Water Source

Camped at ‘Cab Creek’ — Finally, the sun is high enough to start warming things up. I went and sat in the sun on the other side of ‘Cab Creek’ and enjoyed the morning. +3

McGarr Spring — looking a lot nicer in the sunshine. I filled up my water bottle before starting my hike out.

Blue Spring — This is popular area, I met seven people — two families — out for an afternoon walk while I was heating and eating my lunch here. I was last here with Ginger on a wedding anniversary backpacking trip, February 20, 2011.

My own little spring.

Photograph of Whites Creek, Irish Wilderness. March 2023.

Whites Creek — close to its confluence with the Eleven Point River — I stopped here to have lunch and enjoy the view. One-minute read

Bliss Spring (& a late lunch!) — just a quick snapshot. I took pictures and some video the last time I was here.

Spring water, Whites Creek. And in a few minutes I’ll be climbing the hill on the other side of the creek. +2

Photograph showing the shallow pool below the McGarr Spring, Devil's Backbone Wilderness, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri. December 2022.

McGarr Spring, and on my way again – I had plenty of water for my hike out, so I didn’t need to collect any. The main Spring is located up the hill a ways and it drains down into this pool which is slowly filling with debris. It was a lot more ‘pool-like’ when I first came here a couple of years ago.

Spring – I am always on the lookout for reliable springs we can camp near. Hopefully, this one keeps running all year round.

Mores Branch – Hercules Glades Wilderness – From the map, I could see it was under a mile of bushwhacking to get to Mores Branch. The hollow is steep but there was a point where a ravine ran into the hollow that looked like it would offer a good way down. +2

Small spring and creek near ‘Ant Hill’ – The spring we found can be seen right at the bottom of the frame. The water was pouring out of a small one to one-and-a-half-inch hole in the bank. +3

Spring on Steam Mill Hollow – closer inspection of the map showed that I’d missed this spring when planning my trip. It wasn’t a raging torrent, but it was putting out several gallons a minute.

Fiddler Spring – I took a quick detour to checkout the spring and top up my water. +1

Bliss Spring. +1

Back on the Piney Creek Trail – it’s a 20′-30′ drop to the creek. I was looking for good camping spots. The best are probably at the very start of the Piney Creek Trail. The trail is overgrown and difficult to follow in many places. +1

Three Springs – These three springs are all within thirty feet of each other. It’s fascinating to me to be able to watch water appear out of the ground. This is what I’m looking for, secure water sources in this part of the wilderness. +2

Spring – The eastern half of the trail is considered ‘dry’ so this was a good discovery. None of the creeks had water in them, but this looks to be a reliable water source. It’s not producing gallons of water per minute, but a reasonable trickle, enough for me to be able to water-up for the next segment of my hike from here (Smith Mill Hollow) to Brazil Creek.

McGarr Spring – I have been meaning to visit this spring almost every time I’ve hiked in the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness, so I made it the focus of this trip. 4 pictures

Abandoned Building at Rock Spring. 3 pictures

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