Day Two
Monday, October 7, 2024
Lisa: We were feeling pretty invincible after clocking 14 total miles on our first day. But we kept telling each other not to get cocky. Even so, the mere 5.8 trail miles from Bushong to Allen and Basecamp Flint Hills campground was a breeze.
Marianne: I couldn’t believe how beautiful the weather was. The sky was bright blue without a cloud in the sky, and it actually stayed this way for nine days! It was cool in the morning when we got up, but it didn’t take long to shed our fleeces once we got into our walking rhythm. Since we had a shorter mileage day, we took our time, enjoyed the “facilities,” and ate breakfast at the picnic table in Bushong—oatmeal with raisins, nuts, and real milk.
Bushong to Allen
Camped at Basecamp Flint Hills
Shortest hike day: 5.97 trail miles, 8.09 total miles
63° at the beginning of the day's hike, high of 76°
Basecamp Flint Hills
Before we left the Bushong campsite, a man arrived to replace toilet paper in the vault toilet. He was Gary Smith, former mayor of Bushong and the creator (along with his wife, Dianne Bedner Smith, who’s also the vice president of the North Lyon County Museum in Admire, KS) of the North Lyon County Veterans Memorial (photos below). We didn’t get a picture of Gary, but we were happy to meet him and hear his story of building the memorial.
Click on the yellow crosses to the right to read the sections below
Downers
Lisa:
- None to speak of
Marianne:
- We didn’t get to buy a cooler at Allen meat processing.
Highlights
Lisa:
- We purchased snacks, ice, and cold beer at Allen Meat Processing.
- There Marianne asked the clerk if she could take two coolers sitting on a counter. Of course they belonged to an employee, so the clerk said no.
- The campground was deserted, so we got our pick of spots and were able to figure out how to operate the outdoor shower, and the day had been so hot, the water was warm.
- Sunset and sunrise were particularly spectacular (see photos below).
- Made a fire, listened to music on our portable bluetooth speaker thanks to our solar charger, and drank that ice-cold beer. The whole scene made me think of those old Milwaukee Light commercials: “It don’t git no better’n this.”
Marianne:
- I had slept on the ground two nights in a row and wasn’t sore or stiff.
- We were able to keep our food away from varmints by throwing the rope over the shelter roof and then hauling up the food bags…out of paw’s reach.
- Basecamp is awesome!
- I used the sleeping bag liner and slept much better.
- Beer!
Fast Facts: Allen, Kansas
- Founded in 1854
- Population 160 (as of 2020 Census)
- Home of Basecamp Flint Hills
- Named after pioneer Allen McGee
- Whole town had to move three miles southwest to a new townsite in order for the Missouri Pacific Railroad to build an Allen station
Basecamp Flint Hills
- Owned by Darius Riley and Amy Noller
- Amenities:
- Outdoor shower
- Water hose and pump
- Portable toilet
- Picnic tables
- Picnic shelter
- Shade trees
- RV hookups
Photo Gallery
Click on a photo for a captioned slide show to learn what you're looking at
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