Sheltowee Trace- Day 3

 The morning started with a walk through the city of Morehead and Morehead State University. Hard for a Michigander to think of MSU as Morehead. The hills beyond Triplett Creek are the backdrop of all scenes from the town which is spread up the opposite hill. We were hiking at 7:50 am.

Walking through town was kind of fun. We followed the turtles on the sidewalk.

The city had turtles painted for decorations. This is just one of them.

Our first five miles were on road and we cranked those out at a rate of 3 mph. Went past some nice farms nestled below the hills. You can see cows in the field.

Then we made it to off-road trail. Bill signed us in at the register box. We had 7.9 miles yet to go.

Right off the bat was a 400-foot climb. But I want to tell you that someone built this section of trail with very high standards. It was graded and benched and switchbacked properly all the way to the top. A nearly painless climb.

On the top of the ridge, I thought we were going to be on a gravel forest road, and we were off and on. So that walking was pretty easy too. We stayed up with little ups and downs until the end of the day when there was a big downhill to the Cumberland Ranger Station.

We moved campsites, and we don't have ANY internet, so we drove up to this overlook where we have service so I can blog and everyone can check their messages.

I didn't have any troubles with the hiking today. I ate more salt and who-knows-why else. It was hot, hot, hot. The night did not cool down and it was 93° when we finished. I need these temperatures to cool a little bit.

Tomorrow is another big mileage day, then they get shorter. I'm pretty sure the terrain gets harder too.

The bites burn unmercifully, and it's hard to sleep when it doesn't cool down at night. But it has to get better!

Miles walked in 2026: 361.6
Miles hiked on the Sheltowee: 37.4

Sheltowee Trace, Kentucky, Eagle Lake Trailhead to Cumberland Ranger Station. 12.9 miles

See Sheltowee Trace- Day 2