Lone Star Hiking Trail

[jackh]

Has anyone hiked the LSHT? Are all sections hammock friendly? I would expect so because of the piney woods region but I read there are some areas of palmetto swamps also. I would like to hike it solo this winter and didn't know if I should take a bivy shelter or hammock. Thanks.

[FreedomVan]

I don't have any info personally but I've done quiet a bit of reading on here about LSHT. You can try searching in the trip report section for it. I remember seeing a trip report for a through hike not too long ago and I also believe Sargeviving has a wealth of knowledge about the trail.

[ksbcrocks]

You'll need to be careful about when you hike because overnight camping isn't allowed during deer season I believe. I haven't hiked the whole thing but there are some long stretches that are very dense vegetation except for the trail itself and it would be difficult to hang (or even bivy comfortably) in those places. Sometimes it's like that for miles at a time so you might end up hiking longer than you planned, but you'll eventually find a place you can hang. I would just pack the hammock and not worry about the bivy. Good luck!

[UncleMJM]

Howdy neighbor!

All of the above are valid points.

Snaggleroot has done a thru and could answer your questions.

There are well over a dozen of us who hike on the LSHT that will be at the Texas Fall Hang so come there, and spend some campfire time with us.

The issues that are the biggest is following hunting based rules during winter, water year round, and bugs and heat during the summer.

[sargevining]

While its possible to thru the LST during deer season, camping is difficult as you are restricted to certain "designated sites", not all of which are directly on the trail. The first day (if you're going West to East, last day if East to West) is 20 miles from Trailhead #1 to Stubblefield campground. The only "designated" site along that route is about 1/2 mile from Mile Marker #5 on the Sand Branch Trail:

http://lonestartrail.org/maps/medium...derness_sc.pdf

The bad news here is that, if this campsite is any indication, the "designated deer season camp sites" are anything but hammock friendly. Four of us camped out in the Wilderness this weekend. The campsite on the Sand Branch trail has one graveled tent pad, a fire ring, and a cleared area about 15 feet in diameter. It is surrounded by an almost impenetrable understory that effectively prevents hanging a hammock without having a small forest under your tarp. There is one pair of trees there that would support a hammock in the clearing---but you wouldn't want anybody to use the fire ring when you do. We ended up camping at the pond 1/8 mile south of there and hoped that any Ranger that came by would understand once he saw our predicament.

On Friday nite, we camped way off the LST on the LLCL about 1.08 miles west of Parking Lot #4. The designated spot is pretty much just like the one described above, but there is no understory in that general area, so its doable---but inconvenient to the LST.

Good water is also problematic as there is precious little. The streams should not be depended on for anything more than a trickle, and most ponds shown can be fetid (at best). The good news is that enough roads cross the trail that you could, with proper planning and caching of water and supplies, slack pack nearly the entire thing, caching water and food at intervals---but that would only be possible outside of deer season.

Deer season on the LST began on 26 September and will end 1 February, and I would not recommend beginning a thru until then.

[12trysomething]

Tuts999 on YouTube recently posted his thru that was completed this spring. You may benefit from watching his trip reports as he hammock camped.

[Snaggleroot]

Jack - Ditto what was said about the difficulties of thru-hiking during hunting season. You can winter thru-hike much easier if you start in February or March. There’s no real problem finding places to hang when not restricted to the designated sites. Dense underbrush is more of a limiting factor than swampiness. Sections that have recently undergone controlled burns are ridiculously easy to find paired trees.

Tap water is available at three places along the trail, and there are a few streams I wouldn’t have a problem taking water from (and should be running fine in late winter). That said, I did stash water in 3 places. I carried a Sawyer squeeze and never used it.

[jackh]

Thank you all for the replies. I thought deer season ended Jan 5th? That's what the LSHT club site says right now. If I can't thru hike until Februaru then I am out of luck, part of December and January is the only time I can do a continuous thru hike. And I hadn't thought about caching water at crossroads. I had considered having someone meet me on day 3 or 4 to resupply food or anything I need. Are there boxes or bins along the trail for caching? I am reading the LSHT guide book but only about 40 pages in so far.

I can't make it to the group hang Nov 8th weekend, I already have a canoe camping trip planned for then. Thanks for the invite though

[sargevining]

Follow the info on the LST site or, better yet, call SHNF HQ. I was operating on memory when I made the 1 Feb statement.

[Mr. Jowee]

I'm in the early stages of planning a LSHT thru hike, and today I received a copy of Karen Somers' guide book, The Lone Star Hiking Trail: The Official Guide to the Longest Wilderness Footpath in Texas". So far it looks pretty helpful. The trail is broken down into 10 sections, and each section is broken down by mile. Every mile lists landmarks (such as "mile 41.2 - Gravel road, mile 41.6 - Old logging road, mile 41.9 - Pipeline crossing", and so on) as well as potable or filterable water, paved-road crossings, and established campsites. The book was published in 2009, and I'm not sure how much could have changed in 5 years. Also the author hiked the trail with a tent, so the established campsites might not be suitable for a hammock.