Mapping the Sheltowee

[I.B.Me]

The Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail (280 miles in 12 days)
Trip report and photos by Rick McQuerry

The Sheltowee Trace is a 280-mile national recreation trail that starts about 15 miles North of Morehead Kentucky and ends at Pickett State Park in Tennessee. The trail was named after Daniel Boone who was given the name “Sheltowee” meaning big turtle by the Shawnee war chief Blackfish when Daniel was captured and then adopted as a son by the chief.

The trail follows a North South route and includes parts of the Wilderness Road and Warrior’s Path. The Wilderness Road was originally cut by Boone to bring settlers into Kan-tuk-kee while the United States was still part of Great Britain. The Warrior’s Path was used for centuries by the native peoples of this region to travel to and from this lush hunting ground. The trail passes Cave Run Lake, Clifty Wilderness, Red River Gorge, Kentucky River, Laurel Lake, Cumberland Falls, Rock Creek Wild River and Pickett State Park in Tennessee.

My son Ryan and I section hiked the Sheltowee from 1998 to 2001 and ever since finishing that trek I have dreamed of the day that I would thru-hike the entire trail. Since January I have logged over 200 trail miles preparing for the “big one”. I have tweaked my gear to drop pack weight even building my own pack because I could not find a frame pack that was light enough to suit me. I made a lot of my own clothing too including pants by attaching waterproof heavy-duty leggings to swimming trunks with Velcro. In 1998 my pack alone weighed over 50 pounds. I didn’t even weigh the clothes I wore. On this trek I had about 34 pounds “skin out” weight. The clothing I wore plus poles and the GPS receiver was about 6 pounds and the pack was about 27 pounds. About 15 pounds of that pack weight was food and water that diminished as I hiked.
I wore a pair of boots, two pair of smart-wool socks, synthetic underwear, synthetic t-shirt and my homemade convertible pants. I made the leggings just for the first section because I figured if it was not well maintained I might have to go through some briars. I also wore a homemade boonie style hat with a piece of Velcro sewn on to attach the GPS receiver.
The homemade pack that I am using was built using a rattan frame and very lightweight almost waterproof rip-stop nylon. The 3000 cubic inch pack weighs about 28 ounces. In the pack I have my Hennessy hammock, which is a luxury item that weighs about 42 ounces but makes for a comfortable stay on the trail. I have a stocking cap and a 30-degree synthetic bag that weighs about 39 ounces. I have a food bag that contains 26 ounces of dry food per day times three and one-half days, a Katadyn micro water filter, stove fuel and a mess kit with 1-liter pot, Pepsi can stove, windscreen, stainless steel cup, and matches. I have a dry bag that contains two extra pair of socks, extra underwear for sleeping, a 4x9 tarp poncho and a survival/first aid kit. In a front pouch I have maps, compass, watch, led light, digital camera and voice recorder. I have two one-liter water bottles in my pack and a one-liter bottle attached to my waist belt with Velcro. (Note: I upgraded the front water bottle to two-liters at day 6.) I also carry two trekking poles. They are actually natural bamboo ski poles that I picked up at the second-hand store for $5. I had found a Leki rubber tip on the trail sometime back and it fit the poles perfectly. I use two poles due to my knee situation so I had to purchase another tip. They are only sold in pairs and cost about $10 just for the tips. Regardless I now have an ultra-light (12.6 ounces for the pair) set of hiking poles for less than the cost of one cheap store-bought pole.