Cave Run Lake, DBNF

A simple GPS tool for the phone

September 5, 2022 by cartography Leave a Comment

If you visit this site often, you likely have a favorite map app on your phone. I certainly do and I have installed dozens of apps over the years. Most focus on placing your location as a dot on the map.

The dot

Any map app that shows your location as a dot on the map fosters a dependence on your exact location. We end up saying, "I am here" instead of asking "Where am I?"

To build strong spatial awareness, we should look at the dot after studying the plain map and doing an exercise in terrain association. Can we orient the map (best done with a paper map, folks) so that map north aligns with observed north? Can we then identify features on the map and estimate their distance from us?

These are questions in topograhic map reading. If you carefully observe your environment and compare its representation on the map, you will not need the dot.

When there was no dot

Let’s say the early 1990s. Before that time, we used paper maps. Soon after, handheld GPS units became popular and only showed coordinates for your position and maybe some other location statistics like speed, elevation, distance & bearing to next waypoint. They were often used with a paper map that had a grid (with linear units on a flat space) or a graticule (angular units on a curved space) that helped a user measure their location.

Using coordinates, we looked at the paper map’s margin for marks that pointed you to a general location. To find the exact location, we looked up and asked, "Where am I?" and compared the map with what we saw. We built a mental map of our surroundings. There was no dot.

An app without a dot?

So, we thought we would kick it back to the 90s and make a browser app that mimics these early devices. Because our maps have detailed graticules and mile markers for the Sheltowee Trace, this app should compliment your journey into topography and map reading. This app is designed for mobile devices and below is a screen capture of a use on an iPhone.

Screen Capture of control panel

GPS app can be loaded here: https://outrageGIS.com/gps

This app is free, open source, doesn’t need to be installed, and won’t collect any information from you.

Happy adventures!

Filed Under: All Hikes, Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Cumberland Gap, NHP, homepage, Maps, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

Toward a scenic trail index

August 12, 2019 by cartography Leave a Comment

Sheltowee Trace, Daniel Boone National Forest, and Big South Fork scenic trail index — Visit the web page

Over the years we’ve pursued some measure that reveals the character of 900+ miles of trail here. Often we talk about a trail’s length or steepness with other dimensions gleaned from the base map. In this experiment, we are creating zones at discreet locations along trails and estimating the character of that location.

Over 14,000 polygons are shown on this 3D Mapbox map. The color indicates the type of scenery and height shows how much relief is the area. Future additions to this map include adding a searching tool and summary statistics for each trail.

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Free Maps, homepage, Maps, Maps Archive, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

New images and data from GOES-16

December 29, 2018 by cartography Leave a Comment

Visit the page to view and download imagery

Over Christmas break, it was time to automate collecting and displaying the incredibly detailed imagery from the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager. A problem that plagued previous efforts was not accessing the raw data, a netCDF formatted file for the contiguous U.S. which can be downloaded freely from a variety of cloud data hosts. With the raw data, one can project, modify and use it in web mapping libraries like Leaflet.

This page offers a slippy map of grayscale and color imagery and is updated every 15 minutes. You can download GeoTIFFs of rendered layers that can be used in GIS applications.

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Cumberland Gap, NHP, Free Maps, Great Smoky Mountains, homepage, Maps, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace, Weather

Sheltowee Trace interactive mobile map

June 9, 2017 by cartography 3 Comments

Locate yourself on the ST

We’ve updated our map of the Sheltowee Trace on our ST site:Â sheltoweetrace.com/hike. The map has symbols for official recreation sites and trails for the Daniel Boone National Forest, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and Cumberland Falls and Natural Bridge State Resort Parks. Of course, it has the ST and mile markers from the northern terminus.

Since we deployed this map last year, we have updated the Leaflet and MapBox JS to make the work with aÂ GPS-enabled device as long as you have a cellularÂ data connection. The points of interests and trails are clickable with useful travel information.

Our next goal is to fill out the map with more scenic destinations and include more photographs. Let us know if you have any suggestions.

Sheltowee Trace North map

August 6, 2014 by cartography 1 Comment

Trails in the northern half of the Daniel Boone

We are now printing the Sheltowee Trace North map, which covers the ST and official trails between the Northern Terminus and Mckee in Jackson County, Kentucky. That’s 138 miles of ST and Â 130 miles of official trail. The map is same scale as our previous ST south maps, but the sheet size has been enlarged to 19″ x 27″ and packs down to 4.5″ x 6.5″. We will also offer a lamination and heat press service to make these maps bomber in the field.

Cover wrap of our new Sheltowee Trace Map. Click to enlarge.

A couple unique additions to this title might be useful for the serious trail enthusiast. The map is formatted to show the trail network of Cave Run Lake and Red River Gorge on single, separate sheets. The new ST reroute around Morehead and new trails in Cave Run are located. Groceries,Â public libraries, power lines, and pipelines are located. We’ve added 1,000 m UTM grid. What else? Lots of love and devotion for the trails of the Daniel Boone.

Overview

Low resolutionsÂ drafts of the press sheets (note these previews require Flash). These have been altered in final version. The only way to see the finished map is to hold it in your hand!

Northern Terminus
Cave Run Lake
Red River Gorge
Southern Gorge,Â Turkey Foot, and McKee

Just like the South ST map, when the ST leaves a sheet it has a letter in a red box as label to match the trail on the next sheet. Just follow A…B…C… for 138 miles.

Thanks for the input in correcting thre above drafts!

Filed Under: Cave Run Lake, DBNF, News, Sheltowee Trace

Kentucky transitions into fall

November 17, 2013 by cartography Leave a Comment

MODIS images of changing seasons in Kentucky, 2013

These satellite images are from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on two satellites, Aqua and Terra. MODIS captures 36 electromagnetic wavelength bands to measure atmospheric water vapor, ozone, aerosols, land fire, surface temperature, and many other important variables of global climate. These images are visible light and clearly show the change in deciduous canopy cover within roughly a month of time. Spatial resolutions are between 250 m to 1 km.

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Cumberland Gap, NHP, Great Smoky Mountains, News, NP, Pine Mountain, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace, Weather

Draft of North Sheltowee Trace Map

August 19, 2013 by cartography 4 Comments

Interactive viewer to proof the content of the map.

We are sharing our first draft of the Sheltowee Trace North map and we encourage you to proof it and give us feedback. The map covers the ST from the north terminus in Rowan County, Kentucky to DBNF’s Turkey Foot Campground along the banks of the War Fork near McKee, Jackson County.

The print format of this map will be 19″ x 27″ and on two double-sided sheets. The layout format is following: map one is Northern Terminus to Corner Ridge at Mariba; and map two is Corner Ridge to Turkey Foot.

Since the northern half of the ST has more contiguous public land, we went to the big sheet showing larger tracts of area. Trails in the Cave Run Lake and Red River Gorge areas are completely covered; in fact, this map might cover all official trails in the Cumberland Ranger District.

What needs to be done? We still need to add elevation contour labels and Sheltowee Trace mile markers. The south map counts miles from the old southern terminus and is no longer correct. To resolve mile markers on the north map, we’ll start counting from the northern terminus and provide a conversion for north-bound hikers using either the new or old southern terminus. Any suggestions about this mile maker plan?

A few notes about the map viewer. This map viewer is built out of TileMill and should work with most modern browsers, including mobile. As we develop new data about the alignment and distance of the Trace, we can easily update this draft. The images are reduced in resolution and they will appear a little ragged. We’re proofing content, here so please don’t the aesthetics, yet!

NOTE: the interactive works in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and IE8. Youâ€™ll need to run compatibility mode if your browser is IE9 or greater.

Filed Under: Cave Run Lake, DBNF, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

El Niño to make the mountains colder and drier this winter

October 18, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

Predicting climate in the old days relied upon observing cues in nature. The Farmersâ€™ Almanac finds that people looked at woolly worms in late summer in get a sense of winter. The more black hairs on the worm, the colder and wetter the winter. Of course woolly worms come in all configurations of black and orange colorings so how could a worm’s coat predict winter? It can as an analogy;Â you look at the forecast to decide which coat you’re going to wear before leaving home. I think you would want to wear a black coat as opposed to a white coat on a very cold and sunny day to maximize the amount of solar energy you could absorb. Woolly worms just plan far ahead.

Today we track global changes in wind patterns and sea surface temperatures to predict weather conditions. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has issued a climate forecast for this winter based on the El NiÃ±o pattern emerging in the Pacific Ocean.

Below are winter predictions for the U.S. indicating greater or lesser chances for departures in average winter temperatures and precipitation.

El NiÃ±o is a departure from average sea surface temperatures created by a change in the intensity and direction of equatorial winds. In a normal period, strong easterly trade winds blow across the Pacific and upwell cold, nutrient rich waters on the west coast of South America. These same winds also pile up water in the western Pacific so that the sea surface is about 2 feet higher at Indonesia than at Ecuador.

In an El NiÃ±o cycle, the winds are not as intense and warmer sea surface temperatures extend further to east. This change has a global impact on weather with increased precipitation on the west coast of South America and the south & east coasts of North America. Warmer than normal conditions also occur at higher latitudes in North America and over the Pacific ocean.

El NiÃ±o Sea Surface Temperatures in Â°C

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Cumberland Gap, NHP, Great Smoky Mountains, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace, Weather

Sept 12: Sheltowee Trace Meeting in Winchester

August 20, 2009 by cartography 2 Comments

The Future of the Trace: Sept 12, 2009

Join a group of trail enthusiasts and forest & park officials at the Daniel Boone NFS headquarters in Winchester to discuss the future of the Sheltowee Trace. We need as many committed folks as possible to attend. Voice your support for the Sheltowee Trace.

If you would like to attend, you can RSVP here with a comment so we can plan for breakfast and lunch!

Time: 9:30am
Where: Clark County Extension Office (map below)
1400 Fortune Dr
Winchester, KY 40391-8292
(859) 744-4682

Preliminary Agenda

9:30 to 10:00 â€“ Meet and Greet â€“ Coffee, Juice and Bagels, Donuts provided.

10:00 Opening Comments

Frank Beum, Forest Supervisor, Daniel Boone National Forest
Steve Handley, Big South Fork National Recreational Area, National Park Service
Carey Tichenor, Ky State Parks and Recreation
Steve Barbour, Interim Executive Director, The Sheltowee Trace Association

10:30 â€“ Updates on the Current Condition of The Trace in each Ranger District and Plans for the next 12 to 24 months

10:45 â€“ Current Management Plan Development

Federal and State Funding Levels
Challenges of a Muti-use Trail
Current on-going volunteer programs
Short Term and Long Term Maintenance Issues
Trace Blazing – Signage
Land Acquisition
Trace Relocation
Maintaining Easements
Development of the Volunteer Base
Promoting The Trace across the state

Following these discussion will be a session on forming the Sheltowee Trace Association, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and protecting this National Recreation Trail.

Map:Here

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

Rainy May: on track to be the wettest May ever

May 8, 2009 by cartography

Spring is typically a wet month. However over the past week, Eastern Kentucky has experienced unusual rainfall amounts. The record for the month is 10.78 inches in 2004; and no other year has been above 10 inches for May. The only year that saw over 9 inches of rainfall for May was in 1995. May during 1983 and 1984 were the only times over 7 inches of rainfall.

From the National Weather Service in Jackson, Kentucky:

"2 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY DURING THE
MONTH OF MAY. THIS IS OF INTEREST...SINCE WE ARE ONLY ABOUT ONE
QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH THE MONTH. HEAVY RAINFALL IS VERY
POSSIBLE AS WE HEAD INTO MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND AND COULD PUSH RAINFALL
AMOUNTS UP ANOTHER INCH OR TWO.

THE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF MAY AT THE JACKSON
WEATHER OFFICE IS 4.92 INCHES. WE HAVE ALL READY RECORDED 4.12
INCHES OF RAINFALL AS OF THIS MORNING AT 7AM. IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL
...BUT WE ARE CERTAINLY ON TRACK TO HAVE ONE OF THE RAINIEST MAYS
EVER. THE RAINIEST MAY OCCURRED IN 2004 WHEN THE JACKSON WEATHER
OFFICE RECORDED 10.78 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS WAS THE ONLY MONTH
OF MAY THAT OVER TEN INCHES OF RAIN FELL. MAY OF 1995 HAD 9.91
INCHES AND WAS THE ONLY MONTH WITH OVER 9 INCHES RECORDED. THE NEXT
HIGHEST TOTALS WERE OVER 7 INCHES AND THAT OCCURRED IN ONLY TWO
YEARS...1983 AND 1984.

HERE ARE RAINFALL TOTALS FROM EASTERN KENTUCKY COOPERATIVE WEATHER
STATIONS AND AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEMS AS OF 7 AM
EDT...FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2009.


LOCATIONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  /Â Â  COUNTYÂ Â Â Â  /Â Â Â Â  PRECIPITATION


BARBOURVILLEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  KNOXÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.38Â  INCHES
BAXTERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.85Â  INCHES
BEATTYVILLE 4NÂ Â Â Â Â Â  LEEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.68Â  INCHES
BIG SHELBYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PIKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.01Â  INCHES
BOONEVILLE 1SEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  OWSLEYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.49Â  INCHES
BUCKHORN LAKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.80Â  INCHES
CARR CREEK LAKEÂ Â Â Â Â  KNOTTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.73Â  INCHES
CAVE RUN LAKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  ROWANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.28Â  INCHES
CLAY CITY 1WNWÂ Â Â Â Â Â  POWELLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.77Â  INCHES
CLOSPLINT 4ESEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.55Â  INCHES
COLOÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PULASKIÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.98Â  INCHES
CRESSYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ESTILLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.59Â  INCHES
DRAFFINÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PIKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.54Â  INCHES
EZELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.31Â  INCHES
GIMLETÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ELLIOTTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.60Â  INCHES
HARLAN 1SÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.80Â  INCHES
HARLAN STATE POLICEÂ  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.95Â  INCHES
HAZARD WATERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.71Â  INCHES
HAZARDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.70Â  INCHES
HAZARD STATE POLICEÂ  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.95Â  INCHES
HEIDELBERG 2NÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  LEEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.05Â  INCHES
BAXTERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.85Â  INCHES
INEZ 2EÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MARTINÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.78Â  INCHES
ISLAND CITYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  OWSLEYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  5.16Â  INCHES
IVELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  FLOYDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.27Â  INCHES
NWS JACKSONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  BREATHITTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.12Â  INCHES
JEREMIAH 1SÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.11Â  INCHES
KINGDOM COME ST PARK HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.12Â  INCHES
LONDON CORBIN APTÂ Â Â  LAURELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.46Â  INCHES
MONTICELLO 3NEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  WAYNEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.00Â  INCHES
MOUNT STERLING 5NÂ Â Â  MONTGOMERYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.41Â  INCHES
MOUNT VERNONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ROCKCASTLEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.77Â  INCHES
ONEIDAÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  CLAYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.54Â  INCHES
PAINTSVILLE 1EÂ Â Â Â Â Â  JOHNSONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.55Â  INCHES
PIKEVILLE ST POLICEÂ  PIKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.05Â  INCHES
PRESTONSBURG 3NWÂ Â Â Â  FLOYDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.09Â  INCHES
QUICKSANDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  BREATHITTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.52Â  INCHES
RELIEFÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.18Â  INCHES
ROGERSÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  WOLFEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.82Â  INCHES
SALYERSVILLEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MAGOFFINÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.28Â  INCHES
SANDY HOOKÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ELLIOTTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.67Â  INCHES
SKYLINEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.20Â  INCHES
SLADE 5NEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  POWELLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.86Â  INCHES
SOMERSET 2NÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PULASKIÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.74Â  INCHES
STANTON 2WÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  POWELLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.88Â  INCHES
STEARNS 2SÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MCCREARYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  5.09Â  INCHES
VICTORY 5NWÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LAURELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.13Â  INCHES
WEST LIBERTY 3NWÂ Â Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.67Â  INCHES
WEST LIBERTY 11NWÂ Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.57Â  INCHES
WHITESBURGÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.50Â  INCHES
WHITESBURG 2SEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.21Â  INCHES
WILLIAMSBURG 1NWÂ Â Â Â  WHITLEYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  5.14Â  INCHES


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT JACKSON WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE
DEDICATED COOPERATIVE WEATHER OBSERVERS FOR THEIR TIMELY REPORTS."

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Cumberland Gap, NHP, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace, Weather

(raw) 3D map of Eastern Kentucky

April 16, 2009 by cartography

As we gear up for the Sheltowee Trace topographic map, I thought it would be interesting to see if a complete 3d map of the ST could be printed. Unfortunately, it would have to be a huge sheet of paper to get the detail necessary for a good map. But as an online viewer, I see potential. This sample is a raw render output and you can see well the basic physiography. Now we just need to add trails, transportation, labels, etc….nothing too much, just about 6,000 sq. mi. for the Daniel Boone NF.

Explore this map through a zoomable flash map

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

Cave Run Lake Bird’s Eye View

March 7, 2009 by cartography

How about a 3D map of Cave run Lake? I’ve been playing around with creating one for the entire Sheltowee Trace, so I started with the northern terminus. Nothing too serious since the map really couldn’t be used with GPS, but something that shows the varied terrain through which the ST travels. This zoomify map shows the trail from the northern terminus and Corner Ridge. Map is not finished and not entirely labeled, but it shows the Sheltowee Trace pretty clearly. View Map

Filed Under: Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Sheltowee Trace

Trail conditions in Cave Run Lake

February 24, 2009 by cartography

Trails in the Cave Run area survived the recent ice storm, though vandalism at Tater Knob Fire Tower seriously damaged the tower. Some individual(s) set fire to the structure and it is now closed. Please contact the U.S. Forest Service if you have information about this act of arson.

Filed Under: Cave Run Lake, DBNF

Cave Run Lake Trail Conditions

September 20, 2008 by cartography

Awesome. That’s the a good word to describe the current trail conditions at Cave Run. Often plagued with muddy trail conditions from numerous seeps, the trails now are fast, firm, and fantastic. Trails around sandstone outcroppings are sandy as usually and the soil elsewhere is dusty.

Water is an issue for backcountry ridge campers. Clear Creek is not flowing at the Iron Furnace. Occasional pools are found with plenty of crawdads and water spiders, but above that nothing. Of course the lake has plenty of water, but one will have to climb off the ridge to refill their nalgenes.

For more info about the drought conditions the forest is experiencing, visit our post on this topic here.