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.