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  1. #1
    Senior Member mountainhanger's Avatar
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    Arrow VIDEO:Mammoth Cave National Park 4/21-4/23/2013

    Here is my trip report for my first hike of the year. I arrived around noonish on Sunday and started at the first creek trailhead, with the objective of three days and three nights. It ended up being 3 days and 2 nights. Most of what i went thru is on the video to follow, but being that im computer challenged its still uploading to youtube. the trails I INTENDED TO DO WERE: First creek trail, Mcoy Hollow Trail and stay at Collie Ridge and do the Collie Ridge trail to the Fergusen campsite and then back out..What I ended up doing was--- First Creek trail, staying at the first creek campsite the first night. Coming out of the campsite up to the temple hill trailhead to catch the McCoy Hollow trail it is a mile uphill !!! once on the McCoy trail it was back down into the hollow. Coming out of the hollow is tough, as all these trails are horse trails that are heavily used! Once you get past the three springs campsite there is only one or two water sources until almost a mile from the end of this trail. In that trail once you leave that water source by three springs its a steep climb to the top of the ridgline where there are many beautiful rock outcroppings. Being of minimal fitness it took the toll on me and i camped along the trail...something i could not have done with a tent!. Knowing i pushed myself to the limits I chose to hike out on the Wet Prong trail the next morning, which was beautiful, the last mile though was nothing but cleared blowdowns and heavily overgrown bush on the sides of the trail. OVERALL IMPRESSION OF TRAILS AND PARK; Its a big park dedicated to the cave so naturally the trails are secondary. That and HEAVILY trafficed by horses makes it quite challenging -alot of mud and and rocks and blowdowns to scramble around. TRAIL MARKINGS and maps do NOT match up, while marked well with blue blazes (orange for side trails if you find them) the milage marked on them are not true to the maps (or visa versa) and the campsites and water sources on the maps are only approximate. This can be frustrating as well as that the park maps have no elevation changes so it would be worth while to find a topo map if you could. The elevation changes really surprised me, but that was my fault for not enough prep on that matter. Relatively clean, only litter was by the trailheads so that was good to see, and I only seen 4 people, 2 of which were on horses that first day. This is really a good place for solitude. The Park people were nice and town folk too, as it is rather tricky to find the trail head..so all in all I keep learning and I still like it so I believe Im doing something right...and now for the video (as soon as it uploads ...ugggg)
    http://youtu.be/D6wm0jlRBPc
    Last edited by mountainhanger; 04-25-2013 at 15:55. Reason: added video, cannot attach thumbnail
    It's not the boulders that throw us off balance, it's the pebbles beneath our feet

  2. #2
    Senior Member mountainhanger's Avatar
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    could not embed the youtube thumbnail??? did not come up on the advanced page?? any help please?
    It's not the boulders that throw us off balance, it's the pebbles beneath our feet

  3. #3
    Senior Member Ewker's Avatar
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    'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read.” ― Mark Twain

    Who cares about showers, gourmet food, using flush toilets. Just keep on walking and being away from it all.

    There are times that the only way you can do something is to do it alone.

  4. #4
    Senior Member mountainhanger's Avatar
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    Thanks ewker! Appreciate it
    It's not the boulders that throw us off balance, it's the pebbles beneath our feet

  5. #5
    Senior Member SkyPainter's Avatar
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    Great first outing! I left a comment on the vid, too. Thanks for taking us along with you - looked like some difficult walking, but a very nice area. Glad to see there was plenty of water around. Lotsa good hanging spots. Nice, candid video!

    ~ SkyPainter
    Live Purposefully; Dare Greatly; Land Gently

    If you're going to do something wrong, go for it! - Beryl G.

    "Never knock on Death's door - just ring the bell and run. He hates that!"

  6. #6
    Senior Member Bruciehi5's Avatar
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    Almost the end of month number four for 2013 and your first hike notched up. I hope you can get out and hike some more before too long. It’s amazing how fast time is flying by. It’s always good to drop a bit of pack and body weight! One thing I’m beginning to realize is that I don’t need to clock up a lot of miles to have a good hike. Shorter hikes at a slower pace, with more camp/hammock time is my thing at the moment. You could try dropping the hike distance down, so you don’t get as buggered – just a thought. Thanks for the hike along, mountainhanger, I hope you get out on the trail again real soon!

  7. #7
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    I was in that area about 9 years ago in May and the humidity just beat me up hard. How was it for you? I'm from California so I really wasn't ready for it when 90 degrees and 90% humidity hits at the same time.

    But my gosh, it's a beautiful area isn't it. It's just full of water and greenery.

  8. #8
    Senior Member born2roam's Avatar
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    Looks gorgeous...

    It's best to just hike and learn. That way you get in shape, learn what 'hyoh' and enjoy the outdoors. Thanks for the hike along buddy.

    Grtz Johan
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  9. #9
    New Member Unitic's Avatar
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    Be vigilant about the ticks in Mammoth Cave NP. That's where I picked up 20+ tiny Deer Tick nymphs and a bad case of Lyme disease in May of 2011 (at Turnhole Bend campsite). This region is seeing significant growth in tick population, and with fixed back country sites the mouse populations (white-footed mouse in the primary vector of the Lyme bacteria to the Deer Ticks) and their associated ticks are concentrated.

    Also, check out this tick research study currently being conducted by Dr. Karl Ford on his Northbound AT Thru-hike this year. Very important research for all of us! We hope to meet each other in southern Maine or Northern New Hampshire in August. http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=404991
    Here's a short video I recorded describing my goals for my 2013 AT SOBO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg0K0YDlFEE

    My website: http://www.JourneyThruLyme.com

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