It is time for a change of strategy. Reviewing my last backpacking trip (See Berryman Trail revisited, March 2025), I concluded that I’d been putting a lot more emphasis on crushing miles as quickly as possible recently and not taking the time to slow down and enjoy the wilderness.

I need to review my overall strategy. I’ve realized that my trips are becoming more mileage and stats driven. I’m (supposedly) doing this mainly for funsies, not to gain bragging rights for setting records for the most miles, feet of elevation, speed, or endurance.

My plan for this trip was different. Besides the Whites Creek Trail, there are many other trails marked on the USGS map, and a huge area of the wilderness below the Whites Creek Trail is waiting to be explored. I dedicated this trip to exploring a couple of the trails, checking a couple of potential water sources, and seeking the Holy Grail of a good campsite overlooking the Eleven Point River.

Irish Wilderness

Irish Wilderness is a 16,277-acre wilderness, designated in 1984. It is named after a group of Irish immigrants who lived in the area. The settlement was destroyed and subsequently abandoned during the American Civil War, after which the area was extensively logged, farmed, and over-grazed until it became untenable and abandoned for a second time.

The land was purchased by the USDA Forest Service when the Mark Twain National Forest was created, and the area replanted in the 1930’s. Irish Wilderness now comprises a dense forest of oaks and hickory, with some stands of shortleaf pine. The terrain includes several steep elevation changes of around 200 feet and is bounded on its western side by the Eleven Point Wild and Scenic River. Water can be scarce in many areas of the Wilderness. The primary water source is Whites Creek and two reliable springs — Bliss Spring and Fiddler Spring, both have easy access from the Wilderness’s main trail, the eighteen-mile Whites Creek Trail.

Whites Creek Trail is divided into the North and South ‘loops.’ The trail can be particularly challenging to follow in places. You’ll need a GPS or excellent map reading abilities to follow it. There are also plenty of old forest roads and trails crisscrossing Whites Creek Trail, just to make things more interesting.

There are two main access points for Whites Creek Trail. Bawley Pond Trailhead, and the Camp Five Pond Trailhead. I’ve only used the Camp Five Pond Trailhead, which is on State Highway J some sixteen miles south of its junction with Highway 60.

The Weather

The above image is courtesy of my subscription to windy.com (Check out the free version; it is the best weather site I’ve found. If you are a weather nerd, subscribe! I’m not an affiliate; I want to see them remain in business).

We had a lot of rain last week, six-eight inches. Hopefully, water was not going to be an issue. The high winds and storms that kept me off the trail in March, were particularly bad in this area, with an EF3 tornado running through (and leveling) a lot of Fremont, which is just before the Highway 60/ State Highway J junction. There was a strong likelihood of trees and limbs down on the trail, especially on the exposed ridges.

As I planned to hike Monday through Thursday, all I had to cater for was a chilly first night.

Gear

I’ve had enough of chilly nights, so I decided to pack my 10°F under quilt, paired with my 40°F top quilt, plus base layer top, bottom, a pair of fleece pants, and my down jacket. That lot would keep me warm in the evenings and early mornings. For hiking I had a tee shirt or my Merino wool top plus running shorts.

I made a major change to my dehydrated food, trying out the very calory and protein dense Peak Refuel meals (not an affiliate link). They are heavier than Mountain House meals, but typically almost twice the calories. Based on that I decided to not take any lunchtime noodles, saving some pack space. Despite promising myself that I’d be lightening my food load, somehow my trail mix, the heavy hot chocolate powder, and my beloved Pop-Tarts still made it into my food bag.

I’ve completely forgotten how much my pack weighed, and it seems I forgot to note it down. D’oh!

The Plan

My plan was fairly simple.

• Day One. Hike the Whites Creek Trail South Loop to Fiddler Spring, stop the night nearby, in an area I’d scoped out on a visit last year. It’s been a couple of days since the rain stopped so the creek should be easy to cross.
• Day Two. Hike up onto the ridge above Fiddler Spring and bushwhack my way south and then east, to see if a depression with a pond in it I’ve seen on the map is still has water. I’ll carry extra water up with me, just in case there is none. Once I’ve checked out the water situation, I’ll then head south and see if I can find a trail which in the 1930s was a forest road. If it’s still there, I’ll use it to hike west, and then bushwhack out along the ridge between Stillhouse and Slash Bay Hollows. I’ll set up a basecamp there, hopefully with a nice view of the Eleven Point River.
• Day Three. Head off east towards the other potential water source I’d seen on the map, check it out, and also check out the odd white line I’d spotted in the woods nearby on Google Earth. And then return to basecamp. If I’d failed to find water at either spot, I’d be returning to Fiddler Spring. Could be a long day, especially if the trail no longer exists and I have to bushwhack all the way.
• Day Four. If I’m still on the ridge, Break camp, and I’ll hike east again. The USGS map shows a trail leading up to the White Creek Trail, but it’s not on the 1930s map, so once again could be bushwhacking all the way until I get to the Whites Creek Trail, and head back to the trailhead. If I’m back near Fiddler Spring, then it’ll be a simple reversal of my Day One hike.

To find out how I got on…

you’ll have to study the maps below or read the full write-up of my trip on my personal blog.

Day One Map and Stats

Day Two Map and Stats

Day Three Map and Stats

Day Four Map and Stats

Trip over. I’d hiked 16.8 miles and climbed 887ft. No records broken, but definitely a change from my recent more ‘fast and furious’ hikes.

End of hike thoughts

It was a good, enjoyable hike with no major issues. I didn’t even need the first aid kit, which makes a change after the last couple of hikes. I’ve definitely got some more exploring to do south of the Whites Creek Trail. There’s a hint on the maps that there might be some more old homestead ruins to be seen.

I reckon I’ve already found the best campsite overlooking the Eleven Point River, but without checking every ridge I’ll not be sure. Maybe that’s a target for next winter.

What worked

It seems I’ve still got everything pretty well dialed in. I’m still looking to lighten my pack weight, but thus far all I’ve managed to do is nibble away a few grammes while I cannot part with some of the heavier items.

• Peak Refuel dehydrated food. Overall, it was tasty, used less water than the Mountain House meals, and seemed to fill me up more.
• Taking water from a pond. In fifteen plus years hiking in the Ozarks (and elsewhere), I’ve not taken water from a stationary water source, unless you count Table Rock Lake. The water from both the ponds I encountered, filtered and treated, was fine if a little tannin colored.
• 10°F Under quilt and cold weather clothing. It was very nice to be warm right through the night on the coldest day of the trip. The mornings and evening were also chilly, and I was pleased to have layers to put on as it got colder.
• My pre-trip research. Spending time pouring over the maps on gaiagps.com and studying the aerial views over time on Google Earth certainly paid off. In particular looking at the older maps hinted at where more prominent trails might still exist today.
• GPS and Compass. Getting a bearing to a waypoint from the GPS and then using the compass to keep me on track has worked well over the years and did so on this trip too. There’s another technique you can use, where you go in the general direction you want until you hit a geographic feature — like a creek — to get a rough position fix. I find the Ozarks woodland so samey that I do not use that method, unless there is a ‘whack you round the ears,’ unmistakable and obvious feature to use.

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

• GPS and Compass. There appears to be a disagreement between my Suunto compass and my phone’s onboard compass. I paused writing this to run some tests, and discovered the Phone is between 15°-5° off, even after I recalibrated it. Just as well I don’t use my phone’s compass for navigating. Hopefully the GPS software doesn’t either.
• Ground sheet. As an experiment, I didn’t use it, and I didn’t miss it. Next to zero weight saved, but it does take up space in my pack’s back pocket.
• Camp Light. I didn’t take my camp light, and I didn’t miss it. That’s a few ounces saved.
• Wood Stove. Yes I took it again. See below for what I’ve learned.

Lessons

• Using a creek marked on the map as a way point. Yeah, the creek didn’t exist anymore.
• Check you are following the correct GPS route. It didn’t do any harm, but I followed a route I’d set which led away from my campsite, when I should have been going back to my campsite. That was a rooky mistake. Zooming out and checking the map would have caught the error.
• If you value your sleep and your hearing, don’t stop too near to a body of water in the spring!
• I realized why I’m not using my wood stove. I’m taking far too much alcohol fuel (a full winter loadout), which results in me being lazy and not lighting the wood stove. I can save weight by switching back to my warm season fuel bottle.
• Using the GPS for navigation there’s another area where errors can be introduced. Which is down to the accuracy of where I place the pins, and where within the pin image the actual coordinates lie. I’ve always assumed the bottom center of the image, but if it’s the center, then some fairly large errors can be introduced (some research is required).

I managed to get everywhere I planned for this trip, and despite the disappointment of not finding another Eleven Point River Overlook campsite, successfully bushwhacking my way around and discovering ‘new to me’ trails was well worth the effort.

I’m already thinking about the possibility of fitting in another trip before the vegetation, heat, and ticks get too out of hand.

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