Mapping the Sheltowee

[rootman]

This was a significant backpacking trip for us as it represented the final chapter of our section thru-hike of the Sheltowee Trace. I hope to get a full summary written for the STA website’s thru-hiker section within the next couple of weeks.

I am a 63 year old retired dentist and Tom is a 53 year old airline pilot. After all the experience we have on the trail we felt that this last 31+ miles would be a cakewalk, with well established trails in a beautiful area. We weren’t too far off in that estimate but, as usual, there were some challenges along the way.

We spent the night of Friday, May 18th, at Blue Heron campground. Earlier that day, while driving down, Tom dropped me off on Hwy 27 at the trailhead near the Flat Rock church. From there I hiked the one mile section to the parking lot where the ST drops back into the woods to Cumberland Falls. That was the only other piece missing on my ST resume. Then we scouted out the southern terminus and returned through Yamacraw to see our start point. The road along Rock Creek near Yamacraw has some old ST markings which confused us for a while as we knew we had to cross the creek somewhere in that area. There was no clear way down to the river, however. Finally, after reading the trail guide again, we realized that the trail drops off the road to the left very shortly after crossing the Yamacraw bridge (southbound). We had driven to Yamacraw from the northbound approach and hadn't yet reached the bridge, where the dropoff to the trail is obvious. The road along Rock Creek along which we had driven is an alternate route described in the “Hiking the Big South Fork” book, to be used if the creek is too high. Perhaps the old trail markings are related to that. It was a relief to have that confusion resolved before we were dropped off the next morning. It was also good to see the store open at Yamacraw as it had been closed for a long time.

On the 19th we drove to Barthell Coal Camp, where we had reserved a cabin to share with our wives on the 21st. (NOTE: The restaurant at Barthell is now closed. We have enjoyed breakfasts there in the past before canoeing or hiking trips.) The owners of the camp arranged for one of their employees to drive us to Yamacraw in our van, then return the van to Barthell. We paid him $20.

We dropped down to the “day use area” at Yamacraw and followed the trail into the woods. As mentioned in an earlier trip report by another hiker, the trail is overgrown but is still recognizable. Ticks were out in droves and poison ivy was easy to find. These two nuisances stayed with us for the first two days of our hike. We came across a box turtle enjoying a patch of sun but other critters stayed away. The Rock Creek crossing was easy, with the flow only a little above our ankles. We covered over ten miles despite our 10 AM launch. Water was plentiful and temperatures were in the low 80s. We camped at the site mentioned at mile 21.43 of the trail guide. Coordinates are N 36* 38.4572, W 084* 37.9008. It is a unique place with a large pond at the base of a rock wall, about 75 yards off the road, with room for several tents. According to “Hiking the Big South Fork” it is a popular backcountry site because of the road accessibility but no one came by during our stay.

We slept comfortably without the rain fly on our tent then headed out the next morning down Laurel Ridge Road and eventually back into the woods. Hiking was routine, with a few small trees across the trail and trail signage excellent. Along the way we met northbound hiker Steven Shachtlein, a priest from Indiana who has a unique distinction. He is one of less than 200 people registered with the long distance hikers’ association who have thru-hiked all three of the major trails -- AT, PCT and CDT -- the Triple Crown. These superhikers always make me feel like a slacker when I look at their minimal gear. I wished we had time to look in his pack.

Our goal for the day’s hike was the campsite mentioned at mile 8.32 in the trail guide (N 36*35.7400, W 084* 45.2574). Even though this would mean a 13 mile day for us we decided to push on to this “great camp” rather than stay at the “good camp” mentioned at mile 9.16. The more distant camp was indeed “great”. It was large, flat, dry, close to the creek and right off the trail, had easy access to the water, a rocky gravel bar to stand on while washing (versus sand or mud), lots of firewood, a large fire ring, and some chairs made from rocks. Even the flying bugs stayed away. We both agreed it was probably the best camp we had on the ST.

Our last day on the trail featured a few sprinkles of rain, more stream crossings and more routine hiking until about the last five miles of trail, including Hidden Passage Trail in Pickett State Park. Trail signs referred to DROP OFF TRAIL and I thought we were going to have to leave the trail somewhere until I realized that “DROP OFF” was the name of the trail. Duh! The challenging southernmost five mile section featured some long, steep climbs (southbound) and a couple of precarious steps over short collapsed sections of a narrow, slope-hugging trail. A slip would definitely have ruined our day but fortunately the trail was dry and our trekking poles were very helpful. We made it to the southern terminus in time to catch the initial sputtering of what would become a torrential rain later that evening. Our wives picked us up at the Pickett State Park office, about a half mile south of the trail terminus, and we returned to Barthell Coal Camp for a relaxing conclusion to our multi-year effort at thru-hiking the Sheltowee Trace.

[Ewker]

thanks for sharing your trip report and the pics

[genes]

Yes, thanks for the trip report and pictures. It sounds like great fun.

[Captain Blue]

[rootman]

Captain Blue -- You are absolutely correct. A continuous thru-hike is the real deal. When I get around to submitting my summary I'll make it clear that I didn't have to deal with the issues that continuous hikers have to deal with, eg. re-supply. I can't imagine what an AT thru-hike is like, both physically and mentally.

[Traildust]

Rootman,

Congrats to you on the completion of your end-2-end hike. We appreciate your concise journal posts here. The section that you marked as most difficult because of trail growth has been and is being cleared. This month. We are also adding some blazes to make sure folks know where to cross the creek as you head into Yamacraw.

Welcome addition to our Registry.

traildust