Missouri: Allison Cemetary Trail at Wappapello State Park

28 May 2022

There’s not much to see other than widely spaced small towns and farmland in this part of Missouri. Over 2 hours to Paducah, St. Louis or other places. The weather is gorgeous (but the humidity is higher than I’d like) with temperatures in the mid-70 and blue skies. So, since we’re in a state park, we took advantage of one of the longer hiking trails that offered views of Lake Wappapello. All manner of watercraft were out today from jet skis to speed boats and little fishing boats. As we were hiking midway up the mountainside next to the lake, sometimes boats or jet skis would come to the shore, completely unaware that we could watch them and listen to their conversations—if only they’d look up! There and a half miles of up and down was plenty for me and even with a hiking stick, I was ready to put my leg up and ice my “bad knee” when we got home. Feeling much better after icing!

There is an actual cemetery on the Allison Cemetery Trail. This memorial angel is for Grace Allison, who died a couple of weeks before her first birthday in December 1899.  Off in the distance, you can see Lake Wappapello. It was a peaceful spot.

Three Estes children are buried here: ages 1, 3, 10 and their father Noel.

The headstones went back to the mid-1800s. The Allison family with Perkins, Joiner and Pesgroves, are all buried in this area, on the top of the mountain. Lots of people died in childhood. Some of the graves were marked with really old-fashioned stone markers, very weathered, that had only first name initial and last name initial on it.

The sign reads something like “In Memory of Grace Allison”

Nothing extraordinary about this photo; I just liked the juxtaposition of light and shadow.

Lake Wappapello from the “beach” where we somehow lost the trail…
but found it again after some searching!

Beautiful day for a hike. Lake Wappapello from the hiking trail.

Seed head of some sort of grass. Mother Nature’s geometry.

Dan walked right by this really big black rat snake but I saw his body just off the side of the path and thought “snakeskin; wait, no, that’s THE SNAKE!”. She posed for us and we went on our way. The tree in the foreground is about 6 inches in diameter, for comparison. Dan guessed 5 feet; I’d say closer to 6 feet long, but long in either case, and probably somewhere in between!

And, one more thing…

Dan did some very creative driving in order to be able to camp in one corner of certain states so that we could put the state sticker on our “we camped in this state” map! Will be stopping in Indianapolis and then one night in Columbus to see Andrew and Madison, then heading home to Leroy Township. Stay tuned!