My thing has become paddling down river and hiking and/or biking back. (stash my paddle and lock up the SUP).
Last week I did a Current River hike bike and float. Drove to Round Spring - hiked about 4 m to Echo Bluff SP ( brand new, has a ridiculous hotel lodge so I stopped to eat a huuge breakfast) then 5 more to my bike parked in Current River SP, then biked the mostly downhill 5 to Pulltite (weeeee!). Then floated 9 back to Round Spring.
I enjoy hacking out these routes, and logistics. Have a couple of great routes that work along the Big Piney (that area is underrated - and hardly anybody is there). Have a couple of nice loops on the Meramec. (though the floods messed up my takeout for one. I got out at my normal spot and had to slog thru shin deep mud for about 50 feet. )
i sure got lit up by chiggers though, ate a bunch of cobwebs, even though I had a stick out in front. this [expletive] weather makes the prime hiking so short -where you hike it and can enjoy it with some foliage without sweating thru and risking disease.
I've probably said this before - hiking in southern MO is some of the most rugged and toughest I've done. Mainly because it can get overgrown, and is not as used as the iconic hiking trails out west . It's treacherous this time of year with the pests and perils. And you can get lost, and odds of running into somebody to help you back are slim.
I'm spying another loop route on the Current River but might have to wait until it cools.
Some pics from last week.
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- It's thick in there. part of my route was new unfinished trail, so all I had to follow was plastic flagging-no path for a while - which had me wondering for about a half hour if I was on track.
The new Echo Bluff State Park. Sort of an abomination from an Ozark land perspective but welcome break for breakfast and walking thru untamed trail for a while.
The views don't come easy and often in the Ozarks. sometimes the powerlines are the only way to get a vista.
My cruiser
the Amazing Pulltite Springs
See my story in Fishing thread, I s
Don't look too closely
Sweet side channel