Mapping the Sheltowee

[sheltowee wanderer]

Everyone was gone from their campsites when got up and started packing my gear. My guess is that they went to the lake to recreate. The morning was cool and dry and I wanted to get a jump on the day before the heat set in. Water, I noticed, was not as plentiful as it used to be in the small running streams that I collected from the valleys and I knew the trail ahead would not offer as many opportunities as the area I was currently in. Just before I left a nice lady walked up as I was greasing up my feet for the day. She had just paid for the campsite and she was a little surprised to see me there but invited me to stay there as long as I wanted. She had taken a break from work to come early and reserve a spot for the weekend and to set up her tent. She worked as a cook’s assistant at a local nursing home and had recently gotten a divorce. We agreed that camping and spending family time was good for kids, her two sons in particular. I hit the trail and after 4 miles came to a trailhead that was located on the edge of Highway 92 coming out of Somerset. Once I crossed the road I was in the Cane Creek Wildlife Management Area, a 6688.36 Acre protected area. One word of caution for travelers in the area. Do not put too much stock in the mileage that is on the signs. They are very inconsistent and leave you wandering exactly how far you are from an area. The day turned out to be very warm and as I noticed the lake was down, so were the creeks. Was there any rain on the way? Good news… Between the new insoles with arch support and the new procedures I had adopted, my feet got much better even while I was walking. Bad news…Supplies were running lower than planned and I was hungrier than usual.

About a quarter of the way through the WMA area I made two creek crossings, Pounder branch, a feeder stream of Cane Creek, and Cane Creek itself. Shortly after I passed by Van Hook falls which was dry and continued up and out of the valley until I reached a gravel road and back onto trail. I passed through a wind damage area complete with sign that told of its history. At this point I was looking for the first stream to call camp for the night. Another gravel road took its role as the Sheltowee Trace and leads me to a trail head that told me that I had 6 miles to Sinking Creek and 11 miles to Highway 80. The sun was getting low in the sky and I would be descending into another valley system which would further expedite the darkness so I had to make tracks if I was to get to a water source before dark. I arrived at Big Dog Branch, a creek just South of Sinking Creek that had running water, just as the last rays of night were consumed by the mountain horizon. Bats were already staking out their territory for the night and somewhere up the hollow a whippoorwill was keeping tabs on me.

The Photo Gallery - Day 9