Old Man's Cave section

Two friends & I hiked from Old Man's Cave (Point 19) to a cemetery between Points 28 & 29 yesterday. The trail between Points 19 & 20 is open, contrary to the Trail Alert message on the website. We had to take a detour from the trail climbing out of Cedar Falls gorge to get to the Rt. 374. Caution tape was across the trail, so we went up the steps to the top. Caution tape was also across the orange pipe gate described in the narrative for Point 20, with a warning that people caught on the trail past that point would be prosecuted. So, we headed across Rt. 374 and took a lane to where the Horseman's Bypass Trail (HBT) intersected with it. We followed the HBT to Point A3 and then took Rt. 374 S to the fire tower, from which we continued on the BT.

The briary vegetation between Points 25 and 27 was AWFUL. We were able to follow the trail but hiking through extensive segments under a power line right-of-way and in shelter-wood timber harvest areas was very slow and painful. I would recommend that anyone hiking the 3.3-mile segment before wintertime wear leather gloves and pack a machete-like instrument to make the experience tolerable.