Mark Twain National Forest
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I had the privilege of hiking with my good friend and long time hiking partner, Rob. Our trips attempt to stretch our familiarity and competency of light weight hiking, and it's a fun and rewarding challenge. This year, we spent three days on the Berryman Trail in the Mark Twain National Forest. The Berryman Trail is a 32 mile loop that is heavily wooded with southern pine, and hills of a few hundred feet to ascend and descend. We left late Thursday night, and camped at the Berryman Campground off of Berryman Rd on the southern edge of the loop. Three owls were in close proximity, and hooting to one another throughout the night. A really fun and tranquil way to fall to sleep.
Friday morning we started west, moving clockwise through the loop. The terrain was somewhat flat, and we were moving pretty quickly. Although it was Spring, water was sparse, and we were mindful to load up in the afternoon prior to ascending the ridges in the western part of the loop. Early afternoon we completed 11 miles, and found a nice ridge to camp, south of County Rd 2274. Although we had more time to continue hiking, going further north would put us closer to Floyd Tower Rd, and more street noise. Later we would find that the area was subjected to a recent controlled burn, so stopping earlier was a wise choice.
Having slept out in the open, I was rewarded with a great morning sunrise over the ridge. Although still a little cold at night, Friday night was much better than Thursday night. Evening lows were in the low 40's. After some oatmeal with rehydrated apples, and Trader Joe's coffee, I was all ready to go. We continued north on the west end of the loop. As we thought, we passed close to the road, and then discovered those many recently burned acres. We thought we'd see a water source earlier, and were very anxious to resupply. Finally, on the northwest edge of the loop, near Harmon Springs Rd, we saw a place to descend and refill our stores. At 11 am, we completed nearly 11 miles and were near State Hwy W. Some passing hikers indicated that the weather report changed, and strong rains were expected at Midnight. We would see how well our lightweight kit would hold up. By Noon, we traveled further south on the east side of the loop, parallel to Floyd Tower Rd. We had a nice, sunny lunch alongside a stream near a state campground. We refilled out water reservoirs, and continued further south. The 18 miles seemed to take a lot longer than expected. At 4 pm, we reached our desired evening destination. It was on a nice, open ridge, overlooking a valley. There was a lack of flat, even, spots for sleeping areas. This was my first time setting up my poncho/tent arrangement for a storm, and I was very uncertain. There were some creative things about my setup, but the failure to set it up on level terrain was a major mistake. Although the heavy rain didn't start at Midnight, by 6 am my sliding sleeping pad projecting into the heavy rain was a problem. Recognizing that the only thing between a wet sleeping pad and a warm calorie filled breakfast is 3 miles, I suggested we get moving. An hour later, we were at the car. We had a super breakfast in Dupree, and then headed back to St. Louis.