Si Louisiana Trail Blazer - The Louisiana Hiking Club

Louisiana Hiking Club
Si
Louisiana Trail Blazer
2010 First Quarter
The President’s Message
page 1
President’s
Message
page 2 - 3
Second Saturday
Hike - November
Lake Fausse
Pointe
page 4 - 5
Devil’s Den
State Park,
Arkansas
page 6 - 8
The Grand Canyon
Page 9
Campfest!
The past year has been a tough one for most of our
country, but we had a great year in the Louisiana Hiking
Club. Let’s take a look back at 2009.
Of course, we always can depend on the monthly 2nd
Saturday hike. We went to Big Branch NWR, the Lakeshore
Trail in Kisatchie, Lake Martin, the Wild Azalea Trail,
Clark Creek, Clear Springs, Tickfaw, Kincaid Lake, Lake
Fausse Pointe, and Chicot. That is only 10 hikes, so I
guess I can’t recall the other two. Our loyal (crazy?)
members even took part in two of them during major rain
events.
We had a great year for trips across the country,
including trips to three major National Parks: Big Bend,
Great Smokey Mountains, and Olympic. We had two
backpacking trips on the Buffalo River Trail in
Arkansas. Our Mississippi guys really came through for
us this year with two hikes on John Thornhill’s tree
farm and one on Bob Burrows’ tree farm. Thanks guys for
your hospitality. We had an EZ backpack in Kisatchie
National Forest, celebrated the New Year together at
Clear Springs, and had a successful 3rd annual children’s
campout at Mary Ann Brown Preserve. Campfest at Chicot
was a great success. I wish I knew how many of them we
have had. We also had another terrific Christmas Party.
All of our activities are fun, but some of them
have value beyond just our enjoyment. We had two trail
maintenance outings at Chicot and one in conjunction
with National Trails Days on the Backbone Trail. We
developed contact with the general public by manning
tables at Hunting and fishing Day at Waddill in Baton
Rouge, Hunting and Fishing Day at Tensas NWR in the
northern part of the state, the Black Bear Festival in
Franklin near the Gulf, the Wild Things Festival in
Lacombe, and Pack and Paddle’s gear sale day in
Lafayette. We also conducted two backpacking clinics.
All of these activities are possible because we
have members who volunteer to organize them. A schedule
such as this one can’t be maintained by just a few
people. As with all organizations, we constantly need a
new influx of volunteers. So, if you haven’t been
responsible for organizing an event, be thinking of how
you can contribute to the success of this remarkable
organization.
On Giving Blood:
The Lake Fausse Pointe Second Saturday Hike
and Camp
by: Karla Coreil
Saturday, November 14, 2009 was the designated day for the monthly Second
Saturday Hike and, of course, since I was coordinating it, it turned into a weekend
campout. Fourteen of us (plus three dogs and including three fairly new members)
showed up Friday night. By the time I arrived at 9:30 p.m., everything was quiet and
all the lights were out.
Saturday morning though, camp was bustling! Breakfasts were being cooked, boats
paddled, bikes pedaled, and there was lively conversation all around. We had a
couple more folks join us at the campsite, bringing us up to 16 brave campers.
Brave? At Lake Fausse Pointe State Park? You must be kidding, you think! There is
nothing frightening there.
Ah, but there is… or, it would be more grammatically correct to say “ah, but there
are!”
MOSQUITOES!!
As we all know, and as we were repeatedly warned, Lake Fausse has the worst
mosquitoes of any place on the planet. Perhaps I exaggerate, but not by much… and
certainly not on this particular weekend!
But, I digress.
The Baton Rouge crew met us at about 9:15 a.m. at the trailhead and we started off
with the best of intentions to hike all six miles of trail at the park. After donating
blood to millions, and ingesting untold numbers of
mosquitoes on trails A & B, however, most of our crew
ventured back to the trailhead and escaped to walk the
paved, and less mosquitoed, roads of the park. A few
brave souls continued on trail C and I am happy to
report that they all made it out alive and fairly
unscathed. The clouds of mosquitoes neither carried
anyone off, nor knocked anyone out of commission,
and all made it back to the campsite for lunch.
One of the great things about having a weekend
campsite rather than just a dayhike is that almost all of
the day hikers hung around for a bit, so that we
Brave hikers - photo by Karla
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could get some much-needed visiting done. Many of us don’t see each other
that often, and it was great to have an hour or two simply to sit and catch up
with each other while we dined on rations ranging from Spam to organic
stuffed grape leaves.
Eventually, our day guests left, and a few folks went on bike rides, a couple
practiced walking with fully-loaded backpacks, and some of us took naps in
the breezy afternoon shade. (There were others too, but I was one of the
sleepers, so I missed any other excitement). In the meantime, the mosquitoes
chased away some of the campers (and one dog), the lack of LSU football on
regular TV got another two (and one dog), and we gained an extra person,
bringing our total to 17 campers for the weekend.
That night, we enjoyed a delightful campfire, a chorus of frogs, and a canopy
of constellations.
The next morning, there was more paddling and more biking, but mostly there
was a scurrying about of all the campers picking up as quickly as they could to
avoid the next rash of mosquitoes. We had all given enough blood over the
weekend, and I daresay, we may have donated our share for the month. As
always, however, I was a bit sad to leave the fun and frolic behind, but I know
that the next trip is right around the corner and I can’t wait to see what it
brings!
Great White Egret – photos by Katherine Gividen
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Devil’s Den State Park - Arkansas
by Susan Mury
I drove up to northern Arkansas
with a friend hoping to catch the
foliage at the peak of loveliness.
We decided that what we loved
most about Arkansas was that
they don’t believe in signs and
barriers that might distract from
nature’s views. There’s usually
one sign warning you that you
won’t be seeing any signs or
railings along the trails, so - be
careful.
It was the last week of October and a perfect time to spend a few days
state park hopping and hiking. The
Ozarks were beautiful, all covered up
with an orangy-colored blanket of
fall foliage. We stayed overnight at
three different parks, but our favorite
was Devil’s Den State Park. Built by
the Civilian Conservation Corp in the
1930’s, it is a rock-solid park with
lots to explore. It sits along Lee
Creek, which has a stone dam that
was erected by the CCC to form Lake Devil. There is a swimming pool, a
store, and a café overlooking the lake, but they were all closed for the
season.
We hiked most of the trails within the park,
but the most interesting was Devil’s Den
Trail. It was only a mile and a half in length,
but it took three hours to hike because of the
rocks, caves, crevices, bluffs, and waterfalls
there are to explore. The star of the trail is
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Devil’s Den Cave. It is 550 feet deep, pitch-black dark, dangerously
narrow with rocks to step over, on, between, and under. There were
adorable, little bats all over the walls that looked like tiny, brown cotton
balls with eyes and wings.
Outside of the cave, and along the trail, are
huge rock formations with crevices too
deep to see the bottoms. One big crevice
suddenly gave birth to a group of high
schoolers on a field trip. One-by-one, they
popped out giggling and calling out that
they’d found a new way out. Their very
muddy condition made that pretty obvious.
We explored a little loop trail that meanders through the remains of the
CCC’s base camp. It happened to be just down the hill from our rental
cabin. That evening, we watched from the patio as several deer wandered
through the old camp.
The Lake Trail, takes you across the creek on a suspension foot bridge
and along the opposite bank of the creek. The Yellow Rock Overlook trail
winds up from the valley to a structure that was also built by the CCC
giving you sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and the creek
far below.
We drove from the northwest corner of Arkansas down to the southeast
corner and stayed over at Lake Chicot State Park. Yes, Arkansas has its
own Lake Chicot. It’s an oxbow lake formed when the Mississippi River
decided she didn’t want to make that bend anymore and went straight. It
is a lovely park neighboring a cute little town named Lake Village.
Fishing seemed to be the sport of choice in the park, but since it was a
weekday, we had the place to ourselves. There were two little interpretive
trails, but we didn’t get to hike them.
There’s a lot more to Arkansas than the places we managed to get to, so I
suppose I will have to go back there some day.
5
Practically Perfect Grand Canyon Hike
by: Nancy Hall
When you think of hiking the Grand Canyon, images of people
staggering from heat exhaustion come to mind. How about an autumn
hike to enjoy the canyon without the heat? Ann put together a great trip
for 7 of us intrepid
hikers. We were in
three
vehicles
coming from three
different parts of the
country.
Marilyn,
Charlie, Linda, and I
met
at
a
campground
near
Albuquerque
and
hiked the Sandia
Crest above the city.
Snow had fallen a
few days before and
a thick coating
remained on the trails and trees up at the crest. What a beautiful end to a
day of driving, tromping snow covered trails with beautiful precipitous
views. We slithered back down the icy mountain road to our frigid
campsite where most of us stuffed in some snack food and hopped into
warm sleeping bags, while Linda, true to her Yankee upbringing, cooked
a leisurely meal and relaxed with it under the full moon of an icy
Halloween night. The other carload containing Ann, Missy (Ann’s niece),
and Tracey passed up this spot and spent some time at Choco Canyon, not
a bad destination in itself.
This was my fourth trip to the canyon (though I had never hiked it
before), but I had never realized what a visitor-friendly place the park is.
The campground personnel were great. You want to put 3 tents in a
campsite? Sure, why not? Whatever we wanted to do was fine with them.
Such a contrast to parks like Rocky Mountain where squads of people are
watching to make sure water doesn’t drip off your fingers onto the
delicate ground of the campsite. I know they have environmental issues,
6
but it sure was nice to be able to relax. The shuttle bus drivers and other
personnel were so friendly we decided they must be trained to face
anything with a smile. We passed groups of trail workers breaking rocks
with hammers who greeted us cheerily as we made a mess of the work
they were painstakingly doing. However, when Linda startled a mule and
caused the mule train to pull apart, the mule-skinner’s smile seemed a
little forced.
Because of the time of year we were not able to hike rim-to-rim. We
went down the South Kaibab Trail and returned on the Bright Angel. We
paused at the trailhead to read the large sign, one of hundreds in the park,
warning of the dangers of the canyon. But since 90 some odd percent of
the injuries and deaths are of males between 15 and 30 years old (no
surprise there) we knew we were safe to proceed. The South Kaibab
doesn’t have an established campground, just an at-large camping area
called Cremation (name comes from its history as a body disposal area for
the Indians). As we approached the area on our first afternoon, it looked
like a moonscape - no trees, no water, no toilet, no brush taller than calf
height, no rocks bigger than your hand; just a vast wasteland. We weren’t
even sure we were in the right place since we had to go a distance on the
Tonto Trail to get there. Finally, Marilyn, Charlie and I found a couple of
cleared spots and decided we must have arrived. Wrong! Tracey scouted
further, finally finding the legal camping area where the other four
camped. Our tents were up by then so 3 of us camped illegally. Though I
was unable to see the beauty of the spot, we got to do something very few
people do—camp alone in the canyon with just the full moon and the
hundred mice that call Cremation home.
I was totally unprepared for the beauty of the Bright Angel
Campground at the bottom of the canyon, heavily treed beside a rushing
creek. And the temperature that can reach 115 at other times of the year
was in the 70s, so pleasant to wander as much as you want to Phantom
Ranch or up the North Kaibab Trail. I also had no idea that from there to
Indian Gardens Campground the trail follows a beautiful creek with even
a waterfall. Indian Gardens was great with trees filled with interesting
birds and California Condors soaring overhead.
On the final morning, I packed up early and set out alone well
before daylight, hiking with just the light of the full moon. More than an
hour passed before the sky slowly turned pink and finally the sun struck
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the upper walls, turning the rock to molten gold. I’m not usually very
sentimental, but my tough old heart was touched by my solitary
communion with the canyon. What a magnificent place.
Nancy & Marilyn
Ann, Missy, Charley, Marilyn, Tracey
and Linda
Sunset over the canyon
Colorado River
Mule train
One of many creek crossings
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CAMPFEST 2010 -- March 5 - 7
* CHICOT STATE PARK *
Conference Center - East Landing
$5 / person
* CAMPING *
Tent Camping ONLY at East Landing
(RVs must camp in regular campground)
* SEMINARS *
Suggest topics to Linda Bourgault -- lbourgault@yahoo.com
and she will line up classes to match club interests.
If you would like to teach, please volunteer!
Proposed topics include:
Getting Fit for the Trail
Taking Care of your Feet
Wilderness First Aid
Nature Study – Invasive Plants & Animals
Wilderness Survival
Getting the Children in your Life Outdoors
Volunteer Vacations
Nature Journaling
*Note: seminars can only be taught if someone volunteers to lead
* DOOR PRIZES! *
* SATURDAY NIGHT POT LUCK *
The club provides the entrée.
Bring a side dish to share with everyone!
* SUNDAY MORNING PANCAKE BREAKFAST *
followed by
hiking at the Louisiana State Arboretum
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