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Outdoors: Knobstone Trail Knobstone Trail - Day 3 April 3, 2006 Another morning awaking to the sound of grouse drumming. It takes a while to get going this morning, what with all the wet and muddy gear. On the trail by 7:30, with a goal to do about 12 miles. There's supposed to be a nice campsite somewhere around MM 36. The walking this morning starts out fairly easy, but there is still a lot of wind. Last night's wind seems to have brought down quite a few trees and branches, and there is some scrambling to do to get over them where they block the trail. It's probably for the best that I stopped last night in a valley; a ridge top campsite would likely have seen far stronger wind. A garter snake is crossing the trail, and freezes at my approach. He puffes up nicely for a photo shoot, and then it's on towards the Leota Trailhead. This involves a fairly steep climb, followed by a hundred yards or so of road walking, then another short, sharp climb. The trailhead parking lot has a couple of cars in it but the occupants are nowhere in evidence. There's a short descent, followed by another climb along a ridgeline that culminates at a nice campsite with 360 degree views. A line of blue sky appears in the distance, offering hope that the sky will clear. However, this was not to be. I begin a long descent along a ridge line. After some time, I realize that I haven't seen a blaze in a while. I continue for a bit, then decide that it would be best to turn around and seek out the last blaze, in case I've missed a turn. After about 400 yards I find the last blaze and conclude that there was no missed turn, just missing blazes. I continue onward and downward. Shortly before MM 27 I stop for a rest and snack in a broad wooded valley. Wildflowers are, or soon will be, abundant in this valley. I see dutchman's breeches, spring beauty, cutleaf toothwort, celandine poppy, and false rue anemone, though most of the blossoms are not open. The stream running through this valley feeds a lake or impoundment; I can see a house on the lake in the distance. After crossing the stream I ascend a set of timbered stairs onto a ridge. A large knob looms, and the trail steadily approaches it. Just as it seems time to begin assaulting the knob, the trail skirts around its base and heads into a ravine. After crossing a small stream I find myself at the base of a ridge wall that stands in front of me like a twenty story building, with the trail leading straight up. It's a scramble to the top, with frequent rest breaks allowing me to observe that the hillside is festooned with wildflowers ready to pop. It's the stiffest climb I am to encounter on the trail. The descent is along a badly eroded rocky trough that ends at a pretty little meandering creek. It begins to rain lightly, and the next mile brings a couple of taxing climbs. I stop for a quick lunch and press on. There are signs here that trail work is underway; a particularly steep climb is being replaced with a nice series of switchbacks - good for the hillside and hiker knees. The trail is heading in a generally westward direction now, towards the Elk Creek Public Fishing Area. Several trail segments in this area are badly eroded, sometimes down to the underlying rock. In some cases it looks as if the trail is following old wagon roads, sunken depressions about ten or twelve feet across. My already slow progress is slowed further as I approach the upper reaches of the Elk Creek Reservoir. All of the recent rain has swollen the creeks feeding into the reservoir, and the result is a morass of mud and water. I pick my way slowly across logs and emergent islands amongst the knee-deep muck. Once I get past all that, I find myself marvelling yet again at the profusion of wildflowers as I ascend the valley of a small creek. I had intended to stop at the Elk Creek trailhead in hopes of finding water, but find that I must have missed the turn somewhere back in the muck. I press on, noting quite a few prairie trillium and the first patches of may apple I've seen so far, just beginning to push up from below and looking like tightly-rolled green cigars. In mile 33 there's a long climb up along a ridge line, followed by a rutted and badly eroded descent that leads into a very scenic valley; the stream has cut a deep channel and the bottom of the channel has a bluish cast. After a short breather I cross the stream and soon flush a covey of quail or grouse. Mile 34 includes a crossing of State Road 56, though before that it was necessary to negogiate a strongly flowing creek. The trail skirts IN 56 before gradually pulling away. This segment combines some climbing and descent with some fairly easy ridge walking. It also includes a walk along what looks like a newly-constructed logging road, attended by quite a bit of destruction. Just past MM 36 I leave the logging road and uprooted trees and descend sharply into a stream valley. I search in vain for the camp site I've read about, and set up the tent near the stream. I filter water and fire up the Esbit, greatly enjoying a dinner of macaroni and cheese. Coyotes howl as night falls, and it's raining just a bit; I can hear the drops on the fly of the tent. Mostly I hear the wind in the trees and the sound of the stream as it continues on its own journey, towards the sea. Knobstone Trail Journal - Day 4