There have not been many opportunities to go hiking since the beginning of January, and I was eager to get out before February was over. My first plan for four days hiking the Berryman Trail was dashed. I decided to spend three days on the Big Piney Trail at Paddy Creek Wilderness instead. It was a good hike, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

The Big Piney Trail, Paddy Creek Wilderness

To get a few extra miles, I decided to repeat my March 2024 trip, which involved a figure-of-eight route, stretching the seventeen-plus-mile Big Piney Trail to twenty-two miles.

This route has me overnighting at my two favorite spots in Paddy Creek Wilderness: ‘Spring Hollow‘ and ‘Paddy Creek Trolltunga‘ (those are my nicknames for the places; you won’t find them mentioned on the maps).

The Big Piney Trail has two main segments, the North and South Loops. There are two trailheads. Roby Lake Trailhead at the southernmost end of the trail, and the Pig Piney Trailhead at the north end. The loops include a trail segment north of Paddy Creek Road (County Rd. 2650) that is outside the wilderness, but within the bounds of Mark Twain National Forest. There is also a two mile ‘short cut’ which joins the North and South Loops around five to five-and-a-half miles from the Roby Lake Trailhead.

I like the Big Piney Trail. The trail is easy to follow, the scenery is varied, and the hollows are deep and steep, providing good climbs and descents that make you work for your trail snacks, lunches, and dinners. There are two (and more) good scenic overlooks. The lower section of Little Paddy Creek, and Big Paddy Creek provide reliable water sources.

There’s plenty of history here, too. I’ve seen evidence of five homesteads along the trail. The shortcut and a section of the North Loop run along an old military road, which can be clearly seen (I wish I’d noted the source of that information).

However, the shortcut and portions of the North Loop trails also have some challenging, large, rough, loose rock surfaces. Many of the trail’s creek crossings will be impassable at times of high water. Finally, the trail becomes overgrown in the summer when the ticks and bugs are ferocious. Which altogether is about the worst I can say.

Weather

It looks to be nice and warm until early Saturday morning, followed by a cool hike out.

Gear

Though it’ll be warm on a couple of the three days I’ll be out, the cool nights and early mornings prompted me to pack a complete base layer, fleece pants, my down hooded jacket, and my rain jacket for a wind break. I also have some new running shorts with zip-up pockets. I’ll be giving them a try out on the warmer days to see if they are practical on the trail. Just in case the forecast is wrong, and to make sure I have nice cozy warm nights, I’m taking my 10°F under quilt paired with my 40°F top quilt.

Apart from the shorts, the only other piece of new gear is a 500ml water bottle to keep my water + electrolytes separate. It fits in my pack’s side pocket along with my one-liter Platypus pouch of plain water.

My original pack weighed 35 lbs. It contained four days’ food and three and a half liters of water. For my revised trip, I had three days’ food and only one and a half liters of water, and the pack weight dropped to 26 lbs.

The Plan

• Day One. Start at the Roby Lake Trailhead. Take the South Loop up until the Shortcut to the North Loop. Take the Shortcut, and then the North Loop and camp in ‘Spring Hollow.’
• Day Two. Head north on the North Loop and carry on south on the South Loop, stopping at Little Paddy Creek to fill up with enough water for the night before climbing up onto the ridge and carrying on until I get to ‘Paddy Creek Trolltunga’ and camp there.
• Day Three. The Shortcut is ten minutes or so from my campsite. Take the Shortcut, top up with water at the Little Paddy Creek Crossing, and then carry on, going south on the North Loop back to the Roby Lake Trailhead.

When I checked the trail mileages, I realized that I had AFIB when I last hiked this route. I have learned from not taking enough meds on the Berryman Trail and packed plenty this time. Even so, Monday/Tuesday’s AFIB left me hesitant but determined to get the hike done.

You can read a complete write-up of my trip on my personal blog.

Below are my GPS Tracks and daily hike stats, plus my post-trip thoughts on what worked and what I learned.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

My total mileage for the trip was 22.02 miles, with 1,875 ft. of elevation climbed. Three days later (March 4), my left foot is still swollen, though getting much better every day. My right heel is still heeling (sic).

What Worked

Well, I’m very glad I opted for this three-day hike, rather sticking with my original plan of four days on the Berryman trail. Not only would that have involved an extra night out, but also another five miles of hiking.

Honorable mentions:

• Running shorts. These were great. I ended up wearing them on all three days, even on the final windy day which ended up at round 41°F.
• 500 ml water bottle. Worked great it easily slips in and out of my pack’s side pocket. It took me ages to find a tall skinny bottle, but my efforts paid off. I most definitely didn’t want to be putting electrolytes into my one-liter Platypus, when I might be using the water for cooking.
• Clothing. My layering plan worked very well. My Bass Pro waffle base layer with the fleece pants, merino wool shirt, and down hoody was fine for the 27°F morning, and the cool windy nights. Normally, I would also have carried an additional light weight down jacket in lieu of a jumper. I had one on order, but it hadn’t arrived when I left.
• Bug Net. Because of the warmer temps, I thought the bugs might be out. They were. Several mosquitoes bit me. The bug net kept them off and helped keep the warmth in on the cold night.
• Quilt choice. Despite the 27°F night going with the 40°F top quilt was fine. If I had also brought along the 40°F bottom quilt, I think it would have been a cold, miserable night.
• Meds. I packed a lot; fortunately, I didn’t need any extras.
• First Aid Kit. After many years of neglect and taking up pack space this seems to be coming into its own. But hopefully it doesn’t end up on this list too often.

What didn’t work, and what I didn’t use

• Feet. I’m puzzling over what caused my Bedrock sandals to rub a big hole in my right heel. I’ve hiked over one hundred trouble free miles on them prior to this trip. The jury, as they say, is still out on what caused this to happen.
• Wood Stove. I didn’t use my wood stove this trip, but this time it was only because there was a burn ban in place.
• Tarp. I opted not to set the tarp on both nights. I might not have used it, but I’m not sure I’d ever leave it behind.
• Meals. The meals were fine, but not quite calorie dense enough. I need to pack more food.

Lessons

• Hiking Poles. I was putting away my hiking poles when I noticed the tip was missing on one, and it had significantly worn down the plastic end of the pole. Note to self: Regularly check the carbide tips on my hiking poles. I had a spare hiking pole bottom section, and it was easily replaced.
• Gear Check. Always perform a gear audit before leaving. Because of the delay between packing and leaving, I couldn’t remember if I’d packed certain items. Turns out I had, but I could have saved myself some time on the trail unloading stuff to check if I did.

All in all, the issues were minor, and I thoroughly enjoyed the hike. Paddy Creek and Irish Wildernesses are becoming firm favorites, with decent length loop trails, and not too popular during the week. I met two hikers on the trail and saw two more go by in the distance while I was camped.

Now I need to stabilize these annoying health issues so I can get some more trail miles under my belt.

You can read a complete write-up of my trip on my personal blog.