| BUFFALO RIDGE - DOGWOOD LOOP |
WHEN: August 25, 2007 Having hiked the Trail 9 extension several times, I was intrigued by two old roadbeds that intersect the trail. Both roads appear on the USGS Nashville, Indiana quad map. The first one is at the top of the first ridge. The map indicates that this roadbed leads to the Buffalo Ridge Campground. The other one is at the top of the second ridge and is an extension of Dogwood Lane. According to the map it leads to the Taylor Ridge Campgrounds. I left the parking area at 11:20 AM. The temperature was about 81 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was around 52%. Not bad considering the 90 plus temperatures and humidity we had been having. My Garmin 60CSx GPS was tracking and I was at the trailhead within minutes, ready to start the uphill trek. The starting section of the Trail 9 extension gets your blood pumping real fast. You are immediately on a 12 percent grade that goes on for 2160 feet with an elevation gain of 170 feet. After reaching the top of the ridge the trail continues straight ahead. There is a road to the right, but don't take that one. I have no idea where it goes. The road I was interested in was on up the trail. The road goes straight and continues to climb where Trial 9 Extension falls off to the right. I was surprised to find that the old roadbed was actually a fairly well used trail. It was not over grown and there were signs that the trail is in regular but infrequent use. This was surprising since it is not an official park trail and it intersects with a trail that was newly opened this year. But there it was. My visions of being a neo-trailblazer were dashed. The trail climbed the ridgeline amid a second growth hardwood forest of beech, maple and oak. The understory was not dense, and blow downs and other obstructions were not a problem. There were even signs of some not so recent trail maintenance. After just half a mile I entered the Buffalo Ridge Campground at campsite 94. The campsite was in use, so I looked straight ahead, eyes looking down, and skirted the campsite as best I could. At 1.1 miles from the lake parking area I arrived at the main campground road, just yards from the camp store. I turned south onto the campground road and passed through a very open area that can be quite hot on a sunny day. After passing the nature center I was soon back under the forest canopy. The campground road travels along the ridgeline of Taylor Ridge and passes through a hardwood forest with a fair number of pine trees sprinkled in. Since school has already started, the campgrounds were deserted for the most part, though some weekend campers were beginning to move in and set up their various shelters. A gentle breeze was blowing through the trees and it was a pleasant walk. In no time it seemed, I was at Dogwood Lane and ready for my next trailblazing adventure. I headed down Dogwood Lane and after passing campsite 252 I was once again on an abandoned roadbed. It is amazing how our pre-conceived notions are often proven wrong. Scientists once thought that Neptune was a giant frozen non-active ball of ice. Now we know that it has a turbulent atmosphere like Jupiter and Saturn. I had thought Dogwood Lane would be more heavily used than Buffalo Ridge. Another theory shot to smithereens. Though not necessarily overgrown, there was little to no sign of recent use. After three tenths of a mile, I found what I was looking for. There was a short side trail to the right, maybe 65 feet long, that led back to the Trail 9 extension. (There was a side trail on the right before this one. Don't take it. I don't know where it goes but I can only invision something very bad. Take the second side trail on the right.) At the trail junction was a sign pointing left for Taylor Ridge and right for Ogle Lake. I turned right. A short distance down the trail I passed a young couple who looked like they were struggling to climb the steep path. The young man asked, “Is there anything close or is it just more of this?” I inquired as to what they were expecting to find. “Oh, just something. Anything.” I told them that they were half way to Taylor Ridge and almost to the top of their present climb. This seemed to make them a little more cheery. I also told them about the short cut back to civilization if they chose to take it. After reaching the valley and crossing the dry creek bed, I began the hardest climb of the northbound trek, back up the first ridge. Huffing and puffing I reached the junction of the old road that leads to Buffalo Ridge Campground. I was back where I had started. The GPS trip meter indicated that I had walked 3.5 miles. The rest of the way was all down hill. Don’t think that the adventure was over though. Oh no, not yet! Out of nowhere there was a sudden boom just over my head. I half expected I had been hit by lightening, but I was still walking and the noise was continuing and getting louder. Then I realized that somewhere above the treetops were two US warplanes having just pulled out of a strafing run on a training range about 15 miles from the park. Talk about getting the blood pumping. I’m glad they’re on our side. At 1:20 PM I arrived back at the Ogle Lake parking area. This was an excellent hike. I would do it again tomorrow. Well actually, I am going to do it again tomorrow. This was a reconnaissance hike before I bring my wife to hike it with me. With the potential for getting lost, I didn’t want her to be along for the first time. She thinks I can do wonders and I don’t want her to discover the truth. Post Script: On our Sunday hike we came upon a four foot long Black snake at the side of the trail. I was ahead but did not see the snake. I walked right by it but didn’t see it. I heard Nora behind me say “Oh my!” and turned around in time to see her backing up. She didn’t panic. Just exercised due caution until we could identify what kind of snake it was. It started to move off slowly and then suddenly raced off into the brush. |
