The kids are back in school so I’m trying to get more short hikes in during the day. This time out, I went to East Fork to scout around the mountain bike trails.
The chicken of the woods is starting to make an appearance so the next time I’m out I’ll probably hit the other side of the lake where I know a few spots from last year that were really producing these mushrooms. I don’t know if they regrow in the same spot every year but I’m interested to see. I haven’t eaten these yet but they are supposed to be good.
As I made my way down the trail, a geocache caught my eye. I dropped a business card in and signed the logbook wishing I had a small trinket to drop in the box for the next person to find the cache. As I turned to go, I noticed there was a turtle shell full of rain water laying there as well, so I moved it over next to the ammo box.
Summer is just about to that point where things go from lush and green to burnt and brown around the edges and begging for autumn. The woods were wetter than I’m used to seeing them in August and there was standing water in several spots along the hike. Not a ton of bugs out, but definitely enough to be annoying.
When a buddy of mine invited me out to do some off-roading, I jumped at the chance. We headed out in the morning and arrived at the trails in time to hit three popular spots. We did Spaas Creek, Pumpkin Hollow and Sinking Creek before making it back to camp for fajitas and beers around the fire.
The next morning we did the hardest trail I’ve been on to this date. Pistol Creek really lived up to its name. I came close to rolling my truck when a section of the trail collapsed under my front driver side tire and sent me careening toward the creek. We did some creative winching and were able to recover my truck with no damage.
Swift Camp Creek has been a hike on my to-do list for a while. It’s a long downhill to the creek where I figured I’d camp with access to treatable water. It was unbelievably hot and humid so I knew I’d want to stay hydrated. I wound up only needing the gallon I carried in with me. Next time, I’ll probably bring less and filter more. I really didn’t know what to expect since this was my first visit and as usual, I over-prepared.
I passed a duo coming up the trail as I went down. They were in bad shape. They’d missed the Swift Camp trail and had detoured on Rough Trail before backtracking and had been out longer than they’d prepared for. I told them they had another half hour of uphill and continued on. The next day on the way out myself, I saw where they’d gotten sick on the trail. Like I said, it was extremely hot and humid.
The valley was only slightly cooler than the trailhead up on the ridge. I arrived just as the sun sunk below the tree line and crossed the creek to what appeared to be a promising campsite. There were many fire rings on the opposite shore and one had a sort of platform left there by a previous camper which looked like it would make good firewood, so that’s where I decided to overnight. I set my tent with the rain fly way up off the ground so any airflow would help cool me when I laid down. It was a moonlight night and I slept decently.
I’ll definitely go back but will likely day hike and camp somewhere else using the truck. It’s way too hot for backcountry overnights right now.
After getting 33” tires last month, I was finally ready to take the Tacoma’s off-roading adventures to a slightly higher level at the 4th annual Kentucky Toyota Trail Ride down in Bowen, KY organized by the Kentucky Toyota Landcruiser Association. I was lucky enough to immediately fall into a group of Tacoma drivers who turned out to be a really cool group of people with varying levels of off-roading experience. Meeting people with these common interests who are willing to swap stories and tips is what this community is all about. Seeing new trucks each with its own unique setup is also a big part of it.
Saturday, the morning started cloudy but without the predicted downpour. Those rains came later on the trail. Our group was assigned a trail leader and after a brief conference we set out for the ride. The original road we were supposed to take was closed so we made a decision to detour over a new section of the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway that had recently opened. After a creek crossing, we detoured around a wash out and made a brief stop for lunch and some emergency trail-side maintenance on the anchor truck. The clouds opened up as we tackled what turned out to be a deeply rutted uphill path of Kentucky clay the consistency of warm peanut butter. We had to use our winches, tow hitches, straps and cables to, one-at-a-time, pull everyone in our group of 14 assorted Toyotas up a nasty uphill turn in the “road”. It took more than an hour but felt like it all flew by in a few seconds. Once we were done, the sun was out and the skies were blue. At the top of the hill we ran into the 4Runner group who were waiting for us to finish so they could tackle the hill in the opposite direction.
After that section of the DBBB, we did a trail that we had done the night before in the dark but in the opposite direction. This was interesting and informative to see in both directions and in both light conditions. We were supposed to also do a trail called Pumpkin Hollow but the day had worn on, and we were due back at camp. There was dinner and a raffle scheduled and we didn’t want to miss that. After some good barbecue and socializing, we discussed going out for another night ride but as the night cooled, I headed back to the tent. Four days and three nights is the most camping I’ve done in years and I was wiped out.
If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at off-roading, these events are a great way to do it with full support from an enthusiastic group of great people. Callie’s Lake is also a well-maintained campground with clean showers and friendly folks. It was a fantastic weekend, and I highly recommend it.
I’d been a passenger on this trail before but never a driver and also never at night. It gets dark in the woods and adds another level of terror and stress to navigating your daily driver over and in between logs, rocks and muddy water. We met up at Sky Bridge Station for dinner and after some quick planning we headed out into the night for a muddy misadventure.
After arriving for a long weekend of camping and off-roading, I met up with a group of fellow event attendees and did a short hike down to see Rock Bridge and then Creation Falls. It was a hot and humid day with lots of sun, so a hike to a refreshing waterfall was definitely in order. I wasn’t sure if we’d have time for hiking while I was down here, so I was stoked to get out and see the sights. It had rained earlier in the day so Creation Falls was flowing with plenty of cool clear water and was being enjoyed by a group of kids building sandcastles.
We hiked back to the trucks and drove out the long gravel road before splitting up for lunch at La Cabaña or back at camp. The rest of the afternoon was spent hiding in our tents from heavy rains. Once the storm was over we went out for a night ride at Spaas Creek.
Drove down to Crittenden to visit the Lloyd WMA for the first time ever. I’ve been meaning to get down there and check it out but haven’t had the chance until now. It was an unbelievably hot day so I mostly stayed close to the truck. The small lake there is nice but the fish weren’t biting. They stock it with trout and bass from what I’ve read. The archery area was decent with lots of targets and plenty of shade. There is a forest trail with targets as well but I didn’t explore to far into that. The tube range looks cool and I’ll definitely be back to take advantage of having a place to shoot the rifle. The backwoods hunting area was thick and lush as we are having a great summer and everything has grown in nicely. I’ll come back in the fall and do more scouting and will be sure to wear my hunter’s orange. Maybe I’ll even bag some game.
Took the kids camping for a couple of days at the lake. We lucked out and caught beautiful weather the first day. It was almost chilly overnight and perfect for a campfire. I forgot my axe but was able to baton enough kindling to start a fire. The next day was warmer but we still had a good time exploring and staying cool where we could. We visited the Nature Center for the first time and made some new friends. Overnight we had some camp visitors of the masked kind who were upset that we put all of our food away. Storms blew in on the last day so we left a bit early but not before getting in some time at the archery range.
After two days of rain, the weather finally broke and I took the opportunity to do a little shore fishing. The trails were soft but not overly muddy and I was happy to see that there were no footprints ahead of mine down to the fishing hole. Not human prints anyway. Plenty of raccoon and deer tracks though. The lake was up a bit because of the rain so I was limited to the upper bank and couldn’t make my way around the lake to hit all my favorite spots. Still, I was able to catch a few fish, including a walleye. My first ever from East Fork! There was a bit of trash around so, after finding an empty shopping bag, I cleaned up the area and carted the garbage to the dumpster in the parking lot before leaving. It really isn’t that hard and I don’t understand why a person would litter like that.
Wanting to hit someplace new, I stopped in to Caeser Creek State Park to see what it had to offer. The trails were well maintained and easy to follow which might explain why they were busy with other visitors. I stopped and talked to a local who was hauling in a walleye from the shore and I’ll definitely be back to do some fishing when I get the chance. I saw several water snakes at the waterfall which is unusual for me but probably normal for this park in the spring. I was also lucky enough to spy a hawk having his lunch in the middle of the trail on my way back to the truck.
A skill not practiced is soon forgotten, so with warmer weather here, I took a hike out to East Fork Lake to do some tarp shelter building. The trails were mostly dry and spring blooms were everywhere so the hike was quite enjoyable. I arrived at the Beach Trail overlook camp and was pleased to see it was still clean from our last trash collection effort even though it looked to have been used recently. Overnight backwoods camping isn’t allowed at this park but it is obvious some people are doing it. This site is on a hilltop with easy access to the road so it’s probably a favorite of locals. Two trees next to the firepit were a perfect distance apart to string up the tarp and put it through its paces.
Hard to believe it snowed the following day but I was able to get out to East Fork Lake and enjoy some excellent shore fishing. I noticed an access point on the last hike and promised myself to come back with my pole and check it out. There’s a bit of scrambling involved following the shoreline but it’s well worth the effort climbing over logs and slipping through mud to get into the shallows where crappie and bass are always hanging out. Hiking with fishing gear can be a challenge but it turns out that fishing poles, after breaking them down, will fit right into the trekking pole loop of my daypack so getting to shore was easy as both hands were free.
The woods are really waking up. It’s been a dryish spring so far but that hasn’t stopped the blossoms from popping. Every season has its particular bounty and every year is different than the last in many ways. This year the mayapple and bear corn are coming in really strong. On this particular hike I made a few observations of plants that I’ve never seen before like toadshade and twin-leaf. The years and seasons have their changes but it is also amazing the change that can occur in a week or just a day. Nature moves quickly when it wants to.
