A Four Day Shakedown Hike

Things came together faster than we had figured with some mail thing that we were waiting on, so we canceled our workout session for the day and made preparations to go backpacking. The weather forecast was for clear, but warm weather (possibly 80's), and 75% humidity.

Our food was all ready to go from the night before. Four days of food. There was still room in the food bags, so we figured we could hold a couple more days worth if needed. It came to 11 lbs. for the four days. Three dinners with some sort of protein. granola for three breakfasts with Nestle Nido Fortificada Mexican powered milk--it was the only thing available at the store. Some wraps with summer sausage and sharp cheddar cheese and mustard for lunch. The first day out we had some left over steak that was covered in salsa for the meat in the wraps. And an indiscriminate amount of snack stuff. 

We finished packing our clothes. It's not that hard these days, as there isn't much else in our room. Pam forgot her ID and money, but we should be fine as long as I don't lose my wallet. 

We were out the door at 10:20am. We made it several hundred yards down the road when Pam realized that she'd left her long sleeve shirt at home and it would be needed, especially if it got real sunny out. If it rained, she had rain gear. 

We walked our normal route, as if heading to the grocery store, and continued down Smither to the Veterans Memorial Parkway. Instead of going all the way to the frontage road, we cut through Elkens Creek subdivision. If I would have known that we could have walked all the way through the subdivision to connect to the Lone Star Hiking Trail, I would have done that. We instead connected to the LSHT at the frontage road next to I-45 and hiked the 2.5 miles into Huntsville State Park.

We got to the entrance station just two minutes before they would normally close on a Thursday (4:45pm), but this week was special; it was Spring Break. We had absolutely no idea. The place was packed. So packed that we had to spring for an RV spot, as it was the only camp spot left open. After the 12+ mile hike, the $35 seemed like a fair price for a shower. 

There are 30 Alligators in this Park

We found a space for our tent that was as far from the park road as possible. This small footprint of our new tent makes it much easier to find a place with relative levelness to place it. The spot has to meet other criteria too, like not being in a drainage area, not have too many sharp objects to expel, and possible good orientation for beneficial breezes. 

Our Little Abode in the midst of Mansions

Dinner was Annie's spiral pasta with white cheddar cheese powder and half a small summer sausage cut up into it. It was yummy!

It didn't take long to get into bed and sleeping soundly after we had showers, as the sun was down and dusk setting in. We were beat.

It took us two hours to get moving the next morning. I think every move we made took twice as long as it does on a normal day. "Normal" defined as one where we didn't walk 12 miles the day before. Breakfast was cold cereal ready to go, just add water, and a cup of hot tea.  Not exactly a complex meal to make.

A Nice Bridge

10:20am we were headed back up the road that we'd walked in on to get back to the  Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT). This is not a criticism against either one of these agencies specifically, but more of an example of the general lack of coordination I regularly see between neighboring agencies. The signage for these trails and how to navigate between them sucks. The only prominent sign in the state park was the one that announced that you couldn't enter unless you paid your fee--kind of clues you into the priorities here. Yet, it gives you not a wit of an idea where to pay your fee, even though you are obviously able to walk into the place from the trail. On the other side of the coin, the LSHT maps have no indication that other trails exist in their vicinity or cross the LSHT. Throw into the mix the National Forest that borders the Huntsville SP, which has trail closure signs up for certain mountain bike trails, but have no indication about either the LSHT or the Huntsville SP trails even existing.  People, can we possibly start working together here?!

No Indication of Other Trails

Coral Snake--Red Touches Yellow, You're a Dead Fellow"

We missed our water source, walked right by it. I'm going to blame the fact that the guide for the LSHT was written for the trail to be walked from west to east and we were not going that direction for my missing the clue to the major water source. That being said, I'm glad that I didn't as it would have meant me carrying that extra water that much further than I already did. Instead of filling up at the spigot on the outside of the pump house for Huntsville water pump,  I guided us to the water treatment plant--they sound sort of similar, don't they? There is a big difference! While it looked like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, it was a different shade of brown that faced us as we walked up on the plant. Luckily, there was a Water Treatment worker there that had just got done testing the water out of the spigot for the appropriate level of chlorine. It looked clean. It smelled okay. I understand the basics of water treatment and how it turns our wastewater into drinkable water. Yet...I still filtered the water before it went into our bottles. I filled another three liter bladder to carry to camp, as I didn't know about the water sources further on. In the heat of the afternoon, I felt those easy 10 extra pounds on my back. 

Hot and Tired

The dry camp at Mile Marker 29 was as rustic as they described in the guide. If we didn't have good folks build a camp there, though, you'd damn near need to camp in the middle of the trail. These woods don't have a lot of open space that haven't been cleared out by someone. We were in the midst of cleaning some of the sweat off of our naked bodies with a few cups of our precious water when we heard voices. These voices were the advance crew of a group of Boy Scouts who were about to arrive after hiking 16 miles on the LSHT. There were about 20 of them, along with a few adults. Pam barely was able get some clothes on after jumping into the tent. These boys were preparing for a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It was amazing to watch how fast they were able to set up their tents and get themselves organized for dinner. Brought a smile to my old Boy Scout self.

"Primitive Hiker Camp"

We laid in bed the next morning to let the boys eat breakfast, pack, do their stretching exercises, and get off down the trail before venturing out. It only took us an hour to get going ourselves. After breakfast and refilling our water bottles, we had about a liter left in the bladder. Not to be wasted, I strapped it to the top of my pack and off we went. 

Down the trail just a little bit, we saw the new campground being built by the Sam Houston Trails Coalition. This one was going to be a bit swankier than the one at Mile Marker 29. If we would have known about the other older campground on the east side of the stagnant pond, we would have moved our campsite and let the Boy Scouts have the whole of MM29 camp to themselves. As you can see from the picture above, MM29 is barely a clearing. I wouldn't call it a camp.

We needed the trail guide to walk this next section of trail, as the markings are frustratingly sparse. There was water of varying qualities in the creek beds along this stretch of the trail, but we had enough to carry us through the day.

When we finally reached the Stubblefield Recreation Area, it really shouldn't have been a surprise that it too was packed to the hilt. Even the Overflow area, which has no water or noticeable toilet facilities, was packed. There was trash piled at every eddy in the road, at the ends of the bridge, along with the trash bins overflowing. It was a busy spring break week.

We inquired around to find the camp host to see if some accommodation could be made. Isaac and his wife, a couple of young kids--literally in their early 20s--were living in a 34 foot fifth wheel with two cute-as-hell little ones. They had obviously been schooled by the rangers about stretching the rules, so they gave us the bad news. Sometimes, I wish that I would just not ask permission so often. In this case, after talking with Isaac and his wife for a bit, she let on that he was an Uber driver. It would cost us $15 to get a ride back to Huntsville--the same amount to camp for the night. Faced with having to squeeze into an already overloaded Overflow campsite and walking back the 14.3 miles along Possum Walk Way back into Huntsville versus getting a ride back for the same cost, the decision was easily made. We asked Isaac if we could shower first so as not to stink up his new car so much. He had no problem with that as he needed to get out of his pajamas and get some jeans on first anyway. 

In the intervening time, a young man with long brown hair and a beard and mustache that belonged on one of the Three Musketeers stepped up to chat with us. He was also looking for the camp host. We didn't get his name, but I would have bought his hat off of him if I thought that I had enough  cash and that he would have even considered selling it. He was looking to do some of the LSHT with his dog to get prepared for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this year. He had completed the Appalachian Trail last year, so we had lots of questions!  Isaac the Camp Host joined us and answered the young man's question about how long he was allowed to leave his vehicle at the trailhead for his hike. We said our goodbyes and he was off to his adventure. 

Isaac opened the trunk to his Prius--a car purchased for the express purpose of doing Uber--and we loaded our packs, shoes and sticks into the back. I asked him if he and his family ate pizza, as I wanted him to stop by Caesar's Pizza on the way home. He said he wouldn't mind stopping, but also wouldn't turn down the pizza. With the pizzas in hand, we were soon back home. I gladly took another shower after we woofed down a few pieces of pizza and a beer. After quickly unpacking, I settled into a deep nap at 5:30pm. One of the most awesome things about being retired is not caring if I nap and am up half the night. In this case, it mattered not as I was ready to go back to bed about 10pm. 

We did a little over 30 miles in three days of hiking. While respectable, we still have a month of getting ready and to make some more progress. We are feeling stronger and stronger every day. That part feels awesome!