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Outdoors: Knobstone Trail Knobstone Trail - Day 2 April 2, 2006 I awake to the sound of turkeys and a pair of barred owls calling back and forth. Took about an hour to get cleaned up, changed, fed, packed up, and on the trail. Maybe a hundred yards further on I pass by the spot I had been aiming for the previous night, a nice campsite with clear level ground. There are nice views off to the east, but they are not enough to distract me from my socks, which are sliding down into my shoes. I stop to turn them inside-out, which provides some relief. As I and the day begin to warm up, it's also necessary to get rid of some clothing. After a mile or so the trail begins a steep descent towards Indiana 160, and I make constant use of hiking poles in an effort to protect my knees and keep me from busting my butt. There's a short stretch of road walking into order to get over a bridge, then the trail heads right back up the other side of the valley. The next few miles are relatively easy. Around MM 13 I stop for a break and am passed by a group of several day hikers. I follow reluctantly and discover that they've met up with a larger group that's overnighted in a nearby stream valley. I pass them all and pick up the pace, hoping to put a little space between them and their din, not to mention their dog, who seems to feel compelled to offer extended commentary on a variety of matters. I am unable to put enough distance between myself and the two and four-legged noise factories, so I stop to eat lunch and allow them to pass. My lunch spot is by a small waterfall in an attractive valley; there are healthy stands of Toothwort and Spring Beauty ready to flower, and Louisiana Waterthrush are calling from along the stream bank. I learn that my companions on the trail today are only headed for the next trailhead, about two miles away, so I relax a bit and walk a bit more slowly. There's a brief shower that lasts about as long as it takes me to retrieve my jacket from the pack. I also stop to take some photos and GPS coordinates of an illegal tire dump between MM 16 and 17; I work with someone who deals with those and will forward the info to him. I pass the New Chapel trailhead just before noon and will see no one else for the next two days. However, the weather is worsening and just past MM 18 I stop and sit on a log while sheltering under the tent fly as a ferocious thunderstorm passes by. The sound of thunder receded as I enter a lush valley between MM 19 and 20. The stream is running briskly and the sides of the valley are festooned with Toothwort, Spring Beauty, and Adder's Tongue, all ready to pop. I stop to photograph a nice patch of False Rue Anemone alongside the stream. The trail is muddy in spots, but I soon reach an area where it has been badly rutted by ATVs. Another storms is approaching, and is sounds pretty bad. I decide to set up the tent to temporarily shelter at a campsite just past MM 22. I get the tent up just in time and prepare to wait out the storm, planning to strike camp and continue on once it passes. But it does not pass until nearly dark, so I doze in the tent and monitor the rain and lightning. As night falls I scrounge some wood for a fire and cook dinner. There's a spectacular session of coyote howling somewhere not far off. I even rinse out socks and clothing and hang them on a makeshift line to dry. I needn't have bothered. About ten o'clock, as I'm about to fall asleep, I hear the roar of onrushing wind and rain. They slam into the tent and threaten to rip the fly off. I spend the next thirty minutes with my arms outside the tent, holding down the fly and wondering when a tree or large branch is going to fall on me. Soon, however, the wind dies down and I quickly fall asleep. It will be the best night of sleep I have on the trail. I later learn that wind storms in Indianapolis that same night ripped off several stories of a skyscraper's facade. Knobstone Trail Journal - Day 3