My Backpacking Trip - Day 2

I woke up the morning of day 2 and stayed still and listened. I wanted to make sure that I didn't hear anything outside before I moved. Satisfied, I got dressed and crawled out of my tent to inspect the damage. It was a sunny morning. I walked down the hill to the trail and found my food bag still hanging in the tree. That was a good sign. Looking back past my campsite and back down the trail that I had hiked yesterday I noticed a large dead tree. At least it used to be.


Clawed tree


This tree had been torn to Hell last night. There was a fresh pile of woodchips around the base of the tree. It was clawed by a black bear, probably to let me know that I was in his territory and he didn't like it. The sight of the tree, so close to my tent, freaked me out a little. I got down my food bag, then went back to my campsite. I broke camp and left quickly without breakfast.

Other than worrying about bears the night before I was worried that my car was going to be broken into. I couldn't get it out of my mind. I ended up hiking back to the trailhead to check out the car. It took me about 2 hours to get to the car and it was fine when I got there. I dropped off some clothing that i had that I didn't need and removed a few other items to try to lighten my load. I probably trimmed about 10 pounds from the pack and it felt a lot better. Once again I passed the sign at the Yamacraw trailhead and hit the Sheltowee Trace. The sky had turned gray, the temperature had dropped, and there were snow flurries here and there.

I passed my campsite from the night before and as I was walking I noticed all sorts of signs of bear activity. Bear footprints. Clawed trees. Clawed fallen trees. How could I have not noticed all of this yesterday? I would have to be more careful.

The trace followed the river and after going around another turn I came to a beautiful stretch of the river. The Big South Fork here was flanked on each side by massive, 30- to 50-feet-wide charcoal gray boulders. There were a lot of whitewater rapids along this stretch. I stopped and cooked a can of Hormel Chili for lunch. I actually had a cell phone signal here so I called my kids and wished them a happy Easter. My feet at this point were absolutely killing me from the boots I bought that were too big so I took off the boots and my socks and washed my feet. It was very cold but felt good. I didn't see any blisters and that was a good sign.


The Big South Fork river



After my break I continued on and about a mile further I came to a spot where a large creek named Negro Creek met the Big South Fork. The guidebook said there were good campsites to be found in this area and it was around 5pm so I decided to find a good site and stop.

Crossing Negro Creek was difficult. There was a small wooden bridge, more like a ladder, that led up to a large boulder. On the other side of the boulder was a small wooden bridge. The creel flowed on either side of the boulder, about 15 feet down. On the far side of the boulder the creek flowed into a large pool that looked to be about 6-8 feet deep, like the deep end in a swimming pool. I would have loved to be there in the summer and jump into that water, but now it was bitterly cold and there were snow flurries so I wanted no part of it.

After crossing the creek the trail went through a series of switchbacks up a steep embankment and then went around a sharp turn. I looked down before me and there was a perfect camp site. It was an area, about 40 feet wide and 120 feet long, that was the floodplane of the river. It was flat, compressed sand. There were some trees scattered about. There was a large fire pit made of stacked stones. The best part was the tarp. Someone had set up a tarp using a long branch as a center support and a combination of rope and vines from the corners of the tarp to four nearby trees. Behind the tarp was a steep drop off, about 20 feet tall. Below that was another floodplane that was still about 8-10 feet above the river. The view of the river from under the tarp was incredible. I looked around and didn't see any trees with bark missing. There were a lot of horseshoe prints around. This looked like a very popular and well-used campsite so I'm sure all the wildlife avoided this area.


This was my campsite for night 2


My campsite for night 2, with my camp fire burning.


I set up my tent under the tarp, got water from the creek, and gathered wood for a fire. The sky began to clear and the sun came out. I kicked back and ate Backpackers Pantry Freeze Dried Pad Thaifor dinner. I made some hot chocolate and enjoyed the campfire until after dark. The sky remained clear and the sky was filled with stars. I should have recognized this as a bad sign but I was too caught up in the peacefulness of this place.

The only sounds I heard in my tent were from the river flowing down below me. I fell asleep quickly. A little after 2am I woke up abruptly. I was shivering violently. I could not feel my feet or move my legs. I could barely open or close my hands. I felt drunk. I realized almost immediately this was hypothermia and I would die if I didn't act right away. However, I could not get myself to do anything. It was amusing to me, funny, that I was laying here shivering like this. I knew I had to move but I didn't want to and I wouldn't. It took what seemed like an eternity for me to try to move and when I tried I couldn't. I managed to get an arm out of the sleeping bag and it fumbled around on the floor of the tent as I tried to find some clothing to put on. I found a fleece hat and after a struggle I got it on my head. I felt instantly warmer with the hat on. The next thing I found was a bag full of Heatmax Hand Warmers that I had picked up on clearance at Wal Mart on day -1. I bit into one of the packages because my hands still weren't working good and I tore it open. I held the handwarmer in my mouth and shook it to mix the powders inside and start the chemical exothermic chemical reactions in the pouch.

I managed to get four hand warmers open and warming and I put one on my chest over my heart, one on each thigh near the femoral artery, and I slipped one under my back. The heat from the hand warmers not only warmed my body, it warmed the air inside my sleeping bag and I was becoming nice and toasty, but I was still shivering. It took what seemed like forever for me to stop shivering. Once I could feel my feet and could move my hands well enough I sat up and put on a wicking base layer shirt, a fleece shirt, thermal long underwear, and polartech socks. I noticed the condensation on the inside of the tent had frozen so the whole inside of the tent was covered in white frost like gound beef in the freezer. I kept the handwarmers held against my skin by the Under Armor shirt I slipped on and fell asleep with them there even though the directions said not to sleep with them.

I have since found out that on that night it got down to 19 degrees. The forecast I had printed two days earlier said it would be in the lower 40's that night. My sleeping bag is rated to 35 degrees. I absolutely believe that if I did not take those hand warmers out of my pack and place them near me in the tent I would have died from hypothermia that night.

My Backpacking Trip - Day 1 Part 2

I had ate lunch, gathered all the extra stuff to carry with me, and set off with about 75 pounds on my back. My son is right around 75 pounds and him on my back is lighter than the pack was with all the added stuff.

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.

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.

My Backpacking Trip, Day -1

Friday March 21, 2008 Day -1

On Friday I got up at 4 am, finished loading the car, woke up the kids, and hit the road. We were westward bound by 6am. It was an uneventful trip to Indiana and we arrived in Mitchell, IN around 7pm. I exchanged the kids at the McDonalds at the intersection of Indiana routes 37 and 60, then took 60 back to Scottsburg and onto I-65. At this point I still had no idea where I was going to drive to so I could start my trip. I decided to drive and think it over. I had seen a Dicks Sporting Goods on I-65 as soon as you crossed into Indiana from Kentucky and I needed a few last-minute items so I decided to drive down there, get the stuff, and decide where to go.

When I got off the highway I saw a Bass Pro Shop near the Dicks. Perfect. They have comparable prices and a much larger selection than Dicks. I went into the Bass Pro Shop and found the camping section. I bought some freeze-dried spaghettiand Pad Thai meals and I got a Lexan drinking cup. I also got some jerky that I thought would make a good lunch to eat on the go.

Leaving the Bass Pro Shop I found a Wal Mart so I stopped there. I got some food items like a box of Power Bars, a can of Hormel Chili and some Beanie Weenies. I went to the sporting goods section and bought an inflatable memory foam pillow, a water resistant stuff sack, a pair of rain pants, and a few other little things. I noticed hand warmerson sale and I bought several packs of the hand, foot, and body warmers. I went by the footwear section and couldn't find any hiking boots my size but I found a pair that were on clearance that were half a size too big. I figured that with an extra pair of socks on they would be fine. Boy was I wrong about that.

I paid for the stuff then I went back to my car and opened a Kentucky road map. I added the distances to each of the four locations and decided I had enough gas and time to make it to the Big South Fork in Kentucky, but Tennessee might be pushing it too far. I decided on the Big South Fork in Stearns, Kentucky. Earlier that morning I had printed the weather forecasts for Big South Fork and Mammoth Cave and the Big South Fork had the favorable forecast. It would be in the 60's during the day and 40's each night in the Big South Fork. Mammoth Cave was 50's/30's and had some snow forecast.

Somewhere around 10:15 pm I pulled out of the Wal Mart parking lot and drove into Louisville on I-65, then took I-64 East toward the Big South Fork. I got to I-75 in Lexington and took I-75 south. By this time I was getting very tired. I made it somewhere near Berea and finally saw a sign for a rest stop. It was the first rest stop since I got onto I-75 and I was pretty desperate to find one at this point. I got to the rest area and saw that it was more of a cultural center that sold local folk art to tourists. It closed at 8pm and it was somewhere around 2am by now. There was a truck in the parking lot with a large camper hitched to it and the occupants were asleep, so I parked my car and decided to sleep there. I broke out the inflatable pillow I bought at Wal Mart and used it with a few fleece blankets I had in the back for the kids. I took off my shoes and socks, put the seat all the way back, and fell asleep in no time.

My Backpacking Trip

I have had a very busy week and haven't been able to update my blog. In my last entry I was trying to figure out where I would go on my week long backpacking trip in Kentucky. I ended up spending six nights and seven days on the trail.

I spent three nights at the Big South Fork National Recreational Area and National River near Stearns, Kentucky. Then I hiked back to my car and drove to Mammoth Cave National Park in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky for a three night hiking and camping trip.

I took a notebook with me and kept a journal of my trip. In the near future I'll add entries for each day of the trip. It was definitely a trip I will never forget. In the mean time, here are some teaser photos from the trip. I'll explain them in the upcoming entries.