I got the duct tape and Band-Aids and decided I wasn’t letting a little pain get in my way. After putting duct tape over most of my right heel and the ball of my foot, plus a well-placed Band-Aid, I was as good as new.
I repacked my food bag with food that didn’t need cooking (since I still haven’t purchased a stove) and restocked Kodie’s pack. I got some clean dry socks and hopped in the car. I’d never been to Western Kentucky before and I was looking forward to the trip, even if it did require driving about 4 hours. Ugh.
I made it to the Golden Pond Welcome Center for information and then headed to the North Welcome Station for my backcountry pass and the trailhead. I did the Canal Loop trail, which is 14 miles that follows the perimeters of Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake as well as the connecting canal.
I don’t think this trail is hiked much (it’s mostly used by mountain bikers) and I don’t think anyone ever backpacks on it. It is a bit short for that but a good starter for me. I asked if there were any established campsites on it and I was told there are a couple. She was right. I encountered the first one way up on a sandy cliff overlooking Lake Barkley that would have been freezing cold so I wasn’t interested.
I kept hiking and when it became time to seriously start looking the pickins were slim due to hills and seas of poison ivy. I finally found a nice flat poison ivy-free area in the woods that bordered a prairie. It was an awesome place for wildlife. In general, LBL is an awesome place for wildlife. On my short over-night hike I saw a pair of ducks, turtles, deer, wild turkeys, herons, and a pair of osprey. At night I heard several animals (I wasn’t sure what some of them were), owls, and even a Screech Owl. This site was also cool because it was not an established campsite so I got to practice my Leave No Trace camping skills. The Canal Loop is a bit noisy because of all the boat traffic. I have to admit the hours of drunken hollering on the lake made me a bit nervous being by myself. I’m not too keen on the two-legged beasts of the woods. But finally around 1-2 am everything was quiet except for the night critters.In the morning I packed up and headed out. I took my time knowing that I had most of the day to hike a few short 6 or 7 miles.
Around lunchtime I noticed I was about out of water and the terrain was going down hill. I was hoping this would take me to a place near the lake so I could refill my H2O supply. Lo and behold, I found a completely nasty trashy campsite in a little cove on Kentucky Lake. It did, however, have a decent little shoreline where I refilled and ate lunch.
While I was eating I heard a group of several men hiking. I didn’t think too much about it but Kodie was not happy they were so close to us. (This hike also showed me that Kodie has added “protecting Jodi” to her list of duties, which I am OK with!)After lunch I set out and quickly passed the group of soldiers who were taking a quick break. After about a half-mile or so they weren’t too far behind me so I stopped to let them pass. There were about 6 of them. I gave them some distance so Kodie wouldn’t be on their heels.
After a while I heard voices behind me through switchbacks but I never really saw anyone so I kept going. Eventually, when I got to the junction near the North Welcome Station I passed one of the military guys, who asked me if I’d seen the rest of his men. I laughed and said, “Is that who is behind me?” He laughed and said ”Yeah! With daypacks!”
So I guess I totally out hiked a few straggler military men carrying only daypacks. I got quite a kick out of that. When I got up to the trail head the rest of the military group had arrived a few minutes earlier and also got a kick out of the fact that I beat their comrade, went a farther distance, and with a full pack.
So all in all I enjoyed my first solo trip and hope to return to LBL and hike some less busy areas. Oh yeah, and after a total of 35 miles in a few days I better understand the hiker mantra of “you stop, you die.” Once I got a good couple of miles under my belt at LBL my feet felt fine (God bless duct tape!) and I didn't notice my ankle until the last mile or so. But when I sat in the car for 4 hours and then got home…my ankle swelled up and was very sore. Luckily all I had to do after baths and Kodie’s post-hike-tick-pick was lounge around. I kept it elevated and by Sunday morning I was good to go!
No comments:
Post a Comment