Take a look at the trail story he shared with Society and allowed us to share it here.
Congratulations Reese, we added your name to our Honor Roll and thanks for putting together the great trail story.
We finished up the Fall 2020 hiking season in Great style. Cathy Jennings led 14 others out from Hayes Creek horse camp, thru various trails in the woods just west of the camp, across Mustang lane, and then into Jackson Hole. The stream was ‘trickling’ enough to make a ‘falls, but just barely We again, had Several (5) brand new hikers with us, and a returning family from the Benton area. We left the bottom of the Falls, following the South bluff line, wound around, encountering more nice bluff line areas ,then ended up at Double-branch hole .We then climbed out of there, and finished up back at Hayes Creek horse camp.
All in all, I want to Compliment & Thank All hike leaders this fall for taking us to many ‘old’ places..and a new place or so. In my 8-9 years of hiking, I don’t think I have seen This many New hikers. We want to Thank you & Welcome you to the River to River Trail Society. Some of us will hike many weekends throughout the coming winter months, exploring a new area, checking up on familiar places. Hope you had a Good Thanksgiving. We are ALL looking forward to 2021. We hope it will bring Better things.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Drone.
Thanks to Madhu Mukkamala for the featured image.
Bill Gilmour led 9 other hikers today on a 6 mile hike in the 1 Horse Gap trail area. We started at the Benham Hill/Ridge parking area. Today, we had only ‘seasoned’ hikers. Skies were cloudy most of the day. We worked our way down into a valley, then before lunch, hit the boulders of The Gap. Bill also showed us the “hidden” box canyon. After lunch, we were “on top” of it. We saw 4 horse riders today. We ate lunch at the Rocky Top overlook. Just as we finished lunch, a few light 3 minute showers ‘hit’ us, worrying us, but, that was all the precipitation that hit us. It did get pretty humid as the hike went on. We later got back to the Glade area of 1 Horse Gap. Many had not been in this particular area, so for them it was quite interesting. Another good thing was a low amount of trash. We have just 1 more scheduled hike left this fall, in 2 weeks.
See Ya’ll on the Trail,
Chris Drone
The River-to-River Trail Society announces that it will offer a guided hike in the One Horse Gap Area on Saturday, November 14, 2020. The hike is free and open to the public, but due to Covid 19 restrictions the size of the group will be limited and advance registration is required. Those wanting to take part in the hike may call (270) 331-1553 for information and reservations.
As hike leader, it is noted that anyone signing up this week will be added to a waiting list.
What a Day to Hike!!
Fred Scott & David Cooper led 2 different groups, 2 different ways, with about 19 total hikers, in the Garden of Gods wilderness. There were Literally Hundreds of vehicles in the various parking areas of the main Garden. with all areas filled to overflowing. We had, again, Several new hikers. Fred Scotts’ group had as many new hikers as seasoned hikers. A little over 5 miles was traversed by each group, taking in rock formations such as “The Big H”, Noahs’ Ark and the “machine gun nest” spot. Many, many small groups, couples & families were seen, and conversed with, either just hiking, or camping. Horse & Mule riders were out in abundance also. One Very good thing was, personally, I only picked up about 6-8 items of trash. Thanks to All for coming, See you Soon out on the Trail. Tell ’em…about the River to River Trail Society. We Love..taking you and showing you these beautiful places in Your Southern Illinois!!
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Drone
Take a look at the trail story he shared with Society and allowed us to share it here.
Congratulations Caleb, we added your name to our Honor Roll.
The River-to-River Trail Society announces its fifth scheduled hike of the Fall, 2020 hiking season, in Garden of the Gods Wilderness on Saturday, November 7. This hike will be free and open to the public. For public health reasons, and to comply with rules of the Forest Service, the number of hikers will be limited, and advance registration is required. To register, call Fred at (618) 841-4838.
The Society will continue to offer public hikes every Saturday except during shotgun season through the end of November.
Morning hike summary by Chris Drone
Bill Gilmour led 12 of us on a hike in the Max Creek Vortex area. On Halloween, with a Blue Full Moon…and..we had a Whole Tree fall over less than 50 yards from us after lunch…We had 7 “newbies”, and 6 seasoned hikers. The newbies ranged from O’Fallon, IL to Gilbertsville KY…and a family of 3 from Benton, IL.We crossed Max creek 3 times..and no one fell in. We covered over 4 miles.As the hike ended, Bill, Dave Simmons & Chris happened to look up, and a hiker came up, doing the Full RtR Trail. He was from Madisonville, KY. He is trying to do the trail in 8 days. Thursday, he had to cross Lusk Creek…he had to “Swim” it..it was chest deep. He said there were 2 other couples on the trail somewhere behind him. Fall leaf colors were on Full display. A Great Day to be “out on the Trail”…See you next week hopefully.
Evening hike summary by Gillum and Vicki Ferguson
Brian DeNeal led a party of nine hikers to the Vortex area of Max Creek, on Halloween night. This was the first time the Society had offered the Halloween Vortex night hike since 2015. Brian knows many good stories about the Vortex, an area which has reputedly known strange sensations, uncanny lights, and grisly killings, and he shared some of them with the group. Nothing too alarming was encountered, although some mysterious lights were sighted in the distance and one member of the party did experience sudden dizziness and an impression of standing diagonally, which dissipated after leaving the immediate area of the Vortex. Certain cries heard in the woods might have been owls or coyotes, or perhaps they were something not of this earth. A full moon lent a ghostly appearance to the woods. The hike was a loop of a little more than three miles, with two creek crossings in the darkness, and a muddy trail which might have inspired some of the last-minute cancellations. Nevertheless, all members of the hiking party beat the odds and returned safely to the trailhead.