My Backpacking Trip - Day 1 Part 1

When last we left my trip, I was waking up in a parking lot somewhere along I-75 in southeast Kentucky. I went to a Huddle Hut, which is like a Waffle House, and had a western omelet and coffee. Then I continued toward the Big South Fork.

Stearns was about an hour's drive from I-75, maybe a little longer. I passed some Kentucky Historical Markers on the way and stopped to get pictures of them. I thought this one was cool:




When I got to Stearns, I had to find the Big South Fork National Forest visitor's center. This was difficult. Stearns is a small town. There was a sign on the highway for the visitor center but then when you turned there were no more signs. I saw the Stearns Scenic Railroad and a series of small tourist-looking shops so I turned there and found the visitor center way in the back, in between and behind two other buildings, almost down an alley.

I went into the visitor center and talked to the Park Ranger there. She was very nice and helpful and described some of the trails to me. At the Big South Fork you have to pick a trail that you will be hiking and then purchase a backcountry camping permit for that trail in order to camp there. The permit is only $5 for the entire stay (up to 2 weeks). The purpose of it is to register with the Park Rangers so they know who is in the woods and where in case of emergencies. They knew my car and where it would be parked and they knew when I was leaving, so presumably if my car remained longer than it should have they would go looking for me.

The Park Ranger gave me a sheet of paper describing the trails and recommended a guidebook sold there called "Hiking the Big South Fork". After reading the sheet and browsing the guidebook I decided on the Yamacraw-Yahoo loop. The Yamacraw-Yahoo loop is a 15.6 mile loop that begins and ends at the Yamacraw trailhead, which is a parking lot under a bridge in Yamacraw, Kentucky. The Yahoo part is for the Yahoo Falls, which is a massive waterfall found at the north end of the loop. The Yahoo Falls waterfall is 113 feet tall and the tallest waterfall in Kentucky.

I noticed two other short trails that shared the same trailhead and looked interesting. One was the Bear Creek Overlook trail and the other was the Split Bow Arch trail. Both are accessed from the Bear Creek Trailhead. I decided to go do these two hikes and take some pictures and then go on to Yamacraw and start my backpacking trip.

I drove on several miles of steep dirt roads to get to the Bear Creek trailhead. When I got there I first hiked the .76 mile Split Bow Arch trail. This trail was pretty difficult and had me gasping for air at a few places. The trail wound it's way down a steep hill, crossed a river, then went back up a hill and passed under the Split Bow Arch, which is a massive naturally formed rock arch.


This is part of the Split Bow Arch Trail



The Split Bow Arch



Another shot of the Split Bow Arch



The Split Bow Arch as seen from the road leading to the Bear Creek trailhead


I had never seen a natural rock arch before and it was pretty impressive to walk under this one.

The next trail was a .3 mile walk through a field and then a short stint through a wooded area to the Bear Creek Overlook. Wow. That is all I can say. Wow. The Big South Fork river was 500 feet below me. I could see hills for miles around. There was a group of people canoing the rapids of the river far below.


This panorama is 9 photos covering 180 degrees that were stitched together. Click on it to see it large.



View from the Bear Creek Overlook



Canoes on the Big South Fork



This sign at the overlook describes the Big South Fork


Once I had finished these two hikes I went back to the car and drove to the Yamacraw trailhead. I found the Yamacraw bridge over the Big South Fork and by making an immediate right just before the bridge I followed a gravel road under the bridge and to a parking area. I got out of the car and walked down to the river. I wanted to prime my Katadyn Hiker Pro Water Filter and Katadyn Exstream Water Bottle Filter and give them one final check. These two filters would be providing my drinking water for the next three days so I made good and sure they were working properly. While I was down by the river I broke out my MSR Pocket Rocket Stove and I cooked a can of Bushes BBQ beans for lunch. I sat on a large rock by the river, eating the baked beans and drinking filtered river water and wondering what the Hell I had gotten myself into.

After my meal I went back to the car and began checking to ensure that I had everything I needed. As I was going through my pack a Park Ranger pulled up in an SUV. We talked for a few minutes and he told me that vehicles left at this trailhead get broken into a lot and told me not to leave anything valuable in the car. He said don't bother hiding stuff in the car, they would find it anyway. The ranger at the visitor center had hinted about trouble at this trailhead but wasn't as blunt as this guy.

This was just great. I had all kinds of stuff in my car. I had brought extra clothing, food, and first aid items so I could go back to the car and get them in an emergency. My kids had their Nintendo DS's in the car because they forgot to grab them when they went with their mother yesterday. I had two cameras I didn't plan on taking with me, including a Digital Rebel XTi with a bunch of filters, a tripod, and a 75-300mm zoom lens. There was my iPod that I brought to listen to in the car. There was the faceplate to the car stereo. All kinds of crap that I didn't want to lose.

I stuffed my pack with as much as I could. I had a normal backpack in the car that I brought for day hikes. I filled that with stuff and tied it onto my pack with some rope. I doubled up two Wal Mart bags and put some stuff in there and then tied that to my pack. I took the rest of the stuff and threw it in the trunk. While I was loading everything up an old jeep with two young kids in it came down the gravel road. When they saw me they stopped, backed up the jeep, and drove away. That just reinforced the idea that my car was going to be broken into. I felt stuck, but I had no choice but to continue on. If my car was broken into, so be it. Everything I left behind was replaceable.

When all was said and done, my ultralight 42 pound pack had to have been over 75 pounds. It was miserable carrying all the extra stuff. The pack was so heavy now that I kept losing my balance and had to use my hiking poles to catch myself and keep from falling. I wasn't off to a good start.

Continued in My Backpacking Trip - Day 1, Part 2.