Last weekend Scott and I finally broke out our camping gear for the first time this season. We decided to tackle the highest point in Missouri, Taum Sauk Mountain, located south of St. Louis (that's on the eastern border of the state). After much deliberation we also decided to take Chloe with us. Maggie had to remain home due to a bum knee and a healing spider bite wound. Taking Chloe would prove to be quite a challenge since we forgot her remote and had to keep her on a leash for the entire trip-something she is not trained on and does not like.
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| And here we are, 400 or so meters into our hike. What marker is this you ask? Why it's the highest point in Missouri! A whopping 1,772 ft above sea level. We actually camped on top of the mountain and almost missed this as we started our hike. There was nowhere to go but down from here... |
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| Amazing how determined this tree was to survive. A disease caused it to make a ninety degree turn and reaching for the sun created another ninety degree turn towards the sky. I love nature. |
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| These fabulously clear pools were fairly frequent along our hiking route. Chloe loved mucking around in them and the cool drinks! |
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| Some of the rock formations were a bit tricky. Thank goodness Chloe came on this trip with a handle-haha! |
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| This is Mina Tauk Falls. 132 feet from top to bottom. We were pleasantly surprised to find water flowing down the falls since we were informed that generally the falls were only active after rains. |
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| The bottom of the falls |
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| Chloe was not too excited to have to be on a leash the whole time. |
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| This is the Devil's Tollgate, a break in the rock formation about 30 ft high and 50 ft long created from a break in the rock during a volcanic eruption. |
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| This erosion was beautiful. The layers under Scott and Chloe were very thin and water dripped down through the rock and hanging moss. |
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| A very fat lizard we found upon arrival to our campsite. By this point we had hiked 8.5 miles or so and were camping in the middle of the woods, miles away from anyone. Great for us however Chloe was a hot mess with all of the sounds and smells around and her being on a leash. |
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| Scott found this little guy crossing the stream |
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| The wildflowers that colored our hike were just beautiful! |
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| Sometimes the trail was a little difficult to find, crossing streams, rocks, switchbacks, whatever. The Ozark Trail marker was the golden ticket that we were on the right track :) |
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| Group shot :) |
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| Awwww...too cute |
All in all the trip was a success. We covered approximately 13 miles over two days in gorgeous weather. We definitely carried more than we needed (minimalist campers we are not-haha) but for the distance it wasn't too bad. One final note, on our drive out to Taum Sauk mountain and home again we crossed the Missouri river 7 times. One would think that it might have saved us some time if we had just taken a boat...or maybe not.
