Monday 3-23-26 Camping & Hiking Belle Starr and Coon Creek Ridge Trails

 

Hiking Belle Starr Loop Trail

We had a beautiful spring day. We did an outstanding hike at Robbers Cave State Park.

We woke up to a brisk 51 degrees. Larry was up at 6:15 so he turned on the heater and turned off the fan. It was warm when we went to bed but was very comfortable to sleep with the fan going. It got up to 72 degrees. 

When I got up at 7:15 I was surprised to see Larry under the blanket. I made mini waffles for breakfast.  

Mini waffle maker by Dash

Finished product

After breakfast we went on a 4.25 mile hike on two trails, which were Belle Starr Loop and Coon Creek Ridge. We have hiked these trails before. We picked up the trail at the campground entrance. We hiked Coon Creek for about .25 mile where it Ys. You can go to the right or left. We decided to go to the right because it took us to the lodge. There was a sign that told you which way to the lodge. We hiked Coon Creek Ridge to the lodge for about a half mile, we picked up the trailhead for Belle Starr Loop. There was a nice trailhead sign for Belle Starr Loop Trail. We like picking Belle Starr trail here because it's the steepest part of the trail. The trail takes you down the side of the rock hill and through giant boulders. The trail is well marked with white/black hiking signs. We climbed down the hill to Coon Creek. On the way down I got off the trail because I was busy watching where I was stepping and didn't look at the trail sign on a tree. I didn't go too far when I realized I had lost Larry and was off the trail. I could have continued the way I was going but I wanted to find Larry. I got back on the trail and followed to where he was. He was already at Coon Creek Lake. The trail flattens out there and goes along the bank of the lake. It took us by the dam and gate control building. The building was very old. The trail took us to a gate where the trail Ys. If you continue down the trail it will take you on the other side of Coon Creek. There is a trail over there we have hiked before but we wanted to stay on the loop we were doing. Shortly after walking through the yellow gate, there was a trail marked on the side of the hill. We had to be careful because we could miss it. Larry kept looking for it. Once we saw it we climbed back up the hill through the forest. The trail took us back to Coon Creek Ridge trail. This part of the trail is shared by both Belle Starr and Coon Creek Ridge. We hiked it back to where it Ys. We had hiked 2 miles so far. We continued our hike on Coon Creek Ridge Trail. This trail was easier because we didn't have to climb over and in between boulders. But we still had to climb off big rocks that were part of the trail. The trail weaved through the pines, dogwoods and oak trees. Both trails had needles from the pines and leaves from the other trees on it so it made it soft to hike on. They must have had a big storm come through recently because there were some big pine trees down. They had been removed from the trail. They had chained sawed them in pieces and left the pieces so we took advantage of the cut down trees and sat on them to rest. The trail also goes along the ridge of the mountain we had hiked down when we did Belle Starr. There were very nice views of the rock formations. We had a super hike. We hiked for 4 miles and it took us almost three hours. 

            

Almost finished with Belle Starr Loop

Coon Creek dam

The building controlling the gates

Coon Creek Lake

Boulders we climbed in between on Belle Starr Loop

Dogwoods in bloom along Coon Creek Ridge

A butterfly we saw on Coon Creek Ridge

I spent the afternoon playing games and relaxing. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 10 minutes and 46 seconds, which put me in 28th place in my group. Yesterday's event, which was Event: Klondike Adventure of 20 games. I came in 10th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After dinner Larry and I went on walk. By the end of the walk I had done 2.25 miles. Larry walked a mile of it with me. We walked to the cabins and lodge. They have 26 cabins and three of them are duplexes. This would make it nice to camp with another couple or family and you have your own cabin. After walking around the cabin area Larry went back to the Minnie I continued walking I walked the Old Circle Campground twice.

We spent the rest of the night relaxing with a book. Larry started a new book today and finished it. I continued reading Project Hail Mary.

Relaxing with a good book

By the end of the day I had done 18,000 steps.