Gary and Ginger stopped for lunch on Camp Creek, Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area
The fall colour at Busiek was stunning
The the colour of the trees on the trail by the Carter Cemetery were breathtaking. I took this picture when we stopped for lunch by Camp Creek. We finished the hike in plently of time to visit one of the Flea Markets in Ozark before collecting the big kids from school.
Fall color at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area, Missouri
Autumn color on the road to the South trail head at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area
Camp Creek crossing, Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area
Camp Creek Crossing
Possumhaw berries on the Yellow Trail at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area
Fall color at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area, Missouri
01 November 2011 | 365:305 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary, Lanie and Ginger (hiding at the back) too
For what seems like the first time in over three months the temperature dropped below 90°F,
We should have tried for a better shot in which all of Ginger’s face was visible, but we wanted to get on our way as we had an appointment with some burgers at Tom and Rebbie’s to keep. Very nice they were too.
Tonight we’ve had to close up the house. Not because it’s too hot – but because it is too cold!
05 September 2011 | 365:248 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
© 2011 Gary Allman
Late at night sitting on my brother’s kitchen floor
UK June 2011 – Day 26. Last week we were Scottish Episcopalians, this week we reverted to CofE,
The service was sparsely attended, we stayed afterwards for coffee, which we had in the Church as the parish hall was being used for a function of some sort.
Two weeks later back in Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield, I felt very uneasy about the full church and how well supported it is. I read that the (below target) weekly contribution for the previous week had been over $13,000 that’s about £8,000 at current exchange rates. At St Margaret’s the vicar stood in the pulpit relating the reduced income of the previous week’s jumble sale of £700.00. One wonders what he, or the people at St Maelrubha’s in Poolewe would do with a fraction of that £8,000 per year let alone per week.
After church we spent the afternoon and evening with my friends Roy and Jan, their daughters and families. Dee is my Goddaughter, and I’m honorary Godfather to Lynn who asserts (to me anyway) that she should be my Goddaughter. The amusing thing is that I wasn’t her Godfather because Roy and Jan thought my (first) marriage wouldn’t last, well that’s what they told me some time later. Ha! I must have got ‘em fooled by the time Dee came along then. We had a great time catching up and were treated to a nice dinner out. But much more importantly Jan produced real home made mince pies for us. Mince pies in July. Wonderful.
I should have taken some pictures, but the photographic lethargy that’s afflicted me on this trip struck again, and I took none. At the end of the day I just sat on my brother’s kitchen floor (why not) and took today’s picture. After nearly a month away from home my beard’s looking in desperate need of a trim – that’s only a few more days away.
Today’s extras
Inside St Margaret's Church, Eastney, Portsmouth
St Margaret's Church, Eastney, Portsmouth
10 July 2011 | 365:191 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Crossing Camp Creek
Today we hiked the white and orange trails at Busiek,
If was a bit cold at first, but the weather was glorious and now everything is starting to go green the colours were wonderful. The trail was very muddy in places, and I had great fun slopping through all the mud in my bare feet while Ginger struggled to keep her shoes dry. I took today’s picture while I was standing in Camp creek washing some of the mud off. We did the six odd miles of the two trails in plenty of time to pick up the big kids from school.
We had an early start at Church this evening. Ginger because she and Lanie are singing with some other mothers and daughters on Mother’s day, and myself for a meeting. Alek helped out in the kitchen. While the kids had youth group the parents spent their time chatting.
We finished the day with Gin and Tonics and the last of the Star Was prequels – Revenge of the Sith. Thank goodness, now we can watch the good movies in the series.
Today’s extras
The shooting range bridge at Busiek was washed out
The damaged shooting range bridge at Busiek
Caution - there's no bridge!
Spring on the White trail at Busiek State Park and Wildlife Area
Ginger on the White trail at Busiek state Park and Wildlife Area
Ephemeral Creek at Busiek
Ephemeral Creek at Busiek
04 May 2011 | 365:124 | 365 Days blog | Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area| Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Lunch break and ‘phone call – day hike at Busiek
Ginger wanted to see the Dogwoods in bloom.
In the midst of setting the shot up I got a call from the UK, which amused us both, knowing that Stephen (the caller) had no idea that we were in the middle of a hike. Busiek is dissected by Highway 65 with cell ‘phone towers on top of the surrounding hills, so getting a signal here isn’t a problem.
After the hike we popped into a flea market in Ozark, hoping to find a suitable saucepan for the wood burner. Unfortunately we couldn’t find anything. Maybe another trip to Bass Pro, or a tour of the local flea markets is called for.
After picking up the kids from school I filled the van with gas – $62! this is getting silly.
Today’s alternate shot & extras
Lunch break - day hike at Busiek
Ultra-pod tripod in use with a Nikon D40X
Ginger and the Dogwoods
Assuming it survives, this tree has had a very lucky escape. It's obviously been struck a glancing blow by lightning.
19 April 2011 | 365:109 | 365 Days blog | Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Family hike
Today I tried to learn from yesterday’s failure to make the most of the photo opportunities.
After church we took all the kids hiking at Busiek, which meant having a bouncy twelve year old, a reluctant teenager, and an out and out surly teenager along with us.
I ought to point out that the surly one, Alek, isn’t usually the stereotypical surly teenager, but today he made up for it, sighing and moaning whenever the opportunity arose. It probably didn’t help that my response to his statement “you said I didn’t have to do this outside stuff with you again.” was “We lied.” Though it was very effective at cutting off any argument.
Ginger picked the silver trail for our hike. This is a technically demanding three mile route that even we find quite tough going at times; so Alek, Katie and Lanie should be commended for getting around it despite the grumbling. Especially as the temperatures unexpectedly rocketed up into the low nineties.
Today’s extras
Alek, Katie Ginger and Lanie at Busiek
Katie checks a self portrait while Lanie watches. It seems this self portrait taking is catching.
A surly teenager captured in this classic example of the breed
03 April 2011 | 365:093 | 365 Days blog | Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary crossing Woods Fork at Busiek
Time for another hike.
After the problems I had with my huaraches on Monday, I tried lacing them more tightly and they stayed in place with less slipping, again the trail was wet and very muddy in places, though this time we only had to cross the creek (Woods Fork) twice. Today’s picture shows me re-enacting my valiant first crossing of the creek. We heard the sound of falling water and left the trail to investigate, finding a very nice set of small waterfalls on a ephemeral creek about 100 feet off the trail. From there we had to do a bit of back tracking to retrieve my sunglasses, which I’d left at the creek when I took them off to set up the camera for today’s shot.
We stopped for a bite of lunch and a short rest on a lovely gravel bank near our second Wood’s Fork crossing, where Ginger looked for fossils.
Once back to the car, we had to dash into Springfield, pick-up kids, return the rental car, pick up the van, and I went off to my class. It would have been an excellent night at class only partway through I realised that I’d read the wrong lesson the previous night. That’ll teach me to do my work late in the evening, though the van breaking down did throw me out a bit I should have double checked the lesson.
Today’s alternate shot & extras
The trails at Busiek are typical of the rough trails that can be found in the Ozarks, lots of loose sharp rocks. As horses use the trails at Busiek they are rougher than they'd be if there was foot traffic only. It's not a problem, but it certainly makes the trails more challenging.
Ephemeral creek and falls at Busiek
Ginger checking out the creek
Woods Fork, Busiek State Park and Wildlife Area
10 March 2011 |Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Lunch at Busiek
Today we went on a re-run of last week’s hike at Busiek.
My huaraches were fine generally, but they didn’t work very well when climbing up steep wet trails, the foot-bed got very slippery, and while my feet didn’t come out of them, it wasn’t very comfortable either. We’ve some ideas for changing the material of the foot-bed that might help. I was surprised that my feet stayed warm except when crossing the creeks. The temperature today was around 46°F (8°C), it might look a lot warmer in this picture but I’m wearing a base layer and took my hat off. I’ve learned via a lot of post processing that wearing a hat for these pictures can cast quite a shadow, so, when I remember, I take it off.
While on the trail I took a picture of an abandoned liquid nitrogen tank which at some point was a railroad truck. We’ve worked this out from some faint markings on the outside. There are two of them, the ends have been cut off, and one has come to rest in Camp Creek. We can’t find any records of a railroad going through here. The tanks are very big and we’ve no idea how they came to be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.
Back at the parking lot we took advantage of the shooting range being closed to have a look around. The fact that it was considered necessary to put up a ‘No shooting at Post’ sign was vaguely amusing, but unfortunately they need another sign saying ‘No shooting at trash cans’ as well
I took today’s picture of Ginger and I after our first crossing of Camp Creek while we stopped for lunch.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Gary and Ginger being nauseating at Busiek
Gary and Ginger on the orange trail at Busiek State Park
Camp Creek in Busiek State Park and Wildlife area
No Shooting at Post (Note the bullet holes in the trash cans)
07 March 2011 | 365:066 | 365 Days blog | Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area| Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Day hike – with creeks
Today was a nice day for a hike.
I took today’s picture while we were sitting having a rest while drying our feet and enjoying the sunshine. On our way back we decided it would slow us down too much getting out of our shoes and then getting dried at each crossing, especially as we needed to cross the creek about four times. We just walked straight through, the advantage of wool socks is that they soon warm up even when sopping wet. We completed the trail quite quickly, something we’ve been regretting since as we’ve quite a few aches. One wonders when this will get easier.
Somehow we bodged all our preparations and forgot to take lunch, my driving licence and ID, map, hiking poles, bags to put wet things in, and worst of all we forgot the kids got out of school early! The kids got themselves home okay, we’ll be working on a packing list for day hikes which will include the item ‘Check calendar’.
Back in Springfield I took Lanie to Bass Pro shopping for fishing lures and a storage box for Ginger’s kayak. We found some very pretty lures that Lanie assured me fish would find very enticing. We also found, but didn’t buy some shocking pink worms, I called ‘Hello Kitty’ worms.
I finished the day making another pair of huaraches (that’ll be the mark IVs) concentrating on trying to get the foot-bed the right shape. Having tried them for a couple of days I can say with confidence that there will be a Mark V. Finally I fitted a jamming cleat on my kayak to keep the anchor traveller in place.
Tonight we watched Up. I surprised myself by finding it quite charming.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Wide creek equals wet feet
Drilling the holes for the anchor traveller jamming cleat on my kayak
Kayak hoist
Shocking pink worms
Crossing a creek on the white trail at Busiek
Ephemeral Creek on the white trail in Busiek State Forest and Wildlife area
Ozarks' skies
01 March 2011 | Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area | 365:060 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Halfway up the first hill – Busiek State Forest & Wildlife Area
Tomorrow I’ll ache.
The only wildlife we saw was an armadillo, which I managed to get within three feet of, but didn’t get a picture as I was too busy laughing at the bouncy way they run.
Still to do: the school run, another visit to the bank, get the slow puncture in the van’s back wheel fixed, and then my class this evening.
Today’s alternates & extras
Alternate: Lunch on the Silver trail - Busiek State Forest & Wildlife Area
View to the North from the Silver tail at Busiek
27 January 2011 | 365:027 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
