Saturday November 16, 2024 Hike Summary

Well, this hike…we were “blown away”.  We had soooo many hikers, newbies and everyone, that we had to “revise” things. Sam Morales led this hike, North of the Lusk Creek area, on a perfect Saturday for hiking, sunny and mild temperatures. All in all, we had 33 hikers. We met at an old abandoned church well south of Oak road, down a dead-end lane. We ended up moving vehicles so that a vehicle pulling a horse trailer could turn around. We had planned on using vehicles to move the half mile north to the start of the hike, going East into the woods, but, with so many hikers, we abandoned that idea, and just walked up the road. I had not been in some of this area prior to this hike. We took a ’round-about’ way to Secret Canyon. The rock formations today were not huge or anything such as that…they were somewhat ‘short’, but with a few interesting crevices and crawl spaces. We were ‘on trail” pretty much all the time, since we were in the wilderness area. We got to Secret canyon, where the horse tie-up cable was, and took our lunch break.  There was a big shelter, somewhat reminiscent of, but much smaller than Sand cave. We took the group picture using that as a backdrop. We then followed the trail out, and found the waterfall, which was very slightly flowing. Many took pictures. We then headed back north on the trail, wound our way around and headed west, until we reached the road and then walked back to the vehicles. It Was a Gorgeous day to be out hiking with friends. All in all, we hiked about 4.5 miles. Our next, and last official hike for the Fall 2024 hiking season, will be at Giant City State Park, led by Bob Mulcahy, on Saturday, November 30th. 

Until then, “See ya’ ll on the Trail”. 

Saturday, November 16, 2024 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 7th public hike of the 2024 fall hiking season on Nov. 16th. Hiking: Secret Canyon (Pope County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a moderate loop hike approximately 4 miles in length, 3 hours hiking time. The leader of this hike can be reached at 618-384-1321 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the New Liberty Blanchard Cemetery. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. There is one wide stream which will need to be crossed and hikers may need to walk rocks to cross this stream and their shoes and or boots may become wet if it has rained. If you are using Avenza for tracking you can use map #8 of the River to River map bundle which can be downloaded from the Avenza map store. For a map to the meeting location at the New Liberty Blanchard Cemetery click this blue link New Liberty Blanchard Cemetery and a map will open up, and then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the meeting area. Prior to participating in any hikes, the River to River Trail Society requests that all hikers read the 2023 Trail Society Waiver which can be found on the River to River website at the following link River to River Trail Society Information and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the New Liberty Blanchard Cemetery meeting area for your signature.

Saturday October 21, 2023 Hike Summary

On a Bright Sunny Saturday, October 21, Sam Morales gathered  14 other hikers and left the parking area at the Lusk Creek Trailhead, across from Circle B campground and headed East on Stonebottom Road. (1 hiker thinks another name could be “Hard butt” Road). There was already a horse trailer there when we arrived to start our hike. We had 1 new hiker from Norris City, IL. We worked our way down the trail, with much of the day spent on dry, dusty paths. We got to the spot where several Trail Society members have helped load buckets and animals with apparatus to carry rock out to needed spots, and a story was told about a “bucking horse” last spring. Our goal for the day was to make it to Saltpeter cave and the Natural Bridge. We found several shelter bluffs, often with a previously used campfire spot. We did encounter several small equine groups out for the scenery on a beautiful day.  The trees were starting to turn colors nicely. We had no difficulty at all crossing creeks when we needed to check out a rock feature, or bluff wall. We did make it to Saltpeter cave, and we ‘hollered’ at 3 other hikers from Northern Illinois who were camping for a few days, enjoying the scenery and weather. One hiker even found a “horse shoe boot” on a post. We also came upon 1 group of horse riders, who “Thanked” the River to River Trail Society for the picnic table we had put out in a spot on 1 of their rides over the past few weeks. We hiked about 4.5 miles, according to the activity trackers of several hikers. 

Next weeks’ hike will be on the Godwin Trail. For information, call 708-471-7500.  Until then, See Ya’ll On the Trail.