Woods Fork – Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area
06 January 2012 | Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman
Sunset at Bucksaw, Harry S Truman Lake, Missouri
The wind blew hard and unpredictably most of the evening, making sitting round the campfire hazardous at times, but the sparks made up for the absence of fireworks.
05 November 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Dead tree, Bucksaw, Harry S Truman Lake, Missouri
05 November 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Little Sac River, near Willard, Missouri
18 April 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Bluffs on the Meramec River, Meramec State Park, Missouri
This picture is another fine example of the ‘painterly’ images my little Fuji compact camera can produce.
24 March 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Sundown at Little Brazil Creek, Missouri
21 March 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Ozarks’ skies
01 March 2011 | Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Little Sac River from the Sac River Trail
This afternoon we decided to enjoy the sunshine, brave the snow cover and go for a short hike on the Sac River Trail. The hike was fine, proving our gear is up to a winter hike, getting to the trail and away again was not so good.
On our way to the trail I nearly ‘T Boned’ a pick-up and trailer as it sailed through a stop sign without stopping; the driver was too busy chatting on his cell ‘phone to notice the stop sign. A couple of hours later at the parking lot for the trail I made the mistake of trying to turnaround to get out and got us well and truly stuck in the snow. I had to resort to digging down through the snow and ice to the ground using my pocket knife. Note to self: Snow shovels aren’t worth a damn for digging out a stuck van.
05 February 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Lighting test
It turned out all my preparation was in vain as I ended up taking pictures on stage during the ceremony.
29 January 2011 | Diocese of West Missouri Youths’ 2011 Bishop’s Ball | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
View from the duck blind at Valley Water Mill Pond
Having spent all morning languishing in bed with my laptop some activity was called for. Not wanting anything too strenuous we decided to check out a small nature center just North East of Springfield.
At one end of the pond we found a duck blind with this magnificent view. So much for my saying I was going to try and cut down on the landscape lakes and rivers pictures.
02 January 2011 | Watershed Center | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Our MSR Mutha Hubba backpacking tent at Berry Bend Campground
We spent a long time researching and looking at tents. Each time we thought we’d found the one we wanted we saw another we liked even more. A three season tent was essential for spring and fall camping, some useable vestibule space that would double as a wind break for cooking was also high on our wish list. It had to be big, or even a three person tent so that we can keep our packs inside if the weather is really foul. And it needed to be as light as possible for backpacking, this tent is working out great for us.
We’ve written a short review of the MSR Mutha Hubba tent here
21 November 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Gary and Ginger Sitting by the camp fire in the moonlight
We decided to cheat on preparing the fire. Not wanting to spend a lot of time and energy gathering and cutting wood, we bought some logs for $4 and I split them with an 8lb non backpacking axe. However, we did successfully light the fire backpacking style using cotton wool pads coated with Vaseline.
20 November 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Gary and Ginger: wildlife and lake watching
Friday evening we took Alek, Katie and a couple of kids from youth group to Kansas City for a Church event. We needed to be on hand to collect them again Sunday afternoon, so we left Lanie in the capable hands of Ginger’s cousin Betsy, put Getzger in charge at home and once we’d dropped the big kids off we turned around and went back to go camping at Berry Bend on Harry S. Truman Lake.
We didn’t bother taking the kayaks; we had a very nice quiet day sitting watching the lake and wildlife instead. It gave us a change to try out our Trekker chairs. I was dubious about sitting so low to the ground, but they proved very comfortable. The great thing about the chairs is that they use our existing Therm-A-Rest mattresses for the seat and seat back so there’s very little extra to carry. Which brings me to a problem. My Nikon weighs in at 2lbs. I need something lighter for backpacking, or I’m going to have to compromise somewhere else. We’ll see.
While sitting here we saw loads of different woodpeckers, hawks, and other birds including a bald eagle. We also watched the squirrels and chipmunks rushing around. Over the course of the weekend we also saw a deer, possum, coyote, and evidence of a beaver.
I never did get a chance to read the book I brought along, and I don’t think Ginger got much knitting done either.
20 November 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Berry Bend, Harry S. Truman lake, Missouri
09 October 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Berry Bend, Harry S. Truman Lake, Missouri
08 October 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Kayaking and fishing on Stockton Lake
We took it quite easy, and I spent a fair time fishing – catching three fish. There was hardly anyone on the lake. We stopped here for lunch and to have a swim. It may not look like it but the lake drops to over fifty feet deep very quickly at this point. Very quickly being about ten feet from the shore.
I’m looking forward to changing the color of my paddles to something a little darker.
Note: I sprayed them camo green a week or so later. Here’s the result and some notes on the modifications and additions I’ve made to my Ascend FS10 kayak.
20 September 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Stockton Lake Missouri
This bluff is across an inlet from High Point access.
18 August 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Mist at the Pines Overlook Campsite
Just enough time for some pictures and to enjoy the daybreak before packing up camp and setting off to pick up the girls.
07 August 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Red Bluff on Huzzah Creek, Davisville, Missouri
Once more the lighting is challenging, and I’m still not 100% happy with the results. I do like the person at the bottom of the frame – he really serves to give an idea of the scale of the bluff, though I had to rush the shot to catch him in the sunlight.
05 August 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Pines Overlook Campsite at night
22 July 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Red Bluff Campground, Davisville, Missouri
Huzzah Creek and Red Bluff, Red Bluff Campground, Missouri
Red Bluff is one of our current favorite camping destinations. However, getting a decent picture of the bluff is proving a bit difficult. The red coloring on the bluff is actually a stain from the red topsoil. In places where there’s no soil the bluff is white. At around 150′-200′ the bluff is quite impressive.
22 July 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Davisville, Missouri
Mark Twain National Forest – Table Rock Lake, Missouri
I had to get quite wet in order to get the shot. It wasn’t a hardship though, the lake was as warm as bath water.
14 July 2010 | Table Rock Lake, Missouri | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Tail light cluster of the 1963 Chrysler Gas Turbine car
For the curious those are lights. Apparently the exhaust has a wide thin rectangular section to spread out the exiting hot gases and thus prevent toasting any following vehicles when driving in traffic.
24 July 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Museum of Transportation, St Louis | Chrysler Gas Turbine car | Mick’s Visit





























