Hiking and Outdoors

Last weekend this trail ran me off. Spider webs everywhere, and somewhere in the middle of flailing at them my wedding ring came off my finger. I never even felt it go. I quit.

On the way out, I watched the footage back — found the last shot where the ring is on my hand, found the first one where it isn’t, and narrowed it down to about a football field and a half of trail. Then I scoured the section before going home.

But, I don’t accept defeat easily – so I went back to look one more time – and finish the hike. This is that hike. The full LaBarque Hills loop this time, six miles, plus a trail cam left at a creek crossing, a couple of box turtles that were not happy to see me, something screaming out in the woods that I still can’t identify, and a mountain lion that turned out to be a log.

LaBarque Hills Trail — Young Conservation Area, Eureka, Missouri
6.02 miles · 1,115 ft of climbing · about 4 hours 15 minutes
Missouri Department of Conservation land, free, open dawn to dusk

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This one didn’t go as planned. Hiking Young Conservation Area near Eureka, MO turned into a full debacle — forgot my hat, walked face-first into what felt like every spider web in Missouri, and somewhere in the chaos of getting webs and a very unhappy spider off my hands, my wedding ring came off. Spent 45 minutes backtracking the trail trying to find it — used my own footage to narrow down the exact stretch (found the clip where I still had it, then the one where I didn’t) and triangulated the search area, but no luck. Cut the hike short and headed home.

Also learned something I probably should’ve known already — thanks to the TrailPlayer app, turns out there’s a bigger river running right across the road from the trailhead parking lot, not just the little creek that cuts through the conservation area itself.

Along the way: thistles, butterflies, and a box turtle who seemed a lot less bothered by the spider situation than I was.

📍 Young Conservation Area, Eureka, MO
🕷️ Spider web count: too many to log
💍 Ring status: still out there somewhere

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This one’s got a little bit of everything. Little Lost Creek Conservation
Area, out of the North Hwy B Trailhead, packs flat road walking, meadow
trail, deep woods, rocky hills, and a creek bed all into one loop.

Started out of the parking lot on an old dirt road still in use today.
About .35 miles in, the route splits off onto a horse trail that skirts
around some private property before reconnecting with the old road. From
there it drops into the loop portion — old road gives way to a wide grass
path along the ridge. About 2.12 miles in, a little ways down the first
big, steep, rocky downhill, there’s a genuinely great view out over the
surrounding wooded hills. From there it’s the rest of the way down to the
creek, crossed twice, then a big, steep climb back up the other side. That
second hill had my full attention — didn’t get much chance to look around
— but it earned a lunch break at the top before leveling out into a
beautiful field road lined with cedar and oak, all the way back to the
loop junction and out to the parking lot.

📍 Trail Info:
– Trail: Little Lost Creek Conservation Area Loop
– Trailhead: North Hwy B Trailhead
– Distance: 5.47 miles
– Time: 3 hours 55 minutes
– Elevation Gain: +417 ft
– Difficulty: Moderate to Challenging (Hilly)
– Highlights: Ridgeline overlook (~2.12 mi), double creek crossing,
steep climb out, cedar and oak field road, mix of terrain types

⏱️ Chapters:
0:00 Trailhead – North Hwy B Parking Lot
0:14 Horse Trail Split (~0.35 mi)
1:13:52 Ridgeline Overlook (~2.12 mi)
1:57:43 First Creek Crossing
2:00:27 Second Creek Crossing
2:02:56 Steep Climb Begins
2:20:25 Ridge Field Road – Cedar & Oak
2:25:00 Lunch Break
3:14:00 Back on the Trail
3:25:29 Back Near Loop Junction
3:54:44 Trailhead – Loop Complete

🗺️ Stick around to the end for a first look at our new Trail Player 3D —
a 3D fly-through of the route with color-coded difficulty along the way.
Still rolling this out, and this trail’s a great one to show it off on.

🥾 Bobby Kearan Hikes — Hike, Hang, Get High. Missouri trails, the Ozarks,
and Mark Twain National Forest. Subscribe for more Missouri hiking content!

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🎵 Music written by me, performed by AI because I can’t sing. You are welcome.
https://bobbykearanhikes.bandcamp.com

#MissouriHiking #LittleLostCreek #HikeHangGetHigh #MDCConservationArea #Ozarks

Don Robinson State Park never seemed like a “storm hiding spot” kind of park — until today. LaBarque Hills Trail started hot and sunny, took me on a little wild goose chase toward a waterfall that wasn’t really feeling it today, and then about halfway through, the thunder started rolling in. I was seriously considering setting up a tarp when the first drops hit… and then found a natural rock shelter just big enough to duck into and ride the storm out completely dry.

Also learned something about myself out there: I do not mess with sand sticking to my skin. Zero tolerance. Straight home to shower.

📍 Trail: LaBarque Hills Trail, Don Robinson State Park
📏 Distance: 2.84 miles
⛰️ Elevation Gain: +387 ft
⏱️ Duration: 2:38:02

Hike, Hang, Get High.

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#DonRobinsonStatePark #LaBarqueHillsTrail #MissouriHiking #HikingVlog #TrailShelter

Bell Mountain doesn’t give up its views for free. 7.66 miles and 1,746 feet of climbing over 8 hours to reach the top — but the payoff was a perfect night in the hammock and a sunrise that made every step worth it. The 5.78 miles back down went quicker (4:10), even with the almost…

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Some days the trail gives you everything. Some days it gives you an air show traffic jam, a dead GPS, a missing hiking stick, and a lapel mic that decided to bail. This was one of those days. And somehow, it still delivered. 📍 Missouri Bluffs Trail — Weldon Spring, MO 📍 Lewis and Clark…

I’m a Missouri guy. My trails have names like “Lost Valley” and “Berryman.” They are not in California. They are not 6,800 feet above sea level. They do not overlook a lake that someone is trying to turn into a marina. And yet — here we are. Big Bear Lake, California. Castle Rock Trail. 3.14…