Trip Report - Hoosier Nat'l Forest

“Newbee Survives First BP Trip
As a newcomer to hiking and backpacking (and before I discovered thebackpacker.com), I was happy to find the Sierra Club's website and their list of upcoming events. After a couple of months of training hikes (Thanks, Prosecutor) and with much trepidation, my daughter-in-law, Barb, and I signed up for the 3-night trip to Hoosier National Forest in Brown County, IN southeast of Bloomington about 4 1/2 hours from Chicago.

Thursday evening, May 5th, we met the other 14 hikers and car camped at Yellowwood State Forest because it is easy to find. After setting up our tents, we built a fire and sat around talking and drinking wine. The conversation covered everything from backpacking tips, everyone's careers, meditation, eastern philosophy, The DaVinci Code, and soap operas (one of the girls is an actress). Great discussions, but I was a bit taken aback when someone laughed and said, "Can you imagine a Republican on a Sierra Club trip?!??" I said," Excuse me. Here I am." They were all very nice about it and I suspect most of them are non-political and just there for the outdoor camaraderie, as I was.

Thursday night dipped into the 30's and apparently my 30-degree Marmot Never Winter bag was not up to the challenge. My feet were so frozen, they were bloodless and numb for several hours the next morning. We decamped quickly after a group breakfast around a rekindled fire, each of us carrying a share of the group food and equipment. My pack weighed 28 pounds or so (about 26% of my weight) and a new record for me.

We drove about 30 miles through beautiful rolling hills and twisting roads to the trailhead in Hoosier National Forest (644,000 acres) near Mt Nebord and Story, IN. We hiked 7 miles through thick hardwood forests up and down a number of large hills and along the ridge system before dropping down into a very nice valley. About half way through, while bushwhacking downhill, a vine tangled around my boot and I fell to my knees. I must have pulled a muscle in my calf. There was some serious pain there, but someone picked me up and we were off again. I'm still discovering some lovely bruises.

Our destination was a wonderful valley with a stone creek and crystal clear pools. The filtered water tasted even better than your best bottled water. We set up our base camp and had a group dinner before exploring another couple of miles of the creek bed. We found fossils, geodes, and remnants of old homesteads. One of the women (71 years old. 71! and a very experienced hiker) is a walking encyclopedia of wildflower information. She pointed out and kept a list of 32 varieties (bedstraw, fire pink, yellow violet, spiderwort and on and on). I love that stuff.

Another campfire and another bottle of wine topped off a pretty wonderful day. Friday night was not as cold and I layered more clothes around my feet and did just fine. In the early morning we heard humans who turned out to be morel hunters. I found several of the mushrooms myself, though I neither picked nor ate them. Saturday was an 11 or 12 mile exploration (day packs only) of the area. The ridge system was fun. The views would have been terrific if the trees had not been so thick. We also hiked along several creeks with layers of sandstone ledges and mini-waterfalls. Tadpoles were in the thousands. We also found a cute, 1 1/2 inch orange salamander and a very large spider --very black with a white zig-zag --and an egg sack almost as large as her body. While hiking single file along a small pond, we startled a five foot long snake. It ran, no-slithered--fast, along our line trying to get across the path. It finally crossed in front of Barb's boots and she let out a healthy scream. The poor snake came to rest not far away, so I went to study him. Narrow head, non-venomous, white underbelly and chin, diamond-shaped textured, charcoal-colored skin. Can anyone identify it?

The day was gorgeous. Not too warm. No mosquitoes, Few ticks. Lots of flies, but none that bit. The only annoyance was the thousand of inch worms swinging on webs from trees along the trail waiting to cover us in webs. We found inch worms all over ourselves and spent "monkey time" picking them off each other.

Lunch was on the trail and a bit too near civilization -- a horse farm and a turkey hunter's camp, complete with a recent kill. My lunch consisted of a homemade energy bar (Prosecutor's recipe). I shared with a number of the group and they were WOWed. Later, for our dinner's dessert I whipped up Prosecutor's pudding recipe and cooled it in the creek. I call it Stream Pudding. Everyone got a spoonful. Now they're asking for both recipes.

The day hike lasted an hour longer than planned because we lost the path somewhere along the way. I was doing OK on the hills, but the prospect of re-hiking the same hill was depressing. Every time I spotted the leaders hunched over the compass and topographic maps, I groaned. Once we recognized familiar territory, it became a fine hike again. Afterwards, however, we were tired. Instead of another evening hike, we opted for massage therapy lessons from the two professionals and got and gave lots of massages. My sore calf muscle got that all started.

The rain started about 10 PM, so our campfire discussions were cut short and we ran to our sleeping bags. My Sierra Design Ultra Flash two-person tent held up admirably. I had shopped for the lightest possible tent, so at 3 lbs,10oz, our little tent was quite cozy. Thank goodness, Barb and I are on the small side.

The rain stopped by Sunday morning and we had an early breakfast, wanting to get an early start so we could beat the predicted 80 degree weather. The six-mile hike out was quite challenging due to the now muddy hillsides. My knees became so painful on the descents that I welcomed the ascents! But somewhere over the last two days I had become stronger and the hike out was over before I expected.

Most of the group ended up at a Mexican restaurant for a quick meal before departing. They were good companions. Fun and very welcoming. we were all dirty, sweaty and tired, but Barb and I were elated and raring to go for the next trip. It was a great hike and a great way to spend Mother's Day.”

“Congrats on a successful first trip. Good first TR also. Where in Hoosier NF did you go? Deam? Where are you from? Fill out your profile, dang it.

I've never been on a Sierra Club trip before, so I can't make a direct comparison, but I would imagine that the typical TT trip might be a little (or a lot) more crazy. Check the trips page periodically and sign up for something that looks fun. Welcome.”

“Nice trip report redhead hiker. Were you using trekking poles? They really help the knees on the downhill slopes.”

“I was all prepared to suggest putting clothes at the foot of your bag for more warmth, only to see you figured it out yourself. So much for my chance to sound all wise and experienced!

Congrats and welcome.”

“Thanks for the welcome and feedback.
Hoosier NF is the only name by which I know the area. It is east of Monroe Lake, apparently the northernmost part of Hoosier. I've heard of Deam wilderness, but can't find it on the map.
I did use trekking poles (Borrowed from Prosecutor)or my knees might have been worse--and I might have had a few more tumbles. Does anyone see an appreciable difference in shock absorber and non-shock absorber poles?

I added a few pictures to the album page, but it sure took a long time to download each of them! :-)”

“Great trip report, and a great first trip. That must be a first. A Republican on a Sierra Club trip, and a Republican who admitted it. I told you to lie and deny that you were a Republican. I laughed out loud thinking of their reaction. Post a link to the photographs when you can.


Will Barb do it again? Next, you have to try out one of the trips on this forum where you won't have to pay money to join, and you get your alcohol in condensed form in a concoction with something like 151 Rum or Everclear.”

“It's really not necessary to pay to experience the pleasure of sore knees . . . we can provide that free of charge here on our trips. And you might even get to sample some of the best in backcountry cuisine from prosecutor!

I've used trekking poles both with and without the shock absorbers. I prefer without because of the noise those with make. I think the shock absorbers really help your arms more than your legs.”

“Welcome Redhead Hiker! Great trip report. Sounds like you had fun. Nice to see a new face in Indiana. Hope we can hike together sometime. I'm in southern Indiana, but spend a lot of time hiking in central Indiana. Happy Trails!”

“Sounded like a good trip. And folks if you're not already a member of the Sierra Club you should join. They have rates for students and retirees and a great magazine that outlines all the major trips they go on. I've never been on one cause I've found folks on here to hike with, but there are some very tempting trips. If anyone remembers tehepite from long days of TT yore he used to guide trips in California.”

“The Sierra Club volunteers were great -- and did all the group cooking. It looks like a lot of responsibility to put together a trip.
The pictures I posted are at: http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/album/
jea9316p.php If there is anything else to making a link, I couldn't figure it out. :-o”

“You almost had it right.

http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/album/jea9316p.php

I see DDX joined you on the trip.

”

“A very large group considering the number of backpackers in the group photo.”

“Sounds a lot like my first backpacking experience, and on the same trails as well!

Thanks for posting about your trip!”