Shawnee National Forest - 2025
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We started on the River-to-River Trail from Elizabethtown. After parking our vehicle at the county police station lot and checking-in, we started north through Elizabethtown. Soon we were on the trail and stopped for a snack at Lake Tecumseh. It was a little cool out, but the meal and stop were nice. However once we resumed, we got turned around from the trail markings and went east on forest service trail 1784. This brought us right back to Lake Tecumseh. A full circle. It was an overcast day with a chance of rain and cool. We arrived at Big Creek a little before dusk and setup our hammocks. Wind picked up at night and we had rain on and off through the night.
Thursday, it was cold and a bit of rain starting in the morning. We dressed warmly to start the day until we warmed up. We started heading west on the R2R, passing through the High Knob region and then Garden of the Gods. Garden of the Gods was very pretty. The projecting stone features were very interesting. We camped at the Pharaoh Campground in Garden of the Gods. The campground is on a high plateau and amplified the high winds and made the evening even colder in a hammock. Although it was beautiful at sunset, it was a cold night.
Friday, we started again a little cold and needed to warm up at the start of the hike. We quickly hiked through Herod and then got into the One Horse Gap section. Although the ridges to our west very scenic and interesting, it seemed like forever to get through it. It dragged on and on, and I didn't feel like we were making pace. By late afternoon, we were finally ascending the ridge to Benham Hill Trailhead and reached forest service road 186. We found a spot to setup our hammocks and then located the spotty water supply. It was a mostly dried up stream, but we were able to pull acceptable water from a few large pools. We got pretty scratched up from thorn bushes and bites from lots of mosquitos.
Saturday, we head north on forest service trail 1476 and then into Raum Road. It was a nice day. The initial trail was a muddy, slushy mess from over use by ATV's. A few hours later, we would get into the Lusk Creek Wilderness. At Little Lusk Creek, we made a critical error. We crossed the creek too early, and then followed the abandoned R2R trail south of the current course. Using the GPS, we followed this course back to the existing trail. Then we continued westward for a few more miles into we reached our conclusion at the Lust Creek Trailhead near New Home Road.