Forest 44 Conservation Area, miles hiked: around 7ish Well since there is a physical fitness forum I will make use of it. I will posts thee hikes I do here and hope somebody will get enjoyment out of them. The first hike in my epic series will be in the Forest 44 Conservation Area. Forest 44 contains upto 12 miles of networked hiking trails and sits just to the southwest of St. Louis next to bustling Interstate 44. This area ranges in scenery from forested valleys to prairie flatland. Forest 44 was purchased in 1990 by the Department of Conservation to save it from the oncoming approachment of development. This will be the first time I will be hiking here. Many, like myself, prefer the Chubb Trail across the highway. I will be hiking that on Thursday, so stay tuned! http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic1.jpg Looking at the map we see that the main trial (the yellow trail)is 3.4 miles long and loops back to the parking lot. Generally, if a trail is less than 4 miles I will hike it twice. Trails veer off the main trail and connect back to it adding additional miles, so hiking it twice won't be necessary. My plan of attack for the day is to stay on the yellow trial until it meets up with the red trial and follow that trial until it connects to the purple trial. I will follow the purple trial until it rejoins the yellow trail, making one gigantic loop of the park. Let's begin! Since this is a multi-use trail so horses are allowed to use the trails also. When I was lacing up my boots and getting my gear together, I noticed an older couple on horses head out to the trail head. This is just great! "I don't want to be staring at and smelling horse ass the whole time," I thought to myself as I followed them to the trail head. They went straight, so I hung a right and started the hike counter clockwise. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic2.jpg Starting off counter clockwise you are greeted with a climb. I must say when I reached the top I was getting winded. lol wuss. Hey, this is only the second time I've been out this year and my body wasn't used to the rigors of hiking. Looking down the hillside you see horses sipping water in a creek. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic3.jpg As I followed the trail closer to creek some of the horses scattered. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic4.jpg The yellow trail is wide and is free of rocks, roots and fallen trees. It looks like this trail gets the most use out of all the trails in the network. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic5.jpg Coming up to the red trial. As you can see the trails are clearly marked with easy to read signs. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic6.jpg I will be leaving the yellow trail and be taking the red trail on the right. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic7.jpg Hey, what on earth is that hum?! Getting away from the hustle and bustle of big, busy city life and hiking next to a interstate is a most excellant way to chillax, yo! http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic8a.jpg The red trail wasn't as wide as the yellow trail but I managed to find my way. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic8.jpg I think I see a trial, I think. The purple trail must be the stupid little step child of the yellow trail that nobody likes. If I told you that I thought the purple trail was hard to follow at times, that would be a understatement. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic9.jpg HEY! REMEMBER WHEN I SAID THIS WAS A MULTI-USE TRAIL? HERE IS A PICTURE OF HORSE POO JUST TO REMIND YOU! And yes, I did poke it with a stick. This poo looked pretty fresh so I decided to snap a pic of it. Sometimes the poo and seeing horse shoe prints on the ground let me know that I was even on the purple trail. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic10.jpg I think this was the point where I had a OH SHIT moment. I realized that I had lost the trail completely. The thing about Forest 44 is that is hard to get lost in. All the hollows and creeks lead back to the parking lots. If worse comes to worse all you need to do is listen for the hum of the interstate, hike to it, and then follow it back to the parking lot. It was too early in the day to turn around and follow the interstate back, so I pressed on. I got out my compass and topo map of the area and was able to make a guesstimate to where I was. I finished first in orienteering back in highschool. I headed south away from the interstate and hiked up the hill. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic11.jpg hizzumm.. that wasnt marked on mah map. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic12.jpg Looking around I noticed movement on the ridge next to me. So I stopped hiking and studied it for a moment. It was somebody riding a horse! So, I hiked my happy ass up the hill and found this... http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic13.jpg It was a trail! Didn't know which one, I didn't care. (Later, I found out it was the red trail. I was back on track.) I decided to stop here and eat lunch, and let the horse riding group continue further up the trail. From here on out the hike was pretty much uneventful, so I'll just post the pics. Red Trail http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic14.jpg Water hole http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic15.jpg Fallen tree over trail http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic16.jpg Deforestation http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic17.jpg Praire http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic18.jpg More Praire http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic19.jpg This tree looked like it had two breasts. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic20.jpg The home stretch back to the parking lot. http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic22.jpg http://webpages.charter.net/tenflo/hike/forest44/pic23.jpg If you have any questions, ask! [Dave: Mirrored images on PVNet servers.]
