On Saturday, April 6th, 16 hikers gathered at the East Trigg Trailhead, to be led by Sam Morales. We had several new hikers, including 3 from South Bend, Indiana.  There was also a large group, mainly from the Chicago area, that went out ahead of us, to do some rappelling/ bluff climbing. 

We set out by walking North along the road for a couple hundred yards, then headed East into the woods along an old roadway, then next turned North into the woods again, along a trail. We kept seeing some small gade areas, with a small, but flowing stream.  At 1 point, we started “bushwacking” then Sam got us to the top of Splatterstone falls. We then worked our way around, descended down into the valley/canyon area, worked our way back to the bottom of Splatterstone falls, where we took the group picture.  We hiked our way out of the valley/canyon, along the base of bluffs, then emerged along the West side of the railroad tracks. hiking our way South. We were close to the tracks for quite a while, but no train ever came along, slightly disappointing a few. At 1 point, we were close enough to the rapelling area in Jackson Falls that we could hear a Lot of people just talking. We knew there were a Lot of people out enjoying the day, and visiting the area. We did meet with an equestrian group. and did find the rapelling group from the Chicago area that left the parking lot before us. We ended up by walking out (west) on the lane that leads to the Tin Whistle on the railroad tracks. Weather for the day was just about Perfect!!

We have 4 more hikes for the Spring 2024 season. Next weeks’ hike, at Dixon Springs State Park, will be led by Shawn Gossman. No need to register, just be there by 10 am. It will be a shorter hike of about 2 miles. Shawn has hiked this area many times, and knows it well. 

Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail”