Sat Oct. 29th, members of The River to River Trail Society met at the Goreville City Park, Bill Gilmour, our leader for the day, led 11 other hikers, including a new hiker from Paducah, into various areas South of Goreville, including parts of Fern Clyffe state park. We crossed 1 stream, dry as a bone, about 6 times. At an old homestead site, a 1 row cultivator and a bed frame were still able to be identified.  We found several shelter bluffs, including 1 that had the remnants of a hay wagon, and its hitch. We also found some leftover ‘tools & parts”. Different hikers took turns crawling through tight spots, that normally would be a bit muddy or wet. We were on/off parts of the River to River Trail also. We made it to a ‘dry’ Bork Falls, where we took the group picture. The ‘pond’ was not completely dry, so a ‘good use’ was made of it in the group picture. We ended up hiking about 5.6 miles today. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Chris Drone

On Sun. Oct 30th, 5 members of the River to River Trail Society met Bill Gilmour at the Vienna, IL. U.S. Forest Service Ranger station, and then we all went North, and out to the Schwegman Ecological area, on Bowman Bottoms’ road. We followed the powerline cut a few hundred feet to the South, and entered the woods going East, and found the “Rabbit hole’ which only 5 people went through. 1 elected to come down a quicker route.  We found a Huge shelter bluff called Horse Cave, and a much smaller 1 just a few yards past it.  We also found the “Schwegman Sentinels”, which are 5 large boulders, almost in a row, that apparently ‘stopped’ rolling at some distant time in the past, because there is more ‘valley’ below them. They are situated just a few dozen yards apart from each other. Several ideas (hypotheses) were proposed as to the origin of their existence. We kept hiking, and came upon another unique rock that Bill has named “Sailboat rock” because it looks like the rudder of a sailboat. He took the group picture there. It is still ‘eroding and weathering’. 

We hiked about 2.6 miles today. 

Our next hike, Sat. Nov. 5th, is the Crest Trail hike, from the Tecumseh statue at the NW ‘top’ of Glen O. Jones lake. The hike will be led by Marcus Owens, and finish at the Stoneface parking area.  Until then, “See Ya on the trail”. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Chris Drone