Hartsburg

Today, we hiked on the Katy Trail, accessing it from the Hartsburg trailhead. Hartsburg is known for its Pumpkin Festival, which draws 30,000 pumpkin pickers every fall. Local lore includes numerous sightings of the Great Pumpkin. If Linus only knew. Hartsburg is a town of 108, located in the Mo Valley flood plain. The town was severely damaged during the great flood of '93, but fought back, and as the sign below shows, offers many modern amenities, including silverware.

A lady with a wild pink sweater came out of this church as we were walking by.

Like all good towns, Hartsburg has a red caboose. 

This is the Globe Hotel, which is now a bed and breakfast.

This is the trailhead. A yippy little Beagle tried to start a fight with Rose. When Rose summoned support from Bojangles, the Beagle disappeared and then reappeared with another Beagle. Sides now even, the dogs amused themselves with a bark-off.

The trail heading north.

Roser needed a lift for part of the trail -- it's hard to keep up with Bo.

Rose catching a rest break while Bo gets petted.

There are steep hills and cliffs along one side of the trail.
Heading back to the Pathfinder -- Bo is reading for another 3 miles.