Crossing the Courtois
Two weeks ago I set out to hike the Ozark Trail from Onondaga Cave State Park to the Narrows Trail Head. This section of the Courtois (pronounced code-a-way) Section of the Ozark Trail is considered mile 0-7.6, and fair warning: it involves a “creek” crossing that’s more like a river expedition. For the full story, you should pick up the April issue of River Hills Traveler, but the short story is this: The Courtois Creek is not just a creek – it’s a large creek. It’s a creek that, on a map, looks roughly the same width as the Meremac River.
I can imagine that crossing the Courtois in the heat of Missouri summer would have felt great…refreshing…awesome. Crossing the creek in early March on a 40-degree day was chilly…bitter…freezing. 
The first five miles or so of the hike – from Onondaga Cave State Park to the Courtois Creek – wasn’t bad. The highest elevation was approximately 900 feet, and much of the trail was wide and gravel-covered. There were some fun rock formations and cliffs, and even a few small springs and caves. 
There’s a beautiful pine glade several miles into the hike that would make a lovely picnic spot, but beware that in the late summer months, there are also spiders as big as your head. 
*** I estimate that I’ve now hiked somewhere around 45 miles of the Ozark Trail’s 350 total miles. Fore more posts about my Ozark Trail adventures, see my Ozark Trail page. For longer, print stories on my Ozark Trail expeditions, pick up the February or April issues of River Hills Traveler.
More From MilliGFunk
Related posts:
This is my favorite blog thus far! I smile every time I see that picture of you trying to smile while in freezing water! Btw, I went hiking over a creek and up a ridge in 40 degree weather……I got one foot a little wet and I thought that was bad…..
That looks like a great hike but I will probably save that creek crossing for the summer months.
Reminds me of my days in college in Springfield MO when I used to hit the Buffalo River every couple of months.
brrr…
and…that spider will give me nightmares, I’m just sayin’!
I hate winter
[...] Because I’ve hiked that section of the Ozark Trail from Onondaga to Highway 8, it’s fun to float down the Courtois. Each time the trail comes near enough the creek to become visible I recall that same spot in a hike along the Ozark Trail. The most notable memory so far was of crossing the Courtois on a very cold day in early March 2010. You can read that story here. [...]