Do you know about the Karaghne? It's a section of the Ozark Trail that runs along the Black River. But the Karaghne is also, says nature photographer Don Massey, a mythical creature said to inhabit the area—and described as "anything from a dragon-like beast to a small, mischievous, human-like being."
The Ozarks are an extraordinary place.
And the Ozark Trail was a brilliant idea, conceived back in 1977. Why not forge a path through the state's most rugged and scenic wilderness? The brainstormers began piecing together land holdings, connecting existing trails, thinking bigger: Let's go all the way from St. Louis to the Arkansas border!
It's taken time, and a lot of sweat equity, but the trail's now just 8 miles short of 400 miles long, with a big loop through the St. Francois Mountains. It runs through boulders and shut-ins, streams and springs, old mills and mining areas, caves and waterfalls. And when it joins with the Ozark Highland Trail in Arkansas, it will be well over 700 miles long.
We're not talking a day trip.
Massey's been photographing in the Ozarks (and volunteering, hacking through brush to lengthen the trail) for decades now. He was a contract photographer for the Army, then a landscape designer. Now he's retired, and he's turned his happiest life's work into a gorgeous book, The Ozark Trail: Images of Missouri’s Longest Hiking Trail. (It's also available at The Alpine Shop, Subterranean Books, and The Novel Neighbor.)
His favorite section of the trail is the Courtois, which starts a little past Onondaga Cave and the Meramec River, then meanders to the Courtois Creek, separated from the Huzzah by a narrow hogback ridge. "After visiting the cave, there's a nice 5-mile hike to the Courtois Creek," he says, "where you'll find scenic bluffs and a good place to swim and fish. Camping and floating are available nearby."
Photography by Don Massey
This is Falling Spring, but others have better names: Hellroaring Spring, Smallpox Spring... The water can change color by the minute, from deep green to dark blue to turquoise.
Photography by Don Massey
Virginia bluebells from the proposed "Meramec River" section of the trail. You'll also see dwarf iris and serviceberry...
Photography by Don Massey
Red sumac in the proposed "Greenway" section of the trail. Look overhead for "Ozark canaries," the vernacular name for vultures.
Photography by Don Massey
Massey found this view of Lake Wappapello, "but it needed something to balance it out. Suddenly a fisherman pulled up to the point, and the image I wanted came together."
Photography by Don Massey
Johnson's Shut-Ins are in the Taum Sauk section of the trail. Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest point in Missouri, 1,772 feet, and Mina Sauk is our tallest waterfall, 132 feet over three distinct drops. Shut-ins, by the way, are streams dammed or constricted by uplifted, hard volcanic lava, creating channels, chutes, canyons, and pools.
