I started up the gravel trail that I drove in on to a sign that I remembered seeing as I drove to the parking lot.
Sign at the Yamacraw trailhead
The Sheltowee Trace is a 263 mile long trail through the Daniel Boone National Forest. It goes through numerous Kentucky State Parks and the Big South Fork as well. Sheltowee is the name that was given to Daniel Boone by an Indian chief who had captured Boone and was impressed by Boone's skills in the forest.
I started along the Sheltowee Trace and immediately wished I didn't have the extra weight on my back. The Sheltowee Trace is very narrow in places, very steep in places, and very treacherous in places. Since it was March, there were no leaves on the trees, save for magnolias, rhododendrons, and fir needles. There was green moss and green ferns everywhere, and this made the landscape kind of surreal in the mix of dead brown and vibrant, living green.
Moss growing next to the Sheltowee Trace
The Sheltowee Trace
Scenery along the Sheltowee Trace
The area I was hiking through was the Big South Fork floodplane. There was a steep hill on either side of the river, carved by the river through millions of years of flow. Freshwater springs flowed down from the tops of the hills or out of the ground everywhere and drained into the river. Every 200 yards or so there was a spring to cross.
A small spring cascading to the Big South Fork river
Some of the springs and creeks formed waterfalls. I have never seen so many waterfalls before. This was the first large one I came to:
Unnamed waterfall
This waterfall was 20-25 feet tall and about 3/4 of a mile from the trailhead.
Continuing on, at 1.2 miles I came to a wooden bridge. There was a wide doubletrack path that went to the right and a smaller path that went to the left and over the bridge. There was a large creek rushing under the bridge and before the bridge the creek formed a large, loud, cascading waterfall. I stopped to check the guidebook and determine which path to take because there were no clear markings. The Sheltowee Trace is blazed with white turtle on a blue background or a blue turtle on a white background. I couldn't see either here.
The guidebook told me that I had to take the small path to the left and cross the bridge. It also mentioned a small trail that lead .2 miles to the Princess Falls waterfall and said it was well worth the trip. I decide to take the trail to the Princess Falls waterfall. Am I ever glad that I did...
Princess Falls Waterfall
At 45 feet wide and 17 feet high the waterfall was absolutely gorgeous. It is named for Princess Cornblossom, a famous Native American princess from the area. I had learned of Princess Cornblossom earlier from a Kentucky Historical Marker that I saw in Stearns:
Kentucky Historical Marker about Princess Cornblossom
Princess Falls waterfall
Princess Falls waterfall
I spent a lot of time photographing this waterfall and some of the others I passed and since I had a late start it was now after 4pm and would be getting dark in the next few hours. I needed to start looking for a camp site. I considered a large flat area at the bottom of the falls but the thought of all the mist from the falls and the fact that many wild animals would go there to get water changed my mind.
I continued on the trail back to the bridge over the Lick Creek. Coming from the falls, it looked like this:
Sheltowee Trace Bridge over Lick Creek
The trail was rough on the other side of the bridge for about half a mile and then finally leveled out after going around a bend of the river. I continued on for about 3/4 of a mile and saw a fairly flat area on the hill above me. There was a large rock outcropping and below it a huge boulder had fallen. The prospect of a campsite with rock on two sides appealed to me so I climbed up there to take a look. The area was not level but I found a flat spot large enough for my tent to fit in. As a bonus it was right next to a fallen tree so the tree would provide a wind break on that side.
After I got the tent up I set my thoughts on dinner. I decided on Mountain House Freeze Dried Lasagna with Meat Sauce
. There was a long flat rock about 40 feet from my tent site and I decided to cook there, on top the rock. In my How to Avoid Encounters with Wild Bears article I described how important it was to do all your cooking far from the tent site. After the meal was cooked I sat on the large rock with my back to the river and ate. While eating I happened to look at the rock outcropping in front of me and noticed that at the top of it there were three trees that had large areas of bark removed.
Black bear territorial marking on a tree. notice the grooves made by his claws and the fresh, pale yellow wood of the tree indicating this was done very recently.
"Oh fuck" I thought. I looked around and saw other trees with bark scratched off them. I had managed to pick a campsite that a bear also claimed as his. It was getting dark and there was no time for me to try to move and find another site, so I decided to hunker down here and hope for the best.
I finished my meal and then looked around for a suitable place to hang my food for the night. It was harder than I thought to find a suitable branch but I finally found one and got the bag hung about 15 feet off the ground and 6 feet from the tree trunk on a small branch. The bag was about 200 feet from my tent.
Next I went back to my cooking area and built a small campfire on top of the rock. I burned the lasagna package and put out the fire. Then I found my way to the tent in the dark and got inside.
I was comfortable and about to fall asleep when the woods around me seemed to explode with wildlife. I knew from photographing wildlife that if you go out and sit perfectly still for about 10 minutes or so the animals will get used to you and come around again. That must be what happened here. It started with a very loud screech owl that must have been in a tree right near me. He was answered by another on the other side of the river. This continued on all night. I could hear coyotes howling in the distance. Every now and then I heard a sound like a cat screaming out. I don't know if it was a bobcat or an eastern cougar, both live in the Big South Fork. Then I heard what sounded like several dogs snarling and growling and barking at something that was growling and snorting back. It was coming from above me, probably over the hill and on the other side or maybe even a hill away. I knew I was still close to the Yamacraw trailhead and close to some houses so I am assuming I was hearing someone's dogs barking at a bear and the bear growling back.
The dogs and bear died down and at some point I started to fall asleep again when I could hear a deep snorting, sniffing, huffing, and occasional growl outside the tent, very close by. I could hear leaves rustling around and I think I was being visited by the bear. I lay perfectly still, not breathing, and listened. The noise seemed to get softer and aofter as if the bear was moving away, then it stopped altogether. Several minutes later I heard a loud thud and thought "There goes my food bag". Around 11pm or so all the noises seemed to stop and I finally fell asleep.
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