2013 11-13 Cross Mountain to Windrock Run

Cross Mountain and Windrock Mountain form the southeast side of the Cumberland Mountains. Visible from Oliver Springs all the way north to Caryville this high rim of mountains is rarely visited, except by ATV riders. Much of the land is private, owned and operated as the 73,000 acre Windrock ATV Park. My friend DK had begun running at Windrock not long after his move back to Oak Ridge. He often trained by running the paved road from the base to top of the mountain, but also had explored much of the surrounding area that his annual pass gave him access to.

 

Our Route in Yellow.

DK and I dreamed up this run shortly after the Cumberland Trail 50K race. He knew from his Windrock training that there was vehicle access from the main Windrock Trailhead near Oliver Springs east along the crest of the mountains to TN 116 at Graves Gap. The Windrock Trail Map showed trails extending northeast from Graves Gap nearly to Tower Road west of Caryville which we had used to access parts of the Cumberland Trail 50K course.

Also, Tom Dunigan’s East Tennessee Mountain Biking website listed a route he described as the challenge ride that extended from Caryville to Frozen Head State Park. We probably couldn’t run that entire 42 mile challenge route, but wouldn’t it be exciting to run the section of it along the crest of the mountain? We picked the intersection of the P1 access road and G1 in Windrock as the west end, and would start at the top of Tower Road on the crest of Cross Mountain on the east end. We’d be running on some unmapped trails in the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area until we reached the edge of the Windrock property somewhere near Caryville Flats.

I’d been long intrigued by this route. I had done a version of Dunigans’s challenge ride that had bypassed Windrock, and was looking for a more doable version. This run would fill in the only gap I had in the original version and would get me 22 miles of new trail, not an easy thing for me to do in those days that close to home. We would surely be the first to do this route as a run, even the folks at Windrock seemed to think it was a long trip by ATV.

Using both Dunigan’s GPS track and the Windrock ATV map I guessed that the run would be about 22 miles one way. After my planned hike for the 17^th was postponed, we quickly recruited Leonard, Kathy, Susan, and Stephanie who were all strong, experienced runners. I didn’t take notes during the trip, but GPS’d the route. Leonard and others (Kathy?) took some pictures, and DK took video.

 

With Leonard, Susan, DK, and Stepahanie

The first snag was getting permits to use the Windrock Property. I had thought I would be able to get permits for the group the night before, but DK knew that the permits came with a liability wavier that needed to be signed. That meant a later start for us as the Trailhead didn’t open until 8AM, and we wouldn’t be able to shuttle vehicles without our permit. Normally a late start would not be an issue, but the weather forecast for the day indicated that steady rain would be likely after noon, and we had little chance of finishing by then. Temperatures were forecast in the low 60s in Knoxville for the day.

Luckily, the security guy pulled into the Windrock Trailhead just after we did, and we got a bit of a jump start. He was friendly and knowledgeable. Susan had done the Windrock summer adventure race, and Stephanie had done the ultramarathon stage race at Windrock, so we had some credibility talking with him. When the TH operator arrived, she mentioned that “there’s a guy here who runs up the road training for Pike’s Peak,” which of course was DK.

We shuttled Kathy’s and Stephanie’s cars to the top of Windrock, and DK and I drove our cars to the top of Cross Mountain up Tower Road from Caryville. I neglected to time either shuttle trip, but it was probably in the 45-60 minute range. Hoskins Gap Road is only partly paved, but is still much faster than detouring through Oliver Springs.

When we started the run around 9:30 at the crest of Tower Road on Cross Mountain.  The weather was warm and blustery, with some ominous clouds off to the west. Our first trail was a decent ATV track. After going over the first knob we ran through a community of trailers with some yappy dogs that fortunately left us alone. What those folks were doing there I didn’t want to know. It wasn’t too hard to follow the right ATV trail to Caryville Flats (McGhee Flats on the topo), which is the edge of the Windrock property. There was no property sign or trail sign here. I’d heard of the flats from ATV riders since I first started exploring this area by mountain bike around 2008-2009. It is supposedly the former site of an US Air Force installation. The flats look like the Cumberlands equivalent of a southern bald, a roughly half mile long stretch of flat, open, and grassy ridge top. It was likely stripped flat by surface mining for coal, but it’s hard to explain why there is no revegetation. There were great views of Caryville and the valley from the flats off the remarkably steep flank of the mountains.

 

Caryville Flats.

We hurried through the flats as the wind was gusting and rain couldn’t have been too far off. We were now navigating with the official Windrock map. In the first gap at the junction with Trail 62 we saw a group of dirt bikers. We’d see one other group of dirt bikers before Graves Gap, and a lone pickup truck beyond, but otherwise Windrock was ours alone for the day. Once on Trail 54, the trails were well marked, and the map became easy to follow. DK also had a useful phone app (Maprika?) that used GPS to show our position on the official trail map.

 

Leaving Caryville Flats

Maybe it was the weather, but the northern end of the trails seemed the prettiest. There was a lot of mature open forest and we got a lot of good views off to the east over the valley. All of the trails had rocky cliffs, most left over from the old contour mining for coal. The trails were in decent shape, not the rutted muddy mess that I expected from an ATV Area. We were sticking as close to the crest as possible, rather than trying to follow the Dunigan route.

 

Enjoy the views while they last.

The trail was pretty mountain bikable until the drop into Cold(?) Gap where it got eroded by the steep grade at Devil’s Elbow. Beyond here our route was essentially the same as used by the Dunigan Challenge ride. I remember some long stretches of mudholes where the trails followed the old contour mines and what was probably the northern end of Trail 53. We were trying to keep our feet dry and danced around the edges of the mud holes, which became a little tedious and took a lot of time. We all made the decision to plow through the water at some point, and were able to move better. By the lower half of Trail 53 the footing got less muddy. When we crossed gravel G53, the road looked fairly steep. but well enough kept up to be passable by car.

West of G53 we ran Trail 50 pretty hard, but somewhere in here it started to rain (~1PM). There’s a lot of activity around the crossing of TN 116, but we found Graves Gap and the 3 gallons of water that DK had cached there for us the day before. I’d estimated this section at ~12.5 miles, but it turned out to be 13.5 miles, not a good sign as the rain looked to be staying for the rest of the day. But from Graves Gap to Windrock our route stayed on gravel G1, so we were expecting to go faster here as the surface would be easier, and there wouldn’t be as much navigating. Just waiting around at the water drop got everyone chilled. I pulled on light weight wicker over my T-shirt, it was barely enough.

Kathy was the most chilled, so she ran ahead straight to her car. DK and Stephanie ran together followed by Susan and me, and with Leonard behind. With the fog keeping the visibility down to around 100 feet, there wasn’t much to see, so we just ticked off the junctions as they went by, trails  33, 9, etc. Our paper maps eventually got too wet to use. The first few miles of G1 looked well maintained, but at some point there were a few sections far too rough for cars. G1 would make for a good mountain bike ride. Unfortunately, the rain kept the enjoyment factor pretty damped down. I would have loved to stop and do more exploring, but even the most obvious overlooks were nothing but a bank of gray clouds. I expected that any old mining artifacts had been cleaned up, but there have to be some old trails that the ATVs don’t use that would be worth exploring for artifacts or fossils.

 

Rain and fog on G1.

We got to some open areas earlier than I expected. I thought these might be the location of the old Windrock #1 mine, but it was too foggy to see, and too miserable to do any extra exploring. At ~3:15, a bit ahead of schedule, we heard the buzzing of a pair of ATVs and met them at the junction with paved road P1. They told us the cars were just a bit down the road. Kathy had made it in 30-45 minutes earlier, but it turned out Susan and I were just a few minutes behind DK and Stephanie.

After some quick drying off in the light rain Kathy took Susan and Leonard back to Oak Ridge, and Stephanie drove DK and I back to the cars at the top of Tower Road. We retraced the shuttle and drove back home. I had about 98 miles of driving for the day from home.

Route Summary

22.3 miles, 3200 feet ascent by GPS, 5:45 run time

Start at crest of Tower Road west of Caryville, Finish at junction of paved Windrock Road and G1

Route = Crest of Cross Mtn. south to Caryville Flats and then into the Windrock area and follow trails 66, 54, 53, and 50, then gravel road G1

KTC Big South Fork Race, 9-28-13

I was lucky enough to arrive in Knoxville in time for the first edition of the Knoxville Track Club’s groundbreaking Big South Fork Trail Race. I ran the first two editions of this race in 1994 and 1995; it was decade before I ran again in 2005. In 2013 I decided to try again. I had some advantages with my experience. My results were mid-pack for all three previous tries, and I knew the course well from hiking, backpacking, and mountain biking trips. My training included the Norris Dam 25K about a month previously. But my biggest advantage was that DK agreed to run with me as a pacer.

DK and I on the Big South Fork course (KTC photo).

DK and I drove up and back on race day together. Temp was 70F, and it was dry and clear at the start. The footing was good, and I ran well and was free from any knee issues during the race. DK ran behind me the entire way. He played Led Zepplin on his music player, and somehow that heavy rock seemed to spur me along. Stephanie also entered and ran just behind us for most of the race, at least I remember seeing her as we entered the John Litton Farm.

The course is barbell shaped; a loop on each end, connected by an out and back section in the middle. The race started from the Bandy Creek Area with John Litton Farm Loop (clockwise) with its paved, then gravel, then single track lead out to the Fall Branch Trail. Next was the 7-mile Grand Gap Loop, the return leg via the Fall Branch Trail, and finally the Lower John Litton Farm Loop. The course was listed as 17.5 miles, up a bit from its original length.

The course was overgrown enough that we could often not see the overlooks from the Grand Gap Loop. I got one bee sting in my head, but I did not have any allergic reaction from the sting. The BSF race is known for having several bee stings each year. I also tripped and crashed into a wall in a rock house leaving an abrasion and bruise on my left forearm. It took me 52 minutes to reach Aid 1 at the start of Grand Gap Loop. We closed the loop back to the aid station in 2:02. At the end of the Grand Gap Loop, I already was tired enough to almost exit the aid station the wrong way before a volunteer steered me in the right direction. I nearly cramped in both calves and in both hip flexors in the last two miles (I still didn’t have many long training runs that early in the year and the humidity must have been high). The last two miles were awfully slow, but I got a lot of motivation from DK, who probably saved me 5-10 minutes by encouraging me to keep running when I was hoping to hike. I didn’t lose any places this late in the race as most other runners were also battling cramps.

My finish time of 3:05 is the slowest of my four attempts at the race, but not far off my previous times of 2:50, 2:42, and 2:57. I was super tired the next day as I was not yet in shape for pushing hard for that long.

Another KTC course photo.

I have not run the race since, primarily because of commitments at the Barkley Fall Classic, which occurs about the same time and occupies me both leading up to the race and on race day. But looking back on my former races I see BSF results for the 1990s, the 2000s, and 2010s. Maybe I’m overdue for a 2020s finish?

Runsignup has results back to 2020.

Ultrasignup has older results including 2013, 2005, 1995, and 1994 in its database.

Here’s a link to the KTC’s celebration of the 30^th year of the race in 2023; https://ktc.org/footnotesonline/30-years-of-big-south-fork/

Mt LeConte via Bearpen Hollow 8-17-2013

Bearpen Hollow, along with Roaring Fork and Alum Cave, is one of the older routes up Mt. LeConte. When the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club went this way in the 20’s and 30’s they described Bearpen as a rough trail, which matches the description in the 1933 McCoy and Masa guidebook to the Smokies. By the early 1930’s the CCC had built the Rainbow Falls and Alum Cave trails to LeConte, and Bearpen gradually became less used. The club’s handbook trail inventory still listed Bearpen Hollow as a trail through the early 1940s. By 1946 it is described as an “old” trail, but the route is described as marked by a telephone cable. The last mention of that era is in 1949 when the club planned to descend down the old, primitive trail.

The McCoy and Masa guidebook entry.

Bearpen Hollow disappears from the club handbooks until 1972 when the legendary Ray Payne led an off trail ascent, with little description of the route in the handbook. A 1976 trip led by Leroy Fox describes it as a rock hop/scramble. Curiously, neither 1970s trip notes that Bearpen hadn’t been an official club hike for over 20 years. Presumably, club members may have been using the route for their own informal trips in the meantime, so knowledge of the route stayed active. The route has been done sporadically by the club since the 70s.

A quick look at the map shows why Bearpen Hollow was so popular. It provides a direct route  from the Newfound Gap Road to the West Point of Mt LeConte. The route was steep, even by LeConte standards, but earlier hikers considered it a half day trip to the top. Though originally marked by a log bear pen used as a deadfall trap, and later briefly by a crude possession cabin according to Ken Wise, today there is little, if any, evidence of the original trail up Bearpen Hollow, the telephone cable, or of either structure.

The southside routes up LeConte, such as Bearpen Hollow and Trout Branch are much less committing than Cannon Creek, Boulevard Prong, and Lowes Creek on the north. With Bearpen the climb is mostly a question of how long will it take, rather than a question of will I ever make it?

The occasion for this trip was SMHC outing led  by Chris Sass and Jenny Bennett. There were only three other hikers along for this trip; Rob, Cindy, and Ed. I did not take a camera along on this trip, the photos here ae borrowed from Chris, and from Jenny’s blog.

Once leaving the highway we started in the creek to avoid battles with the rhodo.

Moving up Bearpen Hollow. Photo by Jenny Bennett.

My trip notes are a little sparse, but the valley opened up a bit and we could follow the creek. We then moved left and then crossed to the right when the valley opened up again. We went through some thick dog hobble and at some point traversed left, but still seemed to be on the right side of the main draw. Next, we found a bear trail (this could have been part of the old trail(?)) that was super steep and sandwiched between the main draw now on our right and a ridge to our left. This chute ended up being one of those magic routes; always looking like it would close up just ahead, but then keeping itself open somehow as we climbed. Yes, we were nearly on hands and knees at several points, but the way stayed clear. The chute ended up leading all the way to the ridge south of West Point at a small saddle.

Climbing towards the saddle. Photo by Chris Sass

Ed nearing the ridge crest. Photo by Chris Sass.

As this was my first trip up Bearpen I thought that once on the ridge at 5600’ most of the effort would be over. But I should have realized that the ridge traverse would present another challenge. After a brief stretch of open heath, the ridge closed up and we proceeded to the top of West Point with an undignified mixture of thrashing, crawling, and silent cursing. There was some debate as to whether or not this was also bear trail. If so, it was used by the very short, non-trail maintaining breed of bruin. We sat in a thicket of thornless blackberry to have lunch.

Crawling along the ridge crest. Photo by Jenny Bennett.

Chris and Jenny had been over the route three times previously and warned us not to try to drop down to the very close seeming Rainbow Falls Trail. They had learned the hard way the that though the distance was short, the north slope of West Point was guarded by mighty rhodo and treacherous cliffs. There were signs that people had hiked out to West Point, perhaps interested in climbing all the “highpoints” of LeConte. We hit the Alum Cave Trail just at the start of its sweeping right turn toward the Lodge. My GPS showed about 5 hours for the off trail section. I headed on to High Top to have a summit to justify all the work. We had a slight drizzle below Alum Cave on the return.

Ken Wise’s book, and other sources, describe how the old timers completed their hikes up Bearpen. Just short of West Point, the Tag Tree Trail was marked by a spruce tree blazed with tobacco tags that started below the crest of West Point and traversed east to join the Alum Cave Trail. All evidence of the Tag Tree Trail appears to be long gone.

The link to Jenny’s blog post of this trip is: https://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/tag/bearpen-hollow/

2013, 7-13, Oregon-Washington Hiking Trip AKA “Topless Tour 2013”

This trip occurred during a several year span where Jean and I weren’t able to get away for too many other vacation travels. We’d been thinking about a trip to the Northwest for a while and had looked at destinations including the Olympics, Oregon Caves, and Redwoods before deciding on a trip that would focus on Crater Lake and Mount St. Helens, with one day at Newberry Caldera. All three volcanoes had famously blown their tops, giving us the motto for the trip “Topless Tour 2013.” To keep things simple, we decided to leave the backpacking gear behind and just do a series of day hikes. Of our destinations all would be new to Jean, and I had only visited Crater Lake twice while in grad school, once on an overnight ski tour around the loop road, and another time on a shorter summer trip with my parents.

7-13-21

We flew from Knoxville to Portland on Friday, got a rental car, and stayed in a motel close to the airport. The next day we drove down to Eugene to see the town where I had gone to graduate school. The campus was a lot prettier than I remembered; the science complex then looked 1960s era-Soviet. We spent some time at a new-to-me Natural History Museum before heading out on a walking tour that included the Volcanology Building, and loop around Pre’s Trail across the river near the football stadium. It turned out to be state fair weekend, so we ended up staying in Oakridge (yes, one word in OR), which I remembered as a dingy old logging town, but was now revitalized as a mecca for mountain biking.

Mount Hood from our flight in.

Wizard Island in March 1981.

Hiram on campus.

7-14-2013 Crater Lake

The next day was the big event, Crater Lake. Few parks have the impact that Crater Lake does the first time you step to the rim and see the lake. The blue of the lake seems too rich to be mere water. Next the sheer size hits you, how can the lake be so large, and how can the walls be so shear?  

Crater Lake at last!

Most of the hikes in the park are relatively short, one reason the park is relatively less visited by hikers and backpackers. It seemed hikers got a choice of either long hikes in the deep woods, or short hikes out in the open with views. For our first hike we picked Mt. Scott, the highest point in the park. The trail had just been cleared of snow but was in great shape and gave us tremendous views

On top of Mount Scott.

After our hike up Mt. Scott we continued around the loop road with shorter hikes at Sun Notch and Godfrey Glen and stops at Lady of the Woods, Rim Village, Crater Lake Lodge, and then Mazama Village. We got a brief scare when Jean’s allergies flared up. Fortunately, we were able to control things, and the trip didn’t spiral into coughing, wheezing mess. We spent the next three nights just south of the park at an A-frame cabin at the Aspen Inn in Fort Klamath, a spot that had been recommended by Jean’s sister’s family.

The Phantom Ship.

7-15-13 Crater Lake

Our big trip for the day would be the NPS boat excursion to Wizard Island, but the check-in for our ride wasn’t until 11:30, so we decided to hike Watchman Peak in the morning. Part of the hike is an old road which winds up to an old wood tower. Again, we had great views and an abundance of wildflowers, most of which we couldn’t identify.

Trail to Watchman Peak.

The Crater Lake Boat Ride is one of those iconic national park trips, but you don’t know if it is going to seem too touristy, or if it can really live up to its reputation. We found it to be wonderful. Maybe the one mile hike down to the boat dock on the Cleetwood Cove Trail is enough walking to feel you have earned your views. The blue water is every bit as amazing up close, and the views were as spectacular as those from the rim. We went all in, booking the option to explore Wizard Island. Though it took us a bit to find the right trail, we hiked to the top of the island and then down into its own small crater. I could not resist the opportunity to be in a crater in a volcano in a crater on a bigger volcano. The day was so warm and sunny we dunked our heads in the lake while waiting for our boat pickup, but still the water was far too cold for swimming. Most of the lake tour came after the island, the old man, the phantom ship, and some waterfalls. The scenery remained world class and was documented on the 207 pictures Jean took through the day. We stopped and ate at Mazama Village on our return.

We finally found the trail!

The top of Wizard Island.

Crater lake from Wizard Island.

7-16-23 Crater Lake

We got up early for our day in the park’s backcountry, the hike starting on the Pacific Crest Trail to Union Peak. The first three miles on the PCT were really pretty, but the bugs were thick enough to distract us from the flowers and forest. The final stages of the climb were steep, loose, and a little exposed, but the views again well worth the effort, especially those of the smaller peaks of the Cascades to the south.

Union Peak.

The return was unremarkable, except for Jean busting out the seam of her zippy pants. Luckily, the Aspen Inn had fishing décor as a decorative theme, and we were able to rob a little line from a decorative reel to repair her pants.

Along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Jean on Union Peak.

After the hike, and an ice cream stop at Mazama Village, we made two short stops; Castle Crest to learn some of the wildflower names, and Discovery Point.

Another view of Wizard Island.

7-17-2013 Newberry National Volcanic Monument

One of the big changes in the area since my grad school days was the creation of new national monuments at both Newberry Caldera and Mount St. Helens, but with both areas managed by the Forest Service instead of the NPS. When I arrived at U of O in 1980 it was just a few months after the eruption of St. Helens, and the area around the mountain was closed. I remember going through drifts of ash on my drive west to Eugene, but never got any closer to the mountain after that. I remember visiting Newberry as part of a field trip for my volcanology class.

Welcome to Newberry.

Newberry is close to Bend, OR and has a selection of trails for hikers and mountain bikers, as well as campgrounds and picnic area. Like Crater Lake the caldera at Newberry is filled with water, but here it fills two lakes, Paulina and East. The famous obsidian (volcanic glass) flows are the most recent of the volcanic activity. We decided to hike the Paulina Lakeshore Loop, and at the visitor center were advised to add on the Big Obsidian Loop.

The trails were well marked, in good shape and obviously well used. It was another hot day and the campgrounds with their broad beaches and shady sites looked appealing. I remembered the big obsidian flow from my field trip, it is really unusual to see one that large, a monstrous jumble of obsidian and pumice.

The big obsidian flow.

View across Lake Paulina to Big Obsidian.

After our hike we drove up the east side of the Cascades then through Portland with some great views of Mt. Hood. We stayed in a Super 8 just off the interstate near Kelso, WA that would be our base for visiting Mount St. Helens.

7-18-13 Mount St. Helens

Perhaps no other part of the country had changed as much in the last 30 years as Mount St. Helens. What was once a devastated moonscape was now starting to heal from the 1980 eruption. We started our trip at the visitor center off I-5. The USFS did a spectacular job with their interpretation of the site. The displays and the park movie do a great job filling in the history of the area, the eruption, and the recovery.

We decided to try the11-mile loop around Coldwater Lake for our first trip. For the first few months of 1980 there was no Coldwater Lake. After the eruption, Coldwater Creek was dammed by debris flows moving down the drainage of the North Fork of the Toutle River forming the lake. Coldwater Lake was in the blast zone and access was still restricted to day use only on trails.

Jean at Mount St. Helens.

We started up Trail 230A. It was amazing to realize that all the flora we saw here was regrowth. We passed some evidence of the logging that was in progress at the time of the eruption, a destroyed pole loader and bulldozer. The force of the eruption had mangled even some of the major structural parts of this heavy equipment. Equally impressive was the jumble of trees on the far ridge, leveled by the eruptive blast even though the mountain is still two ridges over. With a hot sunny day, we struggled on the section back down to the creek elevation where we finally stopped for lunch on the bridge over the inlet creek.

Damaged pole loader.

Flattened forest near Coldwater Lake.

Trail 211 on the back side of the lake was level and easy. Forest sections alternated with debris fields shed from the devasted ridge above the lake. There were a couple of lake accesses, at the second I took a short swim, just long enough to confirm the lake was correctly named.

Coldwater Lake.

Yes, it was cold.

7-19-13 Mount St. Helens

Our friends Claudia and Dan had recommended St. Helens to us, and the hike they most liked was the trip out to Harry’s Ridge for a view into the crater of the volcano. The hike starts from the Johnston Ridge Observatory and climbs a ridge above Spirit Lake to the site of one of the observation stations used to monitor the 1980 eruption. The hike is amazing, 100% above tree line, with great wildflowers, and even a surprise wildlife encounter. There was one exposed section called the Devils Elbow that would be uncomfortable for anyone with a fear of heights. Below us Spirit Lake was filled with a mass of floating dead trees uprooted in the eruption. More than 20 years after the eruption, its impact on the forests is still obvious.

Trailside at St. Helens.

The trail out to Harry's Ridge.

Mt. Adams and dead trees in Spirit Lake.

We ate lunch the old USGS observatory site which we were lucky to have to ourselves. We spent time studying the crater which showed the form of the main eruption and the domes and other features that had emerged from the crater floor since then. Though the crater is closed to all public access, there is a climbing trail on the southside. However, the number of daily climbers is rationed, and without an advanced permit, it hadn’t seemed prudent for us to wait overnight in line for one of the daily first come, permits. On our return we saw a herd of elk resting on a small bench above Spirit Lake.

Elk at Spirit Lake.

Hiram at St. Helens.

Back at the Observatory we spent some time watching their movie and browsing the displays, which were as good or better than those at the visitor center by the interstate.

7-20-13 Mount St. Helens

On our last day we did two short hikes on the south side of the Monument to explore the forested areas. Surprisingly, we found this area more crowded vs. the more spectacular trails around the blast zone.

Lava Canyon was another geologic marvel. Here a lahar from the 1980 eruption scoured out a deep narrow canyon that had previously been the path of a lava flow. The result was an impressive series of falls and cascades that gets more precipitous the farther you go downstream. We turned back just after descending a 30’ ladder.

Lava Canyon.

Next up was June Lake. An interesting hike, but when we got to the flats, no lake! We wandered around a bit, found a side path and followed it to the base of a 50’ waterfall feeding the lake. We stopped for lunch at this perfect spot and another pair of hikers told us to go to another falls just a bit up the trail, icing on the cake.

Waterfall near June Lake.

That evening we drove to the Portland Airport Super 8 and flew back to Knoxville the next day.

Biking the Katy Trail, Clinton to Sedalia, 6-1-2013

After our 2010 bikepacking trip on the Katy Trail it would be a few years before we could get back to the trail. We had enjoyed our stay to the Bothwell in Sedalia so much that we decided to plan our next trip around a visit there. Our obvious choice then was to complete the western end of the Katy by riding from Sedalia to Clinton. We could do this ride in one day, so no bikepacking needed this time. We scheduled the ride for after our Ames family visit. I’m including  a ride on the front end of the trip on an Iowa rail trail as part of this trip report.

5-28-13, Heart of Iowa and High Trestle Trails, Slater to Woodward

Jean and I had ridden part of the Heart of Iowa Trail in 2010 and now we were hearing fantastic things about the nearby High Trestle Trail. Jean’s Dad CJ had visited it and had been impressed. We decided to combine the two trails for a good warm up ride for our Katy trip. 

The High Trestle.

We started in Slater, at the west end of our 2010 trip. Most of the Heart of Iowa Trail is gravel, but we found the High Trestle Trail to be concrete, not quite as much fun to ride, but faster and easier, so nothing for us to complain about. We were on High Trestle Trail almost immediately. We saw lots of bikes and a few walkers. The trail is mostly through cornfields, this is Iowa after all. The trail could have used a few more trees to give it some shade. 

Pillars at the start of the High Trestle.

We first went through the town of Madrid with some cafes and bike facilities geared toward the trail users. 

The Trestle from the west end.

The High Trestle lived up to its hype. The trestle over the Des Moines River is a half mile long and 130 vertigo inducing feet high, not what you’d expect in the midst of farm country. But this was once coal country, and it’s the mining theme that drove the rehabilitation of the trestle. A public art installation incudes twin pillars at the entrances of trestle with a stylized coal seam winding across the pillars. Along the trestle’s outer side run a series of square set steel beams set at angles to each other to mimic the effect of looking down a mine shaft. I’ve looked down a 5,000’ deep mine shaft, and can say the effect at the trestle certainly works. There are a ton of display panels at the trestle interpreting both the history of the area and the art display. 

Jean and I on the Trestle.

We rode to the west end of the trail at Woodward just to finish the segment of trail. We saw lots of bikers and walkers out on the trail, the trestle was obviously the big impact attraction that would pull in the locals and draw in the tourists. 

The High Trestle illuminated at night (from a later visit).

High Trestle Trail, Slater to Woodward, 26.5 miles

6-1-2013, Katy Trail Bothwell to MP 223

We drove down to Sedalia from Ames, getting in early enough to visit the Katy Depot and tour their museum. Then we checked into the Bothwell, and got the bikes ready for a short warm up ride on the Katy. We wanted to get in about ten miles, so we just rode east to about MP 223 and back. 

Jean honoring Scott Joplin.

The trail was in great shape, with just a few limbs down from a recent storm. About half our miles were on city streets, but once out of town we were back on well packed gravel trail. Near the MP 223 it looked like another storm was on the way, so we hustled back to the Bothwell. 

The Sedalia Depot.

I think we were both afraid that the Bothwell wouldn’t live up to our memory from our 2010 ride. But to our happy surprise it still did. We were in larger room this time, and this helped us with the logistics of packing for our ride. Again, we had dinner at a bar about a block away before heading back to the hotel to take notes on the ride.

Katy North of Sedalia, 10 miles

6-2-13

This time we used Davidson Transport to shuttle us to Clinton and we would ride back to our Subaru in Sedalia. They were pricey ($165) but the driver was early, courteous, and even had a bike rack. He dropped us in Clinton near the campground. We had a short 0.4 mile ride west to the far end of the maintained trail, then we turned around to head east toward Sedalia.

The Clinton Depot.

The trail from Clinton to Calhoun is close to US 52, but not enough for the road noise to bother us. The sunny, open sections had thick spiderwort. The town of Windsor had both a Dairy Queen and a Katy-themed hotel. We crossed the old Rock Island Railroad line on a bridge near Windsor. At the time of the ride this rail trail was not yet developed, but as of 2022, 47 miles is open from Windsor northeast to Pleasant Hill. Beyond that there is a small gap on public roads, and then another 13 miles of developed trail from Lees Summit to Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City.

Jean in Calhoun.

There was a nice section of open prairie near Bryson near MP 242 that had the barely discernable highpoint of the trail. Prairie flowers included Queen Anne’s Lace, wild roses, poppies, phlox, and lots of honeysuckle. We stopped at a Casey’s in Green Ridge for a badly needed ice cream break. The rest of the way was mainly through the woods into Sedalia. We didn’t see many people (~10) until we got to Sedalia. 

The Katy Trail Highpoint.

The entire section is open to horses up to the fairground in Sedalia, and  although we didn’t see any damage from them, it is likely that the horse use makes this a less appealing stretch of trail. Despite the recent hailstorm, the trail was in good shape. We saw three blow downs and lots of downed limbs, but there was no damage to the trail bed. The state was doing some prairie restoration in the right of way, and in some properties adjacent to the trail.

Nutrition break.

 

We now had the western half (121 miles) from North Jefferson to Clinton of the Katy Trail complete. The eastern half (116.5 miles from Machins to North Jefferson is reputed to be less scenic, but otherwise sounds just right for a two night bikepack.

We had started riding about 9AM and finished in Sedalia around 2PM. Our weather was cool and overcast with a bit of light rain near Green Ridge. We left Sedalia around 2:30 and drove to Marion, Illinois by 8PM. The next day we walked a short section of the Tunnel Hill Trail near the Tunnel before returning to Knoxville. 

Tunnel Hill State Park, Illinois.

Katy Trail, Clinton to Sedalia, 41.3 miles