B.S. A. Trail

It's hard to believe I've not done a hiking post here since the family vacation in March. Truth is we've been really busy and most of my hikes have been to places I've hiked many times before. This past weekend I headed back to Petit Jean State Park, only this time I set out to do the B.S.A Trail which is a 12 Miler. I haven't hiked this trail since I was in college so I was quite excited!

It was a great day for a hike for the 3rd weekend in July, 67 degrees at the start of the hike around 9:30. The B.S.A Trail joins many of the state parks trail systems together so essentially I just made a loop. I didn't see a single person for the first 7 miles until I made my way over towards the "Seven Hollows" trail. While here I came across 22 people. This loop trail is 4.5 miles and an extra 1/2 mile if you do the "Grotto," which is a must in my book. Towards the end, the trail starts to make its way back to the lodge, across to the overlook, up to the cabin, back down to the creek, and upstream to the trailhead where I started. I was hiking at a pretty good pace as I am beginning my prep for the Ozark Highlands Trail in October, a nice 165 miler. The B.S.A Trail I finished in under 6 hours with a 30 minute lunch break.

A tip or 2 I must now insert. As I made my way from the lodge back towards the trailhead, I past numerous people and I'm always glad to assist people while out, but it's scarry some of the things I see people attempting. All of our state parks have a visitor's center. If you've never been to a park, it should be the first place to go when you arrive. Get a map, aquaint yourself with the area, ask questions of the staff and park rangers, and then hit the trail(s). That way you are on the trail you want to be on. Secondly, you must know your limitations and by that I mean what your body can physically handle. This one lady along with her family were on the wrong trail, and when asked for information I gladly provided, however, I knew that if she was struggling on this trail, there was no way she was going to make it down to the bottom of Cedar Falls and back up even though its a short hike. Experiencing the outdoors is awesome, but failure to follow these 2 basic steps, both you and your family will be miserable.