Mapping the Sheltowee

[I.B.Me]

On Saturday June 30th 2007 my yellow lab Jack and I left our home in Perryville KY at 5:22am. I was driving my 99 Silverado and had my 95 Protégé in tow. We left the truck at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Morehead and traveled on to the Northern terminus via the Protégé. The first part of our hike was so short due to the adverse trail conditions. The first 14 miles of the trail have been officially closed for several years and have not been maintained. At 7:53am, full of vim and vigor Jack and I started our trek. With my heavy-duty leggings in place, a machete in one hand and a trekking pole in the other, I thought we were ready for anything. That first day however almost finished us both. About 4 miles of the first 14 are a total bushwhack through saw briars and undergrowth that kept my machete moving until my arms were cramping from over use. I had not conditioned my arms for the machete at all. Poor Jack was down at ground level and had to endure more than I. He followed my every step and when we finally reached the forest road just North of I-64 we were both elated. The whole reason we started at the Northern terminus was to get this dreaded part done while we were fresh. The rest of the first day was basically a seven-mile road walk. We made a dry camp at 8:03pm on a high ridge overlooking the outskirts of Morehead. Data for day one: 21.5 trail miles hiked, 0.7 extra miles hiked, moving time 8:59, stopped time 3:08, average moving speed 2.4 mph, total average speed 1.8 mph.

Note: photo file ID starts with date and time photo was taken.