Missouri hills
I woke up early this morning to the sound of thunder and rain. It was nice being warm inside my sleeping bag in a dry tent under the picnic building.
I was half hoping the rain would be torrential and I’d have a good reason to take a rest day in Golden City. That could mean three more meals at Cooky’s with more pie, a few naps, and reading. But I ate breakfast and slowly packed up. With everything away except my sleeping pad and tent, the rain stopped at 9:30, and I got going.
Up and down, up and down was the order of the day. The scenery is pretty nice with farm framed by hardwood woods. The trees are turning color. It reminds me a bit of New England. I kept thinking of revolutionary war battle grounds. Although there are not the stone walls like in New England.
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Missouri farms
Another noticeable thing about Missouri is having dogs chase you. I pulled out my pepper spray a half dozen times but never had to spray any yet. A couple times I heard a lot of barking only to be chased by step-on dogs. Step-ons make a lot of noise but can barely keep up with me going uphill, and at about ten pounds don’t invoke much fear. Once three big dogs tried to intercept me but being on a downhill they could only hope to catch me going 20+ mph.
I passed through a few small towns. I was planning on getting to Fair Grove today, but the up and down took more out of me than I expected. Plus I am sure the drizzle for the last hour coming into Walnut Grove didn’t help. At about 15:30 I was eating some marginal pizza at the gas station restaurant in Walnut Grove. I started talking to the man at the next table. He said if I wanted I could camp in the city park here instead of going on. Considering I had about two hours before dark and it being darker than normal with the rain clouds I thought it was an idea.
I went to talk to the sheriff who gave me the OK. While not as nice as Golden City — no showers and the restrooms are locked — I set my tent up under the picnic building so it would stay dry. And took a little nap before heading back to the gas station restaurant for some more marginal pizza plus Doritos and cookies.
Camping in Walnut Creek, MO
Start: Golden City, MO
End: Walnut Grove, MO
Today’s mileage: 46.3 miles
Total miles so far: 2282 miles
Average speed: 9.75 mph
Max speed: 32.9 mph
Travel time: (09:45 to 15:30) 5.75 hours
Total travel time: 289.25 hours
Weather: overcast, drizzle, 45-55 F
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