Tuxachanie Trail Water Notes

Water's everywhere along the Tux, but not all of it is convenient, nor do you want to even dip you filter in some of it.  Here's a rough guide to where and what, starting at the Hwy 49 trailhead.

• The pond 100 yards from the trailhead is pretty, but it's downstream from a popular bathroom break spot.  Yuck.  But that close to the trailhead, do you need to be gathering water anyway?
• Between mile markers 1 and 5, there's an OK-to-very-good creek about every mile or so.  No worries there.
• At Airey Lake (~5-1/2 miles in), there's a potable water faucet.  Easy!
• Copeland Spring just after mm 6 is a little off the path, but probably OK.  Still need to filter it.
• Between mm's 7 & 8 there's a bridge over an OK little stream.  That's the last good water until about mm 11, where you can get down to Tuxachanie Creek itself.
• Duck Pond near mm 9 might be OK in a pinch, but it is still water and kind of green.
• All of the mud holes near the horse trails should probably be avoided, if possible.
• Once you hit Tuxachanie creek near mm 11, you've got it made all the way to the P.O.W. camp.

In general, in cool weather I'm finding that it takes 1 liter to get from Hwy 49 to Airey Lake, and 2 liters to get from Airey Lake to the P.O.W. Camp.  If you just want to section/day hike without a filter, an out-and-back from either end will get you to Airey Lake and its potable water faucet.

In any case, think ahead a little so that you don't have to drink from the mud puddles near the horse trails.  And as always, follow the CDC guidelines and filter then disinfect.  I wrote a short bit on this a while back that's full of links here; in two years I haven't had any problems following this filter-then-disinfect routine.

Two liters of Tuxachanie's Finest.

ps/note to self: 2 liters of containers is enough for the hike, but it's not enough when in camp.  Evening takes a liter, morning takes a liter, and a little extra margin would be nice.  Then you have to filter up another couple of liters when starting out the next morning, which adds 20 minutes to the get-on-the-trail time.  Next time out, use a camelbak bladder, or carry a couple of smartwater bottles, or something.  5 liters in camp isn't too much to have, and counting set-up time it's nearly as fast to filter 5 liters as 2.  So bring more containers next time.

Tuxachanie Trail Navigation Notes

The whole thirteen mile trail is dead easy to follow – except for one section between mile markers 9 and 10.  Going west-to-east (i.e., Airey Lake to P.O.W), here are the things to watch for, the turns to make:

1. Just past Duck pond, the trail tees into a grassy road.  Go left.  You'll see some white blazes in that direction, and a few little metal signs with yellow arrows in the opposite.  Yellow arrows = horse trail.  Follow the white blazes.
2. About a hundred yards along, the trail splits off to the right.  Again, follow the blazes.
3. A quarter mile later, the trail joins into a horse trail/road.  Go right.  (When coming from the opposite way, this can be a little hard to pick out.  There's some blue marking tape, but it is not entirely obvious.)
4. The trail spits off to the right from the horse path at a set of low bridges.  They're in bad shape but passible.  Follow the blazes, follow the bridges.
5. A quarter-mile later you'll reach the "horse camp," which has a picnic table and hitching posts.
6. There are two obvious exits to the horse camp: left for the trail, and right for the horse path.
7. A quarter mile along, the trail splits: TAKE THE LEFT.  There is a white blaze just visible in this direction, but it used to be unmarked.  There is also a horseshoe on the same tree, which can be confusing.  Anyway, take the left and you'll soon pass mile marker 10 and be heading down into the Tuxachanie Creek bottom.  It's all clear from there.

Going the opposite way (P.O.W. to Airey), things are a little more obvious, except for that one turn-off a quarter mile after the low bridges.  Just to make things painfully clear:

• Continue on the Tux Trail past that "Y" (#7 above), into the horse camp, across the bridges, left onto the dirt road, and a quarter-mile.
• When things turn uphill, look for a path off left into the brush (#3 above).
• Follow that path, and merge onto a grassy road.  It's a slight turn to the left; the wrong alternative is a hard right (don't do that).
• A hundred yards along, take a right where the trail exits the road.  There'a a hiker sign there.
• The trail will cross the dam holding back Duck Pond, and you'll know you're home free.  You'll be at Airey lake in 3-1/2 miles.

This mile-long section of the trail had me stumped for years, and led to several fiascos and *ahem* negative experiences.  It's all marked currently, but the markings are pretty thin and that can change with any windstorm or control burn.  Hopefully these notes will help first timers out.  FWIW, yesterday I ran into a guy at the horse camp who was having a little trouble too.

One more beginner navigation tip when starting from the P.O.W. camp: After crossing over the lake dam, there's a confusion of trails and roads before the trail really begins.  Just hang right on those (i.e., toward Tuxachanie Creek) and you'll soon settle onto the trail and come to a signpost pointing the way to Airey Lake.

Here, have the obligatory picture.  More later.

The name of the place is "Desoto National Forest," but in fact it's largely a pine savannah – i.e., grassland without much shade.  Bring a hat, bring sunscreen.

Tuxachanie Tuckered Out

Hiked the Tuxachanie this weekend: Hwy 49 trailhead to The P.O.W. Camp on Friday, camped for the night, and back to 49 on Saturday.  Will have more to say tomorrow, but as you might expect I'm a little tired this evening.  For a teaser though, here're two pics from Copeland Spring.

What's in the spring?  Uh, blue sky and pine trees.  No wait, that's just a reflection.  Anyway, the ground was so dry that the "spring" was more a "well," albeit with the water fairly near the surface.

It was an interesting but peaceful hike both days.  More on this, with pics, tomorrow.

Dick Dale, RIP

Not unexpected, nor a lot to say.  Article at the BBC.

I'll miss his songs of enthusiasm, of the early space race days.  It was an honor to have seen him play several times however, and at least we still have his recordings.  He left an unmatched legacy in founding a genre within rock music.  That is something.  Hope his family is holding up.

ps: posts on seeing Dale et al play New Orleans in 2012 and 2013.

Theme for the Coming Week

We'll see how it works out.  We all should try and see if we can make this one work.

Book Mention: In the Garden of Beasts

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin tells the story of U.S. Ambassador Dodd's time in Germany during the Nazi regime's mid-30's consolidation of power.  Oh, here, just go read the Wikipedia summary of the book.  It's not as if you don't already know how this ends so there really can't be any spoilers, and whoever wrote that paragraph distilled things down better than I can.

Now that you're back from that sidebar, the thing that is striking about this book is Larson's portrayal of the atmosphere in Germany, especially Berlin at the time.  People there know that bad things are happening, but are unsure as to how bad they are and what should be the proper response.  Blame is shifted, questions are deflected by the authorities, and things muddle along toward the cataclysm of World War II.  The best that can be said is that at least Dodd and a few others tried to call the bluff.  In the end, after being recalled in the late 30's, Dodd expended the last of his strength on an "I tried to tell you so" speaking tour in the U.S.  On the whole, it probably did a lot of good, at least as much as one aging college history professor could manage.

The author makes an interesting comment in his closing acknowledgements:

What I did not realize as I ventured into those dark days of Hitler's rule was how much the darkness would infiltrate my own soul.

While Larson bore the brunt of this during his deep-dive into the source material while researching for this book, a reader will get a tinge of this darkness too.  It's a very good work, but approach with caution if you're in a rough patch of life.  Overall though, I highly recommend.

Bonus Link: the author's web page has a few good tidbits and some press blurbs.  Again, don't worry about spoilers.  You already know how this thing turns out, so go have a look if you're considering this book.

Double Secret Daylight Saving Time

After a brief trip into the Eastern Time zone this week, my phone hasn't changed back to Central.  And I use it as a wake-up alarm clock...   You can imagine the rest.

This miserable transition week ends soon, but not soon enough.