Quick update and I’ll fill the details in later.  Loonie and I wrapped up the 18 mi hike of the Taum Sauk section of the Ozark Trail recently (Highway 21 trail head…6 miles from Taum Sauk State Park…to the Highway N trail head…at the scour).  It was INSANELY hot, reaching into the 90’s on the last day.  Definitely not the time of year to be doing this hike but we did it.  Many great views along this section.   Saw lots of wild flowers and interesting fungi, a bit of wildlife, quite a few other hikers and TONS and TONS of rock!!!  Its definitely a rocky section.  We spent two nights on the trail and then stayed one night at Johnson Shut Ins campground before moving onto Alley Springs for two nights.  To wrap up the trip, we stopped by Rocky Falls and Klepzig Mill to get an idea of what’s coming up as we hike more of the OT.  Loonie got a lot of great pics but I haven’t had a chance to go through those yet so here’s some of mine to give you an idea….

One casualty of the trip: our beloved Exped Hyperlite Duo Pad!  On the last morning, Loonie rolled over and we heard a “POP”.  A few seconds later, a second “POP”.  Turns out that a section of two of the baffles de-laminated and there’s now a big bubble in the pad.  Needless to say, with the Shenandoah trip coming up in a matter of a few weeks, we were seriously bummed out!  This pad and our Enlightened Equipment Accomplice dual quilt have become our favorite pieces of gear and they work great together as a light weight sleep system.  We contacted Exped and they assured us we’ll have a new pad in time for the Shenandoah hike.  Seems they’ve seen this problem in some early production runs and they believe they’ve resolved the issue.  We’ll see.  WE LOVE THIS FREAKIN’ PAD!!!

More to come…