Mid-December Day at Graham Cave State Park

 I'm playing around with StoryMaps as a tool for pulling together information from our walks. I downloaded data file from AllTrails as .GPX file. Then, uploaded the file into StoryMaps and added photos to create this post from a walk last week.  

I'll appreciate your feedback or if you know of other software tools people can use to better integrate information. You can leave your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!!

Walking at Graham Cave State Park

We enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon hiking several trails at Graham Cave State Park located near Danville, MO.

We walked up to the cave and then followed several trails to ultimately reach the campground. We then walked along the park roads back toward the main parking lot where we parked. You can find detailed trail information including maps and short descriptions of each trail on the Graham Cave State Park website. 

You can also see details of our walk on AllTrails with 3.73 miles and 443 feet of elevation change.

Loutre River serves as a western boundary of the state park.

Trail surfaces were generally in very good condition. We walked through a couple 

of muddy spots, but all-in-all, we returned to Annie, our Roadtrek, with clean boots.

Wonderful Mid-December Weekend at Runge Conservation Nature Center and Graham Cave State Park

 

We took advantage of relatively warmer weekend temperatures and walked on trails at Runge Conservation Nature Center Saturday afternoon and then at Graham Cave State Park on Sunday. 

Both of these areas are within a thirty minute drive from our home and we typically stop by several times a year to stretch our legs.

 

 

 

 

 

The temperatures in the 40s without wind were ideal for walking in December and we encountered a few fellow hikers.

While we didn't camp, we did recognize our one year anniversary of our first camping trip in Annie, our 1996C210P Roadtrek. The camping trip back in mid-December 2021 was also at Graham Cave State Park. 

You can view a short video slide show that we posted to remember some of our adventures this past year with Annie as we drove 6,133 miles and camped out 32 nights.

Hiking the Woodbine Trail at Babler Memorial State Park

After our National Take a Hike Day post two weeks ago, we made plans to drive to Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park on Saturday, November 19th to participate in the scheduled ranger led walk. 

We enjoyed a lovely morning walk with the park naturalist and several others. The sun was out and the walk was very pleasant.  We feel especially fortunate that we were able to see several frost flowers.

We pulled together a brief slide show on YouTube, Babler Memorial State Park Nat'l Take A Hike Day.

You can also view our route on AllTrails at National Take A Hike Event. We walked just under two miles with elevation change of 210 feet on the Woodbine Trail. Babler State Park also offers a number of other trails and we plan to return for a night or two in the future for more trail walking.

Let us know you favorite trails if you are familiar with Babler State Park or the other parks in the area. You can leave a comment below. Thanks!

National Take a Hike Day

 

I posted this on the Walking Callaway County Facebook page and will extend an invitation here to others who may not reside in Callaway County. National Take a Hike Day is November 17th.

You can also join a hike with an interpreter at Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park next Saturday beginning at 10:00 am.

Also, consider posting a comment below to share your favorite place for walking/hiking. 

Update on our Blog and Videos...

It has been a while since we've posted anything....not for lack of travel or walking...and don't have any useful explanation beyond we're retired and it is sometimes hard for some of us (me!) to do what is needed or desired. 

I am beginning work on accumulated videos for our YouTube channel and will begin working up blog posts to track our 2022 adventures.

We did just return from a couple of nights chasing leaves and fall colors across mid-Missouri in Annie and the photo above is one Linda took while we camped at the Ray Behrens Corp of Engineers Campground at Mark Twain Lake. 

Hiking the Boundary Trail at Little Dixie Lake

In mid March we walked the entire Boundary Trail Loop around Little Dixie Lake. The Little Dixie Lake Conservation Area is located in western Callaway County and is maintained by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

We walked a total of 6.36 miles with 243 feet of elevation change. The trail runs through a variety of different terrains and wildlife habitats. There are several different trail heads, though most people seem to park in the dam area. The dam and two other trail heads provide pit toilets. There are also several areas with picnic tables. The trail is well marked.

There is also a Shoreline Trail that runs right along most of the lake shore. It provides access to the lake for those interested in fishing or can be a pleasant hike.

You can also see a map of our route on All Trails, Afternoon hike on Boundary Trail.

Afternoon Hike on the County House Trail

We hiked the County House Trail in Columbia, MO on a cool and windy March afternoon. We started from the Forum Trail Head on the MKT Trail. We walked 5.5 miles with 92 feet of elevation change.

The trail has a crushed rock surface until you pass the Twin Lakes Recreation Area where it is paved.

You can see a map of our route on AllTrails, Afternoon hike on County House Trail.

Hiking the Final Segment of the Bear Creek Trail

We also completed the final segment of the Bear Creek Trail in northern Columbia, MO. The entire trail is 4.8 miles. 

In December 2021 we completed two segments for just under 6 miles of walking or 3 miles of the actual trail itself. You can see our earlier post here on that wonderful sunny day.

For this last segment was 1.75 miles and a total hike of 3.5 miles by the time we returned to the car. We parked at Albert Oakland Park and walked west along the trail. 

You can see our route on AllTrails, Afternoon hike on the Bear Creek Trail, along with the mileage and elevation change.

Walking the High Ridge Trail to find the Terry Turner Memorial Bench

After walking on the Devil's Ice Box Trail, we drove a short distance to the Rock Bridge Memorial State Park office.

We were on a mission to see if we could find the Terry Turner Memorial Bench and staff at the office weren't certain, but thought the bench was located at a high point on the High Ridge Trail. They were correct and we located the bench before returning to our vehicle after a 0.6 mile walk with 115 feet of elevation change.

Terry was a close friend  and classmate of Linda who loved hiking and was active with the Sierra Club. She visited the area many times before it became a state park and returned often to its trails over the years. She passed away too early in life. 

We reached the bench and returned via the connector trail planning to return a couple of days later to complete the entire trail. We did then return and I'll post another video of that portion of the trail here in a few days.

You can also visit AllTrails for a map of our route, Morning hike on High Ridge Trail.

Morning Hike on Devil's Ice Box Trail

We enjoyed a wonderful day hiking on a couple of trails at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park in early March.  We then hiked on a bit of the Bear Creek Trail in northern Columbia, MO later in the afternoon. I'll break out the three hikes into separate short blog posts.

Our first walk was a 40 minute along the Devil's Ice Box Trail for 0.74 miles.

The entire trail is routed on a boardwalk where you cross over the Rock Bridge and then up toward Devil's Ice Box. We were fortunate that the gate at the Ice Box was open allowing walkers to descend into the cave. There have been times when park staff closed off this access to protect bats or other life in the cave.

You can follow our route via AllTrails,  Morning hike on Devil's Ice Box Trail.

Leave a comment below if you know how many steps walkers have to ascend and descend on the trail. For some reason, we didn't think to count and plan to return again to find out.

Walking on the Stinson Creek Trail

We enjoyed a pleasant walk on the Stinson Creek Trail in Fulton, MO. We started at the Dog Park Trailhead and walked to the Wood Street Trailhead before returning to our starting point through downtown Fulton.

I split the walk into two segments on AllTrails. The first was 3.58 miles with elevation change of 108 feet and was entirely on the Stinson Creek Trail.

The second segment started with walking on sidewalks through downtown until we rejoined the Stinson Creek Trail and returned to the dog park. This portion was 2.19 miles with 85 feet of elevation change.