Trail Society Annual Meeting / Picnic

Hello All!!

The 2024 River To River Trail Society Annual meeting will be here soon. It is scheduled for Saturday, June 1st, 10 am, at the Vienna, IL. City Park, which coincides with National Trails Day The park is adjacent to the Tunnel Hill Trailhead along IL Route 146 midway between I24 (exit 16) and the US Route 45 intersection downtown. We have reserved the Rams Landing shelter which is located in the back of the park. (See photo below)  As a result, the Society will be providing grilled brats and hotdogs, buns, table service and bottled water. The rest of the picnic will be a potluck and everyone is asked to bring their favorite dish to pass such as a fruit, vegetable, side dish and/or dessert.  If you want something to drink besides water you will have to bring your own. Only picnic tables are included with the shelter so if you want something more comfortable it is suggested you bring your own lawn chair.

For the meeting, there will be reports from various board members about the accomplishments from the past year and possible future projects. During the business meeting, the Society will also be electing Society officers and board members for the next year.

Following the business meeting, the Society has arranged for Lindsey Godby Roberts to speak her passion with long distance running and her recent attempt for a third Fastest Known Time record on the R2R Trail. We have also invited the new Friends of the Shawnee National Forest Co-Chair John Wohlwend to speak on the Friends efforts around the Shawnee and how we can jointly support the Forest.

Please, come join us, learn what being an officer or board member might entail. No hikes are planned for the event. You are welcome to bring a friend interested in hiking, or a significant other.

As we did last year, several members brought bikes and enjoyed a ride on the Tunnel Hill state trail to work off the meal.

Saturday April 27, 2024 Hike Summary

On Saturday April 27th, 8 hikers met with Fred Scott at the Bell Smith Spring parking area. It was damp and cloudy, with a chance of some drizzles, which might have kept the numbers down for the hike. We had 1 new hiker and a dad & his 10 yr. old daughter. We then vehicle-pooled out to Gunnar lane.  I have driven  by the lane dozens of times, but had never ventured down the lane at all. Fred was taking us a different way into Bell Smith Springs. You just never can tell where you might go, and then end up.  We hiked just about 4 miles, depending on whose GPS system/phone was used. Fairly quickly we were walking down a sloped , rocky stream bed, then we could observe a sizeable stream down below us. We could hear water trickling over rocks. We ate lunch under the Great Arch of the Bell Smith springs, where we also took the group picture. Just as we got to the arch, a large family group was hiking through. We met up with several other pairs of hikers out for the day. Several were already wading the waters.  We hiked all along the main stream, then into the Hunting Branch area parking lot. We then climbed up along, working our way higher back to the parking area.

This next hike, meeting at the Goreville city park, is our last hike of the Spring 2024 hiking season. 

Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail”.