On a rainy, warm Saturday January 1st, 2022, 7 Hardy hikers gathered to follow the leader, Chris Drone, at the Bell Smith Springs parking lot to see where they might be able to go, with the skies ‘letting loose”. We did haveRead More
What a Grrreat day to finish up the Fall 2021 hiking season. Melanie Kasson was our leader at Wildcat Bluff, southwest of Vienna, IL. She led 23 hikers down the trail towards the Cache river, intending to cross it & head toRead More
On Sat. November 13th, 2021, Mart Watson led 25 hikers into the Splatterstone Falls & Cove Hollow area. We started the day with introductions, as usual, but, it was also noted, by Mart and others, of the passing of John O’Dell, founder,Read More
On a wonderful sunny Sat. November 6th, Fred Scott led 29 other hikers out of the Upper High Knob parking lot. We had, again, probably 5-7 ‘new’ hikers. A ‘whole truckload’ came from the Metro East area. We initially headed East onRead More
This weekend, Bill Gimour led 23 other hikers in the Dutchman lake area. We started out in a drizzle of rain, which finally relented by lunchtime. We passed by the Dutchman lake “hanging boulder” and 3 different waterfalls: Dutchman lake falls, MeditationRead More
Saturday October 23, 2021, Chris Drone led 12 hikers on his first hike as leader. The hike was just under 6 miles; started at the Buck Creek trail head and followed the Happy Hollow Trail along Buck Creek to the south endRead More
Sat. Oct. 16th, Bill Gilmour led 18 other hikers into a 6 mile hike East of the Garden of Gods area. We had about 6 new (to the Trail Society) hikers today. We started from the large parking lot just east ofRead More
Shawn Gossman led 21 other hikers into the Jackson Falls area today. It Was Quite warm, with well-above normal temperatures. We had at least 6 new hikers, 2 from the Greater Chicago area, and 2 just a few miles from their home,Read More
For the last hike of the Spring 2021 hiking season, we met at the “top” of High Knob. Fred Scott was our leader for the day, taking 15 other hikers out East and North. We left, and then returned, via the RiverRead More
Hike leader Bob Mulcahy reported that he lead a courageous group of 5 hikers (including himself) on a five mile hike today in the rain at Kinkaid Lake. All five hikers came prepared to hike in the rain including rain coats. Bob’sRead More