Trail Society Annual Meeting

The River-to-River Trail Society will hold its annual General Meeting on Saturday, June 4, at a location to be announced. Our annual meeting always occurs on the National Trails Day which is the first Saturday in June. During this annual meeting the Society elects the officers and board members that will oversee the Society’s business for the years to come.

We have some officers and board members that are of the age where they may not want to continue in their current position.  As a result we are making a call to find others that may be willing and able to get more involved with the Society by volunteering to serve in a role on the Society’s board or as an officer.

The Society has two main goals:

  1. To support and improve the River to River Trail by whatever means are available. This has typically involved working with the Shawnee National Forest folks, the Friends of the Shawnee and other volunteer organizations in Southern Ill who maintain the trail.
  2. To give back to the general public by scheduling 8-10 public hikes in both the spring and fall every year. The majority of these hikes are in areas of the Shawnee National Forest.

Currently, the Society doesn’t have any regularly scheduled meetings and the majority of our business is done via email communication and our annual meeting.  Occasionally, an impromptu, in person board meeting is scheduled when Society business dictates a need.

If you are motivated and interested in taking a more active role in moving this organization into the future please send an email with your vision and desired role within the organization to william.gilmour@frontier.com before May 10, 2022.

April 16, 2022 – Sand Hill Hike Summary

Susan & Kerry Durfee led 22 other hikers into the North part of the Burden Falls Wilderness area today. It Was a perfect day to hike, with temps great for hiking and skies of blue. We again had several new hikers and quite a few returnees. On our way into the wilderness, we walked through the Sand hill area. The exposed ‘red sandstone” indicates some origin/chemical composition of Iron/hematite. Bill Gilmour led us to “Bear cave” which is about 50 ft. deep. (No bears, or signs thereof, were found). The interesting thing about this particular cave is that it is on the top of a ridge.  After the lunch stop at the iron bridge we did some bushwacking and found a nice waterfall. Many then climbed a steep ridge to observe a passage-way/ arch.  Bluebells, a Big patch, across the Little Saline at the Iron Bridge, were in full bloom today, along with Dutchmans’ breeches.

Next weeks’ hike, led by botanist Christopher David Benda, has been altered somewhat, due to the runners participating in the River to River relay race.  We are meeting at the Forest service office in Vienna,at 10 am,which is on U.S. Rt. 45, just North of the intersection in Vienna of IL. Rt. 146 & U.S. Rt. 45. We will then reduce the number of vehicles, going out to Bulge Hole Ecological Area, to look for wildflowers, and maybe some waterfalls.  Until then, See ya on the Trail.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Drone