Cutting wood with Tom
We’re going to have to come back and finish cutting up the log we’re sitting on
03 December 2011 | 365:337 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary by Piney Creek, Piney Creek Wilderness, Missouri
Armistice Day, and the kids have the day off school
Our plan was to get right down to the lake shore, but we didn’t quite make it. We had to be back in Springfield early in the evening, because Katie is playing in the orchestra for the schools presentation of ‘You’re a good man Charlie Brown’ this week. So we decided to stop for lunch just short of our planned destination. The girls did really well. we hiked around five miles and climbed over a thousand feet.
I couldn’t watch katie play last night because it was my EfM tutorial night, so we went along tonight, and it was a great show. Afterwards, to celebrate we treated Katie and ourselves to an ice cream at Braums.
Piney Creek, Piney Creek Wilderness, Missouri
Cooking lunch at Piney Creek, Piney Creek Wilderness, Missouri
Ginger, Lanie and Katie at Piney Creek
Lanie finds a tree bark mask
Trail back to the Tower trail head at Piney Creek Wilderness, Missouri
Look out tower at the Piney Creek Wilderness Tower trail head
11 November 2011 | 365:315 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary with our Mutha Hubba tent, Bucksaw, Harry S Truman Lake.
I thought I’d get my daily picture out of the way early in the day
We beat the kids back from Kansas City with just enough time to enjoy an all day breakfast at Ziggies on South Campbell.
06 November 2011 | 365:310 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
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 and Lanie down by the creek
Today we relaxed at Ginger’s parents
This morning Lanie decided she wanted to go fishing in the creek. That would have been fine if I’d known the day before and had packed our fishing gear. Jim rummaged around and found a small portable rod we couldn’t get to work, and then turned up with a proper fishing rod and some bobbers. No hooks though. So he made one from a sewing needle. Lanie packed some of this mornings wonderful breakfast sausage for bait and we headed down to the creek to fish.
At the creek we saw a beaver swim under the bridge, and we found a small lure and a large fish hook – tripling our fishing gear. The fish loved the sausage but the needle hook wasn’t very effective at catching them. Lanie caught one fish on the huge hook we’d found up in a tree over the creek.
22 October 2011 | 365:295 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Just before I stuck my head in the falls behind me
Invigorating was one word for it,
I don’t have a picture taken after my encounter with the falls; I am trying to be a bit more careful with the camera around water nowadays. Especially as we currently only have one working camera between us.
Despite our best efforts we lazed around over our morning coffee and breakfast and didn’t get going until gone ten.
Our efforts to lighten our packs have paid off. Ginger’s weighed in at 27lbs and mine at 29lbs both including food and water. We took Pole Hollow trail down to Long Creek. The trail started easily enough in glades but the lower end was very dense with vegetation and some fallen trees were blocking the trail. The trail, in common with most of the trails we walked (with the exception of the popular long creek trail) didn’t appear to have been walked much recently. Away from long creek, the trails seemed almost deserted, we saw four people on horseback on our first day and that was it.
We both picked up loads of ticks along the way. This set the scene for the entire trip. We lost count of the number of ticks we removed, both attached and running free. There were small seed ticks, deer ticks and the aptly named lone star ticks. Deet didn’t seem to discourage them much. We were both wearing shorts which at least made it easy to spot the darned things before they could go too far.
Poison ivy was also prevalent along the trails, mainly in forested areas in patches where the cover had been cleared. Hiking in bare feet and shorts I worked on honing my poison ivy spotting skills. Though primarily I avoid contact with any triple leaved green thing. I must be doing something right as over the weekend we bushwhacked a fair way, and encountered a lot of poison ivy, and I didn’t get afflicted by it.
The lower end of Pole Hollow Trail has moved a few hundred yards to the west of the route shown on the trail head maps.
Once on Long Creek Trail we headed west to the falls. About a mile from the falls we spotted a campsite just off the trail, which we noted for future use, knowing that the falls area is very popular and tends to get more than a bit gross. With all the recent rain Long creek was running well, and has to be crossed several times. With all the new growth in some places it was quite tricky to spot where the trail picked up on the opposite side of the creek. At the falls both camp sites at the falls were occupied, our plan was only to stop for lunch so we sat out by the falls which were running quite well. I used the wood burner to boil water for lunch (slow but successful), and took advantage of the deeper pools to bathe. Gosh it was cold! And that was where today’s picture was taken.
We filled up with a massive (and heavy at over 12lbs) 6 litres of water as we were headed North behind the Upper and Lower Pilot knobs for the night and we weren’t sure if we’d find water there.
After lunch we rearranged our packs so I wasn’t carrying too much weight, headed back along Long Creek Trail and then up Cedar Trail, which was quite rocky going, the recent rain has cleared out any loose material on the trail. It was a nice hike uphill through a fairly densly wooded area. Once back up on Pilot trail we headed West, finally camping well off trail to the North near the junction with West Devils Den trail.
After dinner I tried using the wood burner as a campfire with mixed results. We decided not to set the fly, spending the night under the open sky.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Gary boiling water for lunch on the wood burner
Cairn at North end of Pole Hollow trail - Hercules Glades
13 year periodic cicada
Ginger Crossing Long Creek - Hercules Glades
Creek crossing, Long Creek, Hercules Glades
Rock shelf by a creek crossing on Long Creek, Hercules Glades
Typical Hercules Glades trail
Long Creek falls, Hercules Glades
Ginger filtering water at Long Creek falls
28 May 2011 | 365:148 | 365 Days blog | Hercules Glades | 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
Gary and Ginger on a run ashore
Today we went kayaking on Fellows lake.
In the course of the day we saw a very pretty bird, a Prothonotary Warbler, a few turtles, a deer and a couple of fish, but none on the end of my line. I did try fishing for a little while, but like everyone else we saw I didn’t have any luck.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Gary on Fellows Lake, Springfield Missouri
Feet up, taking a break on Fellows Lake, Springfield Missouri
Inlet on Fellows Lake, Springfield Missouri
Ginger on Fellows Lake, Springfield Missouri
08 April 2011 | 365:098 | 365 Days blog | 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 and Ginger at the end of our Berryman Trail backpacking trip
What else could I use for today’s picture?
Today was the day we’ve been carrying around additional clothing for. Since yesterday the temperatures plummeted over forty degrees, we even had some snow sprinkles as we broke camp.
For a change we got away a bit earlier – the temperature in the tent being around 45°F encouraged us out! We started out bushwhacking back to the trail just after 10am and arrived at the Berryman Trail head just before 1pm. We spent a bit of time exploring and dallying on the trail, but the weather made for a quite dreary hike. This part of the trail is a lot more uneven with lots of changes of elevation. Unlike most of the trail, this section doesn’t tend to hug the contours, but dives down into the hollows and then climbs up the other side. We were relieved to find the van where we’d left it, and undamaged – as you never know what to expect when leaving your vehicle at a trail head.
So we’d hiked a modest 24 miles (61,000 steps) in five days, our longest hike was day one – six miles, and our shortest was today’s at around four miles. To put it in context, it is possible to hike the entire Berryman trail in one (hard) day. We planned our trip around stopping where we thought there’d be water, and to last out a reasonably time as we had the whole week without the kids. We probably carried enough food and fuel for nine days, and had to carry additional clothes for wet and cold weather, both of which really pushed up our pack weights. Ginger had some trouble with her feet and knees towards the end of the hike, so I was carrying most of the heavy stuff, including extra water yesterday. Most of the time the day time temps were in the high seventies and nights were in the low to mid fifties. Though last night was below freezing and today’s day time temps just a tad above.
All the gear worked fine, the only items I carried but didn’t use were the first aid kit, emergency kit, my toe socks and my Vibram five fingers – which I took along in case I had trouble with the huaraches. However, My huaraches worked a treat, though I need to do something about the foot-bed of my second pair as it was too rough (I sanded them down when I got home and now they are perfect). The dehydrated food was excellent, though we’ll carry a lot less in future. The water filter/purifier, stove, tent, weather radio, trekking poles (I lost the rubber tip on mine, probably sucked off in some mud), sleeping bags (a tad too warm for me), sleeping pads and chairs (yes we took chairs) all worked fine. We had a bit of trouble with the coffee filter – but that is mainly because our cups are too narrow to be stable. We even managed to use the compass to fix our position on the trail at one point. We found that on the high points of the ridges my cell ‘phone was able to get a signal, so at least once a day we could check for messages (there were none). I rued leaving my rather heavy mini tripod behind, and that is my excuse for the the rather lack lustre arm’s length self portraits I’ve been taking.
Before arriving back at the trail head we’d realised that we had made a major planning blunder by not putting any end of trail beers in the van. So instead we drove to Potosi and treated ourselves to a nice thick hamburger. With an end of hike celebration later in the day in mind we raided Walmart for some scotch, cheese and crackers.
We still have two days to go before we pick up the kids at St Louis, so we headed off to Indian Creek Recreation Area for some car camping. We were not at all impressed at the state of the campsites, they were dirty, unmaintained and looked generally a mess. It gave us a bad feeling about the place. So we decided to opt for the relative luxury of Meramec State Park. What a difference. It probably looks more like a refugee camp at peak season, but at this time of year with temps going below freezing, it was almost empty. Though none of the facilities such as showers and washing machines are available out of season. We found a nice pitch in among some trees, which even had electricity not that we could do anything with it! We arrived shortly before the sun went down, and I managed to get a great picture of the bluffs on the opposite side of the Meramec river as we did a little preliminary exploration of the site.
We foraged for downed limbs, of which there was a plentiful supply after yesterday’s high winds, and we’d bought some fire wood locally, so we could have a huge fire in the supplied firepit and grill. Dinner was a Mango chicken curry over beans and rice. The fire was lit and essential to keep us warm as the temperature was hovering around freezing. Finally we broached the scotch, cheese and crackers and I ate and drank far too much.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Ginger has some munchies on the trail. I have a Snickers bar somewhere in my pack too.
I don't know why I'm smiling, Ginger didn't even give me a bite of her Snickers bar
Snow on the flysheet. The temperatures dropped from the mid seventies to below freezing. We woke up to some snow sprinkles. Not nice!
Are we there yet? Ginger checks the map on our last day on the Berryman trail. And the weather's turned all cold and dreary.
Bluffs on the Meramec River at Meramec State Park, Missouri
Meramec River at Meramec State Park, Missouri
24 March 2011 | 365:083 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary and Ginger Backpacking on the Berryman Trail
Today the sun shone.
The Berryman trail is very nice hiking, the gradients are generally fairly gentle – possibly because they are adapted for biking, and the surface is generally good, either soft or gravelly with a few muddy patches, which the previous night’s rain added to. The puddles on the trail were a great test for my new huaraches, which worked well and didn’t slip against my feet when wet. However, there was a different problem; the foot-bed material was so hard and sharp it abraded my feet. I had to stop using them after today and revert to my pair with the foot-bed that becomes slippery when wet. For today though, it was great to be able to walk straight through the mud and small creeks while Ginger had to search for a dry route across.
We stopped for a cooked lunch of cranberry almond tabouli at a creek about four miles in. All of Ginger’s efforts with the food dehydrator definitely paid off. Even though the food was dehydrated, the six days’ meals we were carrying amounted to 16lbs between us. Over the week we worked out a revised food strategy which will shave a few pounds off. We had enough food for a cooked lunch, dinner and dessert every day. We quickly discovered we didn’t need the cooked lunch – our daily trail mix rations were quite enough to keep us going. We can also drop some of the heavier foodstuffs. The salmon and any pasta weighs a lot mot more than the alternatives.
Our plan was to hike a nice easy five miles a day, today needed a little bit longer, six miles, to get us to an old disused campground – Edward Beecher Recreation Area, where there is a spring which we could use to top up our water if no other opportunities presented themselves. The campground must have been quite large, though it is completely overgrown now with only a few posts and old fireplaces and grills to show it was ever there. The spring it looked like it was a popular party spot for the locals, so we bushwhacked off the trail to be well out of the way and set up camp near a creek.
Once we’d got the tent up, we collected wood for the fire; there were plenty of fallen limbs around to choose from, enough for us to keep a small fire going for a couple of hours or more. Dinner was smoked salmon pasta with carrot cake in a bowl for dessert. Who says backpacking isn’t luxurious?
Sitting quietly by the fire the amount of noise coming from the frogs was startling, and one in particular seemed to be intent on making a very eerie and initially unsettling noise.
Today’s alternate shots
Gary at Berryman Campground. A quick self portrait just in case I didn't get a chance later in the day.
Testing my new huaraches
Today’s extras
We camped a little close to the van, but it was the highest - and therefore driest spot around.
Berryman Trail between the Berryman Trail head and Edward Beecher Recreation Area. These were fairly typical conditions for this part of the trail.
The higher parts on this section of the trail were all pretty much in this condition. The trail markers can be found at almost every point where the trail crosses one of the many forrest roads (tracks). This part of the trail is also part of the Ozark Trail, which explains the top Ozark Trail marker.
20 March 2011 | 365:079 | 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
Near the end of the hike
Our last day in Devils Backbone wilderness.
It had been quite cold overnight and it started to rain just as we were about to break camp. As the rain had been forecast, we had set the tent up so that we could take it down with the rain fly still up – which meant we were able to put just about everything away dry.
The trail up Collins Ridge doesn’t appear to be marked, and we encountered several trails that aren’t marked on the map, which made for some educated guesswork on the navigation, which proved correct once we could see the lay of the land and check it against the topo map. The hike started with another 300+ foot ascent, quite enough for us out of condition hikers.
Before too long we were back where the trail along the Devils Backbone splits off, and shortly after that we stopped by a stone pile which acted as a tripod for today’s picture. Once back at the trail head, Ginger looked at the trail head check-in, and the log had been changed and maps left. We saw that four people had been in on a day hike yesterday, but in the two and a half days we’d been hiking the trails we’d not met anyone. We saw and heard lots of Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), and the tracks of a bobcat (Lynx rufus) but no people, which is pretty much how we like it.
The van was where we left it (always a worry). It was just a matter of dropping our packs in the back and heading off to Ginger’s parents, a nice dinner, pick up the girls and head back to Springfield so that they could be home in good time for school Tuesday (today was a school holiday).
Today’s alternate shots and extras
Gary and Ginger on the Collins Ridge Trail
Back at the van
Camping by the North Fork River - Devils Backbone Wilderness
The North Fork River - Devils Backbone Wilderness
21 February 2011 | 365:052 | Devils Backbone Wilderness | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Morning coffee in Crooked Hollow – Devils Backbone Wilderness
It’s our second wedding anniversary,
and what better way to celebrate it than backpacking? I sure do know how to show a girl a good time! I took today’s picture while we were drinking our morning coffee and making our plans for the day. Ginger it should be added, surprised me with an anniversary gift – a CD. We had no way to play it though.
After breakfast and breaking camp, we hiked down Mary Hollow and followed the trail north and west to the North Fork River. The trail was obstructed by fallen trees in many places, and only a couple of trails are marked, so you need a map and to read the ground to make sure you stick to the right trail. We stopped briefly to admire the bluffs on the North Fork and to be completely disgusted at the mess left behind presumably by people camping in the wilderness while floating down the North Fork River. The almost complete lack of trash on the trails of the wilderness would suggest that this is the case.
We then climbed the 360 feet to the top of McGarr Ridge, and walked along the ridge and then negotiated the very steep 360 foot descent to visit Blue Spring, where we filled up with water (we have a filter pump and chemically treat our water), and had lunch. Our plan was to camp somewhere near where we’d first seen the river, and that meant retracing our path, climbing and descending McGarr Ridge again. We surprised oursleves by getting up the ridge quite quickly. Our new (but low-cost) trekking poles, brought for this trip, proved themselves invaluable going up and down the ridge. Once back at the river we didn’t want to stop at the campsite that had been abused by all the floaters, so we followed the trail North a short while and then cut down to the river. We found a nice secluded gravel bank where we spent the night, accompanied by the sound of running water.
We had managed around 4.25 miles again, though the climbs and descents took their toll on our legs.
Today’s out takes & extras
Morning coffee in Mary Hollow
Morning coffee in Mary Hollow
At the North Fork River
Camping in Mary Hollow
Bluffs on the North Fork River
20 February 2011 | 365:051 | Devils Backbone Wilderness | Gary and Ginger’s wedding | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Wedding anniversary backpacking at Devils Backbone Wilderness
Tonight we get to sleep in the woods and tomorrow it’s our It’s our second wedding anniversary.
We got away from Springfield on time, picking up Lanie from her sleepover on the way out. At the grandparents I helped Jim load a large steel house sign into his pick-up before we headed off for the last fifty miles or so to our destination; the Devils Backbone Wilderness area.
Over the past week we’ve checked the maps and pictures of the wilderness we found online. We had a rough plan of action, starting at the Collins Ridge trail head. There was no other vehicles in the parking lot, checking the registration log, it appeared no one had entered the wilderness from here for a while.
We had a good hike along the Devils Backbone down into Mary Hollow. Ginger particularly liked all the pine trees at the start of the hike. The Devils Backbone was quite impressive with a significant drop off on each side, which is where I took today’s picture. The point where the trail drops into Mary Hollow is incorrectly marked on the map (it comes out about an eighth of a mile to the east of where it is shown), which caused us a bit of backtracking while we looked for the trail to McGarr Spring. We found the trail but couldn’t find the spring, there was evidence of water but there was none running.
We decided to camp further down the Hollow towards the North Fork river, so that we could pick up water in the morning. The trail was very easy walking being mainly soft dirt. It would have suited my Vibram Five Fingers which I hadn’t brought along. My Mark II huaraches worked well, but as expected weren’t tough enough for the the trip, so after a couple of repairs, I gave up and resorted to trainers for hiking and flip-flops around camp. In total we hiked about 4.25 miles today.
The overnight temperatures dropped into the mid forties, but we were nice and snug.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Ginger on the Devils Backbone
Sitting round the campfire in Mary Hollow
19 February 2011 | 365:050 | Devils Backbone Wilderness | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary and Ginger on a snowy Sac River Trail
No Interwebs today.
To keep busy I cleared the drive of last night’s couple of inches of snow, and we decided to enjoy the sunshine, brave the snow cover and go for a short hike on the Sac River Trail. The hike was fine, proving our gear is up to a winter hike, getting to the trail and away again was not so good.
On our way to the trail I nearly ‘T Boned’ a pick-up and trailer as it sailed through a stop sign without stopping; the driver was too busy chatting on his cell ‘phone. The street was completely snow covered, and the ABS while working hard couldn’t do enough to stop us in time. The only thing I could do was try and minimize the blow, and turned into the curb while trying to avoid a lamppost. Fortunately the curb stopped us and I missed the post. A couple of hours later at the parking lot for the trail I made the mistake of trying to turnaround to get out and got us well and truly stuck in the snow. Somehow I even managed to get one (driving) wheel off the ground! I tried my repertoire of get unstuck tricks, and finally had to resort to digging down through the snow and ice to the ground using my pocket knife. Note to self: Snow shovels aren’t worth a damn for digging out a stuck van.
I took today’s picture of Ginger and I while on our hike.
Today’s out takes & extras
Out take: Gary and Ginger on a snowy Sac River Trail
Little Sac River from the Sac River Trail
Ginger on a snowy Sac River Trail
05 February 2011 | 365:036 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
At the Antique Mall
Today we managed to escape the kids for the first time in three days.
Today is a new day and yet another snow day for the schools in Springfield, and our Youth Minister at Church volunteered to take the Youth Group kids for some snow day fun. I, for one, wasn’t going to try and dissuade her, the thought of nearly six hours to ourselves was far too good to turn down. At eleven I took the kids to Church, and I was surprised how bad the roads were, only the major roads have been plowed. At Church I checked if there was anything I needed to be doing and inspected the huge pile of snow in the next door parking lot before returning home.
Once home, we had to get a parcel in the post and then the day was ours. Which was a problem as we don’t have the right footwear for hiking in a foot of snow and the lakes are frozen so Kayaking was out of the question. We ended up going down to Ozark and visiting a couple of flea markets (or Antique Malls as they style themselves), where I drooled over some oil lamps, Coleman lamps and some very nice cameras. The light coming from some of the display cabinets was very nice, which is where I took today’s picture.
Today’s out takes and alternate pictures
At the Antique Mall
Welcome to the taxidermy display
Old photographer and some older cameras
A big pile of snow
04 February 2011 | 365:035 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Kayaking on James River, Springfield Missouri
Today was a busy day.
We decided to take advantage of the weather and go kayaking on the James River this morning. I’m glad we did, as the temperatures got up to 72°F (22°C), giving me my first chance this year to expose my legs to the air. Despite the warm weather the lake was still frozen in a couple of out of the way places.
We couldn’t stay out on the lake for too long, as we volunteered to take kids to the 2011 Bishop’s Ball, and I also volunteered to take some pictures while we were there. We had another reason to be going though. We’d been tipped off that Alek was to receive an ‘Outstanding Youth’ award., and we wanted to be there to see him receive it. The evening was good fun, though it’s been twenty odd years since I’ve done event photography, and it showed in the pictures, I need to wear contacts if I’m going to do any shoots like this in future. It also didn’t help that the flash only worked every second shot. Anyway, Alek looked pleased with his award and Ginger was very happy to be there to see him receive tit, and it was good to see the girls all dressed up for the night.
Once I’d finished taking pictures we headed home, leaving the kids to get on with their evening – unlike last year when I headed out to the bars.
I was so wrapped up in taking other people’s pictures at the Ball, I forgot to get one of myself, so one of my pictures from earlier in the day, sitting enjoying the sun in my Kayak will have to do.
Today’s out takes & extras
Out take: Kayaking on James River, Springfield Missouri
Out take: Kayaking on James River, Springfield Missouri
James River, Springfield Missouri
And at the Bishops Ball:
Alek - Outstanding Youth award
Alek, Lanie and Katie
Ginger
29 January 2011 | 365:029 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary and CD
Today we went to Ginger’s parents to pick up Lanie.
We came prepared to hike the hill behind Ginger’s parents place. In all the times I’ve visited I’ve never ventured much further from the house than the creek. While I sat in the back of of the van pulling my walking shoes on CD (Carol’s Dog) came up to say hello in a very enthusiastic and doggy like manner. Luckily I had my bag and camera with me and I managed to grab this picture. Once I was properly shod Ginger, Lanie, CD and I went up the hill and explored. It was very good to see for myself the places that until now had only been a part of the stories of Ginger’s childhood.
After the hike I enjoyed a beer, conversation and chili with Jim while Ginger did computery things with Carol.
Today’s Out takes & extras
Out take: Ginger & Gary stopped on the slab bridge over Little North Fork
Out take: Ginger & Gary
Lanie - Adventurer extraordinaire
17 January 2011 | 365:017 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary and Ginger at Compton Hollow
Today we got off to a slow start.
Spurred on by the need to do something we decided to go out and hike somewhere new. Ginger picked Compton Hollow Conservation Area, about 20 miles East of Springfield. By the time we’d got there it was already past 3pm, and I was feeling justified in bringing along my headlamp ‘just in case’. As it turned out we finished our hike at half past five, with the light fading fast.
We managed to hike a large portion of the trails, about three and three-quarter miles. It was quite wet and muddy, with a couple of reasonable hills with descents and ascents or around 140′. This was our first hike of the year and we were both surprised how out of condition we’ve got in the two weeks since our last venture out into the wilds.
Today’s Out takes & extras
Out take: Near the end of the hike with the light fading fast
View from Compton Hollow Conservation Area
16 January 2011 | 365:016 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
