Last morning in the cumberland river valley. The day before was like a physical break for me and i wanted to push myself through as many miles as I could before the sun went down. By 8:30 I was back on the trail following the river upstream, over rocky banks and sandy beaches strewn with trash washed up from the swollen water. It was tamped down like a crust in places where ATVs had once rolled over, in other places you had to scramble over piles of drifted wood and various discarded elements of human life. Soon after I crossed pitch creek and its rapids the trail turned and began its climb up and out of the the river valley and then deposited me out for a road walk on KY 700, on which I would walk over Indian Creek.
This one felt really drawn out, I felt like I was already baking in the morning sun, but after two miles of this winding two-lane road framed on either side by forest and the occasional crop of homes the path turned back to trail. Again I observed the pattern of green returning as I descended into the valley and found myself again passing under looming rock structures, crossing streams and following cliffsides and creeks. This 8-9 mile section of wilderness had me really confused, it was full of unlabeled forks and I kept feeling like I was making wrong turns. I felt like blazes were missing in some places, at times you could spot them on fallen trees, there were several pieces of marking tape that had fallen to the trail. Parts of the trail in this section are wide horse trail, on some of the creek fords there were boards lining the bottoms for horses. Several rock structures I passed had barred up entrances to old mines or caves at their bases.
the woods near whitley city
rock shelter i cheffed up some ramen for lunch under
I wasn't even in this section of wilderness for that long--by 5 or so I'd come up on the trail parallel to US-27--but for some reason my morale was just kinda wavering and upon discovering I had reception I called Elaina at 3:45 to inquire whether or not she and Ian would be inclined to drive 2 hours down to come bail me out of the woods.
seeing open sky for the first time in a long time always disorienting
It wasn't having a terrible time on sunday. I still gawked up at every rock structure by the wayside, admired the clarity of the creek in this quiet valley, found peace in the fractal-like patterns of the branches and the leaves when i gazed up at the canopy. I guess I was just tired of the anxiety of being in confusing woods and bearing the worry of a missed turn alone and missed everyone back home. I could cite other arguably good reasons to stop at US27--after the trail crossed the highway, the sheltowee trace entered the big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, which required a pass for backcountry camping, which I had not acquired and there would be several creeks in the coming days that would be swollen with the springtime rain, i left my sketchbook in jack's car the day before and being without it throws me off, i should probably just go be a good citizen and go ahead and cloister myself at home. But in the end hiking alone has its downfalls and I felt like five solid days of it was good enough for my first go.
the trail parallels US-27 for a bit til it spits u out at a trailhead on the road
Elaina said yes of course like the angel she is and soon I was climbing out of the woods again, the forest growing thinner as I passed under powerlines and made my way to the US-27 trailhead. I found myself baking in the sun biding my time again, except i was sprawled out like a bug in a wayside parking lot this time. I read some roadside literature left at the kiosk about prescribed burning. Learned that they are trying to increase the habitat of wild turkeys, which is admirable but i laughed thinking about the fat fuckin bird that scared me on my first night in the woods.
headed home babey!
By 7 big Harold was getting hotboxed once more and we were slicing back up highway away from the mountains and valleys that had been my home for almost a week at a pace dizzying for someone who'd been on foot for a long time. The countryside was golden in the sunset as we sped by, I felt blessed to be a Kentuckian witnessing her state bloom into spring.
Despite the misgivings that led me to cut my long walk short on Sunday, I would definitely hit that solitude piece again. It felt empowering striking out alone, I felt like I learned a lot on this first trip. I hope to still walk all of the Sheltowee Trace this year, whether it be in the heat of summer or over winter break or in chunks whenever I manage to carve the time and money out. Everything is in flux in the world right now and I can't really help but feel pessimistic when I think about the future sometimes, but there will always be a peace in the woods for me to find and a place in the forest to gaze up at the stars from. I will do my darnedest to stay alive for the opportunity to see my state at its rawest and most wild again, and until then ill appreciate the small shit in life like sleeping on a mattress and fruit that's not dried.
68 miles total on the southern half of the trace
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