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Overnight Backpack in the Leatherwood Wilderness Area After the Rain
3/3/16
Thursday morning...sitting in the Huddle House in Clinton. Breakfast is excellent. Radar on my phone shows a big blob of rain moving in from the northwest directly towards my destination. I ponder this and after adding in all the other data gathered from local weather sources, decide all will be well by noon. Highway 65 takes me north to Marshall. It's still to early so Marshall is explored with no stores of interest open at the early hour of 8:00 a.m. Nowhere is there to kill time. Onward then. Driving along Push Mountain Road a portable lighted sign states "Caution, smoke ahead". What tha!? Is my chosen forested area on fire? Smoke is definitely in the air. My vehicle moves it aside with ease. Burned areas are noted along the eastern side of the road. It appears to be a controlled burn but the valleys within Leatherwood Wilderness are full of smoke as well. Yuck! Oh well. Brush Creek Road is mounted and the rain soon begins with light droplets.
After a few miles the rain picks up. My entry point is arrived at and a parking location is secured. I nap for an hour or so. Around 11:30 it appears that the precipitation has subsided and radar shows all clear behind that. Into to woods, then with 45°, clouds and some fog. The smoke layer seems to have cleared with help from the rain. The ridges followed are brushy and dense in places with downed trees in abundance. A couple of wrong turns are made along the way. By 1:15 the bluff line of choice is located. The view is wonderful in all directions. Shortly after arrival the clouds begin to break and the overall feel of the day turns much more positive.
Camp is set up and the usual preparations for the evening are made. By now a brisk wind has arrived along with the sunshine. The temp is now in the upper 50's. All is good. Leatherwood creek flows below me as it approaches the Buffalo River 2.5 miles downstream. I savor all that is around me and proclaim all within my surveyance to be mine...mine I tell you. The afternoon continues until the fading light eased me into darkness. The sunset was a fine display. My meal was taken while observing this in a comfortable position on the rock surface dotted with occasional mossy mounds. The stars came forth with the waning sun. There would be no moon until around 2:00 a.m. Orion catches my eye first, as if king of the other star groups. The remaining stars support him with much brightness.
No fire is made due to the wind. The hammock calls me inside at a very early eight o'clock. The wind finally subsides near midnight. My sleep is crappy, as usual. No animals are heard. A little after 2:00 a red crescent moons rises from the most distant ridge. By 6:00 I rise and pack while waiting for the sun to begin the day once more. A low temp of 37° displays on my weather dial. Sunrise is equal to the sunset the night before. By 7:00 the site is vacated and the unpleasant hike back begins. By 9:00 the hike ends and at 10:00 breakfast is laid before me at Carl's in Marshall. I proceed to partake of its bounty. The drive home is pleasant and the entire trip is deemed successful with many profits procured for my future remembrance. My total hike mileage was five.
