Saturday, April 7, 2018 Hike Announcement

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its fifth guided hike of the spring, 2018 hiking season, on Saturday, April 7, on the Rocky Bluff and Wild Turkey trails at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. Meet at the Crab Orchard NWR Visitors’ Center at 8588 Route 148, Marion, Illinois. (Route 148 about two miles south of Route 13) The hike will pass two waterfalls and two old homesites. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty, covering about four and one half miles in about four hours. The hike is intended for people in good health who have done some walking.  Beginning hikers are welcome. Boots or sturdy shoes and hiking sticks are strongly recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and a snack. No dogs, please.

Saturday March 31, 2018 hike summary

On Saturday’s hike from Giant City SP to the ghost town of Progress on Rocky Comfort Road we had 23 hikers.  At least 3-4 of the hikers to were new to the R2R Trail Society hikes.   Hike leader Steve Gariepy did an excellent job of explaining all aspects of the trails.  At the Giant City campground Steve talked about his planned hike and the efforts of the SIU Touch of Nature to build trails on the west side of forest around SIU’s property.  Steve talked about their proposed reroute of the R2R trail in the area by taking it off some old roads and placing more of the trail on SIU’s property.   He also explained that one reroute may be a challenged because he is proposing moving it to Crab Orchard’s wilderness area.  Once on trial, we hiked the Red Cedar to the R2R which Steve planned to take to his proposed reroute, however a missed turn on the R2R trail ended up being an extra 1.25 mile unplanned detour.  As a result Steve had to alter his hike and stick mainly to the R2R trail for the remainder of the hike.  He did lead one bushwhack up a hill on Crab Orchard wilderness to avoid a terrible section of the R2R trail.  After that we had brief stops at 3 Old Home sites and Antioch Cemetery.  He also pointed out the Sugarbush Maple trees planted in a row at one of the home sites along the trail. We finally arrived at the old Hidatsa Lodge where we stopped for a late lunch at 1:00.  During lunch Steve explained a lot of the history of the lodge, the R2R trail and SIU’s involvement in it.  I do know the Shawn of “Hiking with Shawn on Youtube” recorded it all so it may be a great video to check out when he releases it.  After a group picture, we headed to a nearby old home that Steve described as that of the Postman of Progress.  We ended up at the foundation and fireplace remains of the old administration site.  After which we finished the last .25 miles to the cars and got loaded up just before the rain started falling.  My final mileage ended up being 7.5 miles.

 

Great hike Steve.

Saturday, March 31, 2018 Hike Announcement

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its fourth guided hike of the spring, 2018 hiking season, on Saturday, March 31. The hike is free and open to the public, and will run between Giant City State Park and Rocky Comfort Road. Meet at 10:00 a.m. at the campground in Giant City State Park, near Makanda, Illinois. The route will cover portions of the Red Cedar Trail and the River-to-River Trail, as well as some off-trail hiking. Hikers will cross Crab Orchard Wilderness and SIU Touch of Nature’s property, making stops at old homesites at the ghost town of Progress, SIU’s Hidatsa Lodge, built in the 1960s, and the remains of SIU’s Outdoor Education Center, pioneered by L. B. Sharp.

 

The hike will range in places from moderate to rugged, covering about six miles in approximately four hours.  There will be both uphill and downhill hiking, two creek crossings, and possibly wet and slippery sections, depending on the weather. Boots or sturdy shoes and hiking sticks are highly recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and a snack.  No dogs, please.

 

The River to River Trail Society will be stopping email notifications from Trail Boss Eric Johnson at the end of this springs hiking season because of the challenges associated with it.  To continue to get notifications about future hikes from the Society, it is requested that you visit the new society website and register there.  With this website, you can subscribe or unsubscribe any time you want. http://www.rivertorivertrail.net/ See you on the trail.

Saturday, March 24, 2018 Cedar Creek Hike

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its third guided hike of the spring, 2018 season, on Saturday, March 24, along Cedar Creek in Johnson County, Illinois. Meet at 10:00 a.m. at Tunnel Hill-New Simpson School on Route 45, between Ozark and Vienna, Illinois. The hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty, intended for people in good physical condition, who are capable of hiking about four miles over rocky and uneven ground, with some uphill hiking and possible creek crossings. Boots or sturdy shoes and hiking sticks are strongly recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and a snack. No dogs, please.

 

For information or directions, call (618) 499-2337.

Saturday, March 17, 2018 Pine Hollow Hike

What.A.Crowd!!! Wowzer!!! 38 hikers today, on a Warm humid day. They just kept rollin’ in to go with us..Bill Gilmour did a Heckuva job as hike leader. ..saw some Great Big Mounds…of sandstone..Had some people returning, some new hikers…Pickups Were Loaded…I am eating pretzels for the salt (to not cramp tnite) and “re-hydrating”…Welcome to any & All New hikers…

20180317 SNF Trail work day

There will be a trail work day Saturday, March 17 at the Hitching Post trail head just a mile northeast of Herod. It will start at 9am, but you can show up later. Mule teams will be hauling gravel into the wilderness area of the River to River trail heading toward Garden of the Gods. Even if you don’t think you can shovel gravel, you can help in other ways. Bring some loppers and nippers and help trim the trail. Or you can rake gravel after it is dumped. Or you can help open the panniers to dump the gravel.

Trail Washout has been Reported

At our spring summit meeting with the Shawnee National Forest and other groups it was reported that there is a significant trail wash out / failure about 1.2 miles west of the Lirley Cemetery Trail head on map 22.  Please plan accordingly if you are hiking or riding in the area.  The Forest Service indicated that this may take some time to repair because it will likely require an approved trail reroute.

Saturday March 17, 2018 Pine Hollow Hike

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its second guided hike of the spring, 2018 hiking season, on Saturday, March 17, at Pine Hollow in Pope County, Illinois. The hike is free and open to the public. Meet at 10:00 a.m. at Parking Lot number 2 at the rear of Dixon Springs State Park, about eleven miles west of Golconda, Illinois. This is a hike of moderate difficulty, which will require up to a mile of off-trail hiking over rocky ground, and is intended for people in good physical condition who have done some walking over uneven terrain. Boots or sturdy shoes and hiking sticks are strongly recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and a snack. No dogs, please.

 

Saturday March 10, 2018 Thacker Hollow Hike

We had 26 hikers on todays’ initial Spring ’18 hike. I had been in the area, but, Not down that particular road…(took it ‘out” right by Double M Campground.. Saw some interesting stuff, crossed a few streams, met some horse riders, We did 5-6 miles. A HUGE Thanks to Fred Scott for guiding 2 hikers out early. If you went on the hike, and took pics, feel free to post them here. Glad you came?? Hope so…Come back soon.