Lone Star Trail next week..

[justicehaze]

Anyone been out there recently? I am curious about water availability and pretty much any advice you have. Planning on doing it from jan 11-14. Any good places to stop for hammock spots?

[sargevining]

One of the nicest campsites is right at a pond at the intersection of the Sand Branch Trail and the Little Lake Loop:

http://lonestartrail.org/maps/simple/01wilderness.pdf

Plenty of hang spots there.

There's also a nice little pond just off trail near the intersection of the Little Lake Loop and Forest Service Road 211A, just south of Parking Lot #2. When the trail hits FS211A, turn east on the road (left) and look for an old road going south (you can see it better if you zom in on this map:

http://lonestartrail.org/maps/hires/LSHT_01_wilderness_shaded.pdf

I've filtered the water there with no ill effects.

I really like the Wilderness area as the combination of loops out there makes it possible to do a number of hikes of different lengths and never be too far from where you parked your car,

In the Four Notch Section a nice spot is at Hidden Lake, although its somewhat off trail:

http://lonestartrail.org/maps/simple/06fournotch.pdf

You can get to it by hiking the 4 Notch Trail until you hit a Forest Service Road and going south, or following the "Unofficial Trail" marked as a red dotted line on that map. There's a sweet spot on a little point of land on the east side of the lake that is great for hammocking and a fantastic view.

You can contact Cathy Murphy through the Lone Star Trail Yahoo Group:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/LSHT/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNm5lcnU3BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElk AzE4NTEzOTA1BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NjAwNQRzZWMDaGRyBH NsawNocGgEc3RpbWUDMTQyMDQ1NzIwOA--

and she can give you directions for an "Unofficial Trail" that takes you to Neiderhoffer Lake that you can see on that map as well.

As to water availability, it can be spotty, dependent largely on how much rain we've had. It all looks kinds funky even after filtration, but I don't know anybody who's died from drinking it. I always cache water at the road crossings on my route.

Welcome to the madness!

Here's a coupla websites you might find useful:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/TexasHammockHangers/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1460687164165581/

http://wildernesssmallgroup.blogspot.com/

[justicehaze]

Thanks for all the info. I am planning on hiking one way and a friend is picking us up. Do you think we will need to cache water? I feel like we've gotten a good amount of rain. Also is there anything i need to do before going down there? like a permit or anything or do i just start hiking?

[sargevining]

No permit required, and the Deer Season restrictions on camping end on 8 January, so you can camp anywhere you want.

My recommendation is always to cache water. The ponds out there are all man made, and most of them to provide a water source for steam equipment used when the area was heavily logged at the beginning of the 20th Century, so there's always a slim chance of heavy metal contamination. I really don't recommend getting any water from them. The streams can be sluggish and torpid, but there's no agricultural run off in most of them, so they should be safe, but the supply is spotty.

Here's a good trail guide:

http://lonestartrail.org/docs/hikersguide.html

EDIT TO ADD:

IMHO, getting water from Lake Conroe isn't as good an idea as it sounds, especially when you consider there's running water at Stubblefield campground just 3 miles away. There's way too many speed boats and fishing boats using that lake and my taste for petrochemicals has waned some over the years

[ClovisMan]

Nifty, I would love to camp out on the Lonestar trail one of these days. If you do it, post a trip report please. You've sparked my curiosity.

[sargevining]

Nifty, I would love to camp out on the Lonestar trail one of these days. If you do it, post a trip report please. You've sparked my curiosity.

Taking a trip out there on the 5th of Feb:



http://wildernesssmallgroup.blogspot.com/2014/12/5-8-february-2015-exodus-in-piney-woods.html

[Phippsness]

I was out on the 4th all over section 1 tons of water

[ksbcrocks]

I hiked the first 35 miles of the trail on the 5-7th. The trail is looking pretty good. The spillway sure was slippery at mile 32 but other than that it was smooth sailing. Have fun!

[The Wanna Bs]

There is no place prettier. We are looking to hike it in February.

[sargevining]

There is no place prettier. We are looking to hike it in February.

Come join us!

http://wildernesssmallgroup.blogspot.com/2014/12/5-8-february-2015-exodus-in-piney-woods.html