Mrs. Timmins is the author of this two part article. Thanks for posting Jeff, I usually just put a link to it.
I have thought of this often, there would be a difference in travel time considering two things other than weather and Indian trouble. First the load on the pack animals and second, the number of hours of daylight available during the time of year traveled. Their return trip in most journals I have read take a week or more time getting back than getting to the mines. Assuming US23 follows an old trace like US460, the Southwest party could have headed right toward Paintsville and Prestonsburg and NOT along the 'great ridge'. If the other party took a heading of 'due West' they would end up near Frenchburg in direction. It would be almost NNEast to get up towards Grayson Lake/ Carter caves, unless they followed the creeks. Now did they stick to the traces or follow the creek and stream beds like the journals say? I think we all can agree who have been in rugged terrian, its almost impossible to move at a constant heading (direction). I would assume they would use landmarks for dead reckoning OR marked boulders/trees where streams came together to know where to turn. Navigation 'off trail' or away from traces would be difficult at best in the green growing months especially if using landmarks for waypoints. Following this reasoning, I think they used the traces as much as physically possible until they came to a landmark (peculiar rock, marked tree, stream crossing that looked like a turkey track,...ect) then made off into the stream beds as to leave no trace for Indians to follow. The traces were the highways of the era, definitely faster than creek beds but not safer. Also the traces would provide food/hunting for the party. Nailing down the areas mined by Swift we must first find the major traces in KY from Louisa (first forks of Sandy) South-West-North of the town. More than likely they mined areas within a couple days travel from a trace to stay undetected. An exception to this is the journals that say Mundy brought Swift to mines he had worked with the Indians. This could mean a trace was VERY close to that mine location.
