Today the Walker's Club finally got to hike in the Vermillion River area at Matthiessen State Park. It has been closed for quite some time because of erosion issues. This park is a multi use park that encompasses, cross country ski trails, horse trails, mountain biking trails and hiking trails. There was a smaller group that decided to hike in Starved Rock State Park, so Joe took a small group and hiked to Wildcat Canyon, Lover's Leap and Eagle's Cliff. We all arrived back at the Lodge at the same time.
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| Check out Karl's hat...... that is not a tassel. That is a butterfly!!! |
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| Today we had about 35 hikers. |
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| This must have taken the trail crew a long time to clear the path. What tales this tree could tell. |
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| Little stream right off the path. Grandkids had fun looking for frogs. |
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| Most of the hike today, thankfully was shaded. |
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| Don't know the fungus names, but found a couple today. |
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| This is what is left of the Jack in the Pulpit. The green seed pod is is the center near the bottom. |
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| Just starting blooming. Very large and is everywhere. Not sure of the name. |
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| We took another break by the "Burl" Not as large as the ones at Starved Rock, but still impressive. |
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| We went on horse trails for a while. There were heavily used. We had to pay attention where we were stepping. |
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| This is a sample section of the trail where they fixed it so it is now usable for all. |
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| Couldn't resist taking this colorful group photo. |
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| These yellow flowers are still everywhere. They brighten up the place. |
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| Good thing we were hikers, we are allowed everywhere. |
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| Breaks are encouraged, however, be careful where you sit. This nice resting spot is climbing with poison ivy. |
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| Thank you! IERPB! Nice job! |
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| Trail courtesy! We didn't see any bikes or horses. All was good. |
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| Little colorful mushrooms peeking out. |
I truly enjoyed reading your blog and seeing your photos! Thanks for being so committed to the trail tails (my own term)!!
ReplyDeleteKathy