rushes out from the rocks a few feet above the level of the river.


Springtime in the Ozarks is a beautiful time. I was just in time to see the bluebells in their full glory.


In the evening I pulled my canoe onto a gravelly sandbar and built a fire from drift wood (very plentiful). It was really delightful. It's early enough in the spring that the insects aren't really out and so the night was quiet. The sky was clear and the view of the stars was perfect. I fell asleep looking up at them as my fire burned down to embers.

On thing I keep forgetting is that when you are camped near a river the morning dew is pretty thick. I brought a warm synthetic quilt because I was afraid it might get cold. In the morning the quilt was quite wet on top (although I stayed dry). I'm glad I didn't bring the down quilt. When the sun came out I draped the quilt over a nearby branch and it was soon dry and ready to be packed up.

On of the great things about these Missouri rivers is the bluffs that overlook the river. I took several pictures but this was the only one that turned out the way I wanted.

I floated about 30 miles in all. From Thomasville to a boat launch called Whitten Access. I had a really nice time. I'm glad I got to experience this before I leaving this fine state.

Bald Knob

Classes don't start until after the MLK holiday and I just finished some work on a paper so I decided to do a quick overnight trip. It's been very cold recently which has kept me indoors. It's warmer now and I wanted to get out and do some camping in the snow before it melts. I went back to Buford Mountain where mydaughter and went last year. I was hoping there would be significant snow on the mountain and nice views of the nearby valley blanketed in snow. I was a bit disappointed on both counts but had a nice trip anyway.

It has been so cold this past week that I figured I might be the first person to hike since the snow fell. So I was surprised to see someone else's footprints on the trail, indicating that some stouthearted soul had braved the single digit temperatures. It looked like he had brought a dog along. However after a few hundred yards the man's footprints disappeared but the dog's continued. So maybe this dog (or coyote more likely) is a hiking enthusiast. His tracks seemed to follow the trail.

I hiked up at night and camped near the top, not far from where Natalie and I had camped before. In the morning I decided to hike farther down the trail. Interestingly the coyote, or whatever it was, apparently had the same idea a few days before. So my tracks look like I took a dog along for the hike.

My goal was to hit all the peaks in the Buford Mountain Conservation Area. In particular I wanted to get to Bald Knob, a glade on top of one of the peaks, that I hoped would provide some views.

Bald Knob is a mass of large stones that looks nice in the snow, even when it's only an inch deep as on this occasion. Previous hikers have built a cairn to mark where the trail continues since you couldn't make out a trail on the glade itself. I decided not to continue around (I had a meeting in the early afternoon that I had to get back to) but just stopped for a while to enjoy the view.

The view of the nearby valley is also nice but for some reason most of the snow was gone. That really puzzled me since it hasn't been above freezing since the snow fell. But it was a nice view in any case.