Mapping the Sheltowee

RajunCajun81 · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 3:34 am Post subject: My Soul Cleansing Walk-About

Hello All,

My name is Mac. I am stationed at Fort Campbell, KY and with 5th Special Forces Group. I am an avid hiker and adventurer. I am currently deployed in Afghanistan until the summer. After deployments, I go on adventures and long hikes to refresh, absorb the great country of the United States, and to do what I call soul cleansing.

I wanted to check and see who I need to coordinate with to go on my walk-about. I plan on walking the entire 302 miles of the Sheltowee Trace in 10-15 days. I have all my control measures, safety measures and plan in place. I will depart from Fort Campbell in July (Date TBD) and begin the trail. If anyone could point me in the right direction for coordination or any permissions I may need granted to begin this journey, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Mac

MuddyBoots · on trail Joined: 25 Oct 2011 Posts: 31 Location: kentucky

Hello Mac,

First, thank you! My family and I appreciate your service!

No permits are required for the Daniel Boone National Forest sections of the trail. Which fortunately is most of the trail.

A Recreation Permit is required if you plan to camp in the Red River Gorge area of the trail. If you want to avoid the permit, you can easily time your hike so that you camp either north or south of the Red River Gorge area. The Gorge is famous for its Natural Arches. You may wish to reroute to see some of them as you pass through that area.

At the south end of the Sheltowee Trace you'll be in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. The BSF requires a Backcountry camping permit. You can get it online here -> http://www.nps.gov/biso/planyourvisit/online-backcountry-permits.htm

So not much you need to do other than enjoy your hike!

The Sheltowee Trace Association at "www.sheltoweetrace.org" is a good resource and also has a Facebook page. You can purchase a guidebook and maps there.

Captain Blue · cub Joined: 07 Jun 2012 Posts: 19 Location: Dayton, Ohio

Double check the Red River Gorge camping permit requirements. It is my understanding that vehicles need the permit. You should not need a permit to camp in Red River Gorge if you do not have a vehicle parked there.

MuddyBoots · on trail Joined: 25 Oct 2011 Posts: 31 Location: kentucky

Captain Blue,
You might very well be right on that one. The web page makes it sound like the permit is related to the vehicle. However, the "Recreation Schedule and Fees" form reads "... the fee is charged for:... for backcountry camping in the Red River Gorge;..."

Mac,
Here's a link to the Forest Service web site. It might be worth a call to find out for sure.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39458

RajunCajun81 · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 1:22 am Post subject:

No worries. I appreciate the quick response. My wife will have a vehicle on standby and a phone call away while I am out. I will not be using a vehicle at any point except to be dropped off and picked up at the finish. I was reading on the site and through the threads and noticed that this group has task that need to be completed on the trail. Does anyone need anything as far as photos, GPS grids, etc? I will have to acquire the camping permits because I will be bedding down in the evenings. Right now, my pace is set at about 20-24 miles per day. This will take me about 8 hours to complete due to the scenary and photo opportunities. I am researching fishing locations, etc. I usually like to live off the land as long as there the area permits it. I will have my fishing license and all required documentation on hand. I should finish the trip in about 15 days, but the view and exploring usually extends it. Thank you for all your help, and if the Sheltowee organization needs anything, let me know so I can add any task or request in my plans.

Traildust · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:12 pm Post subject:

Rajun,

Thanks for the offer of help. Best you can do for us is to make a note of blowdowns, blockages, slides etc and send in to director@sheltoweetrace.org.

Enjoy the journey.

RajunCajun81 · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:20 am Post subject:

Roger that. I will take pics and plug the grids into my gps if I locate any. By the way, I have been searching and was trying to find a 1:50,000 MGRS map of the Trace. This will allow me to train on land navigation old school style with just my map, compass and dead reckoning. If you know a location where I can purchase this type of MGRS map, that would be great. If not, I will try and see if my map dudes at 5th Group can print me off one.

- Mac

Traildust · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:13 pm Post subject:

1 over 50K maps will be hard. Best you go to Army sources if possible. I think the other maps on the internet are not that scale.

daavidfischer · cub Joined: 16 Oct 2012 Posts: 12

I guess you are a real adventurer. I really hope you achieve your goal. If you are such an adventurous person then I would suggest the tada hills in Andhra Pradesh in India. This is one hell of a place for an adventurer like you.

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Ascentionist · Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:49 pm Post subject:

"Backcountry camping" is RRG lingo for parking your car overnight at a trailhead or along the road. Thru-hikers don't have to worry about the permit.

They really should just call it an "Overnight Parking Permit." That would be oh so helpful. From what I've seen since they implemented the fee schedule the ambiguous language means a whole lot of confused day use people pay for the permit when they technically don't need it.