Overnight on The Trace

We have been enjoying our explorations of the Sheltowee Trace trail.  I'm a fan of geology, and this trail does not disappoint!  

According to the interweb, Sheltowee is pronounced shel-toe-ee.  I always say it wrong, but I've noticed that the folks most familiar to the trail just say "the trace."  The symbol for the trace is a turtle, and the turtle is stenciled on roadways and on little signs nailed to trees all along the trail.  

The trace is mostly in the Daniel Boone National Forest, but parts of it are on private land or on local roadways.  The trail is over three hundred miles long, and we've challenged ourselves to hike the whole thing! 

Not all at one time, which would probably take a month of daily hiking, but doing as much as we can each month until we've hiked it all.  Some folks make it a challenge to hike the whole thing in one calendar year, going on overnight hikes one weekend a month.  This means they have to hike nearly twenty miles a day sometimes!  I don't think we are going to give ourselves a hard deadline, so hopefully we can keep the per day mileage to something more reasonable.  

After all, it's nice to be able to stop and admire the fungi or linger in a pretty spot without worrying that we won't get to camp before dark.   

We've been practicing long hikes for several months now, and this weekend Brandon and I were ready to try our first two-day hike with an over night camp.  We hiked for twelve miles on Saturday, carried everything we needed, slept in a tent on the ground, and hiked for ten miles on Sunday.  And we survived!  My bag weighed twenty-four pounds, and I would feel weightless for the first few steps after taking it off.   

The weather was perfect for hiking, and the forest was vibrant green with splashes of color that promise beautiful fall colors in the days to come.  

Most of the hike was under the forest canopy, but we got one good view of the lake under the fluffy clouds with a picturesque sailboat on the water.  

We saw some cool snakes and so many colorful fungi.  This one is called chicken of the woods, and I'm told it tastes as good a chicken when it's cooked.  

We made it to our chosen campsite with enough daylight to put up our tents and build a fire.  Brandon and I had a brand new tent right out of the package, and had never set it up before, so we were glad not to have to figure it out in the dark.  We sat around the camp fire with our friends and enjoyed some wine and our trail food.  Everything tastes better after a twelve mile hike through the forest.  

We had several groups on horses pass right by our camp site!  Just imagine how many of the comforts of home we could bring hiking if we brought our donkeys to carry our gear.  Why doesn't anyone else think that it is a good idea to bring Rufus?  

Our new tent is very lightweight as it's made mostly of a fine mesh.  The rain fly covers the whole thing and kept us dry during a light rain.  I tossed and turned and ached from all that hiking with a heavy bag.  My butt fat was chilled from sitting on the ground by the fire and I felt the cold radiate from my backside for what felt like hours before I warmed up. My arms would get cold if they were out of the sleeping bag, but when I had them tucked inside I felt wrapped like a mummy!  I really missed my pillows.  Muscle cramps while trapped in a sleeping bag in a small tent are fun too.  I was sure I hadn't slept a wink, but when Brandon told me it was time to get up I couldn't believe the night was over.  Thank goodness.  After a some hot tea and oatmeal, we were packed up and hiking off the soreness.  I was surprised to find that my feet actually felt better on the second day.  

The hike was a wonderful break from real life, and we were so happy to get home to a shower and a long soak in the hot tub.  I'm already looking forward to the next camping adventure.