Forty-seven Starved Rock Walkers (1 dog) met at the Lodge today for our annual Christmas lunch. Whodda thought we would have to take a ninety minute walk before the dining room opened! Fortunately most of us were prepared for that!

 Leaving the Lodge to build some appetite

French Creek did not look this cold last week!

I wore my ice microspike traction. Didn't need them. All we encountered was an inch of loose snow. 

Down the stairs to the Wildcat Canyon rim boardwalk.

 Ice climbers have to wait until the hanging icicles meet the growing ice mound to form a complete column.

That will not happen for a while yet. 

 An east rim view down to Wildcat Creek shows how the October deluge dammed the left side of the creek and pushed the flow to the right underneath the canyon floor access stairs. 

 Former Park naturalist Tobias Miller would tell young hikers a story about how huge mericats would break the trees during thunderstorms. Maybe!

 Browsing deer love young white pines so not many can be found in the Park. This nice collection of saplings is on a steep slope behind Sandstone Point where even deer can't get good footing.

 Some helpful Walkers explained that this could be the Park's attempt to attract picnicking kayakers!

 By the time we descend the bluff onto the River Trail the freezing temp is not that noticeable.

 I always ask "Is the sandstone block holding up the tree or is the tree holding up the sandstone?" Geologists know!

 Busy beavers left these morning branch drag marks next to the River Trail leading to the water. We still haven't found where this wood is ending up.

 Less than a dozen Walkers braved the thin ice on Wildcat Creek to get closer to the headwall.

 We surprised this "snow eagle" that was perched on

a bench atop Eagle Cliff!

 Might that be a "shelf elf" texting Santa about the

behavior of some Walkers?

 The cookie exchange! Bring two dozen cookies, take home two dozen assorted cookies!

 Most of us exchange that green 12-punched club card sitting on the table for a free lunch! The SR Walkers also passed a basket and donated $324.00 to IV PADS. Happy Holidays!

This shopping season recalls a quote

from Anatole France,

"It is good to collect things; it is better to take walks."

Forty-three Starved Rock Walkers (+2 dogs) Took the East Bluff trail out to LaSalle Canyon and came back along the River Trail. A great December day for a walk in the Park!

 

 Fifteen minutes from the Lodge we enter upper

Wildcat Canyon.

 Here the group is leaving the Wildcat rim boardwalk headed for Sandstone Point.

 Trying to avoid the mud on the rim of Basswood Canyon is always tricky.

 The walkers arriving onto the exposed bedrock at 

Sandstone Point.

 Leaving Sandstone Point.

 A view down the headwall notch to the west wall of Lone Tree Canyon.

 The tree that was part of that stump on the left was cut off the staircase this week. The trunk is on the right and the broken handrails have been replaced with new wood.

 The bottom step of the Sandstone Point staircase is a challenge no matter what direction you encounter it.

 I always use this 2014 derecho gust victim as an example of how deeply rooted the Park's trees are NOT.

 That's a carp boat in the Starved Rock Pool gunning its engine to drive Asian carp into the nets they just put out.

 The confluence of LaSalle Creek and the Illinois River is a good pic in any season.

 None of the newly cut wood from the beaver sign we are now seeing along the River Trail is ending up here on the abandoned lodge in LaSalle Creek.

Yes! We walkers use binder clips for lots of things that 

do not involve paper!

 

Walking the east wall trail into LaSalle Canyon.

The LaSalle Canyon headwall falls are my favorite!

The lower LaSalle Canyon falls and plunge pool.

This walker claims to have been in this canyon some 500 times since April, 2012. Maybe!

Walkers rounding the base of Sandstone Point

on the River Trail.

Climbing the stairs at Eagle Cliff back towards the Lodge.

Even before we finished the heavy morning frost was turning the trail back into mud.

 I have to agree with Paul Dudley White who said,
"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world."  

Mostly forty Starved Rock Walkers (0 dogs) parked in the Hennepin Canyon parking lot and walked the East Bluff Trail out to the Owl Canyon staircase and back again. All were much warmer at the end than they were at the beginning.

 It was a cold blustery trek from the parking lot to the East Bluff Trail.

 Walkers arriving at the old coal mine site behind the Hennepin Overlook.

 The trail is mostly single file as it traverses the 

rim of Hennepin Canyon.

 From here on the bluff blocked most of the 

"in your face" wind

 A trail view into the east branch of 

Hennepin Canyon.

 Not all trail bridges can pass a rigorous inspection!

 The front of the line has reached the west rim of Hennepin Canyon.

 A trail bridge view of the Rt. 71 bridge over upper Hennepin Canyon.

 Another trail bridge view down onto the floor of Hennepin Canyon.

 An upslope view of the East Bluff Trail.

 Like all forest trails, the East Bluff Trail 

just pulls you into the woods.

 A trail view down through the mouth of Hidden Canyon 

into the Illinois River.

 Another trail view from the rim of the 

St. Peter Sandstone bluff out to the river.

 Most of the forest canopy is now carpeting 

the forest floor.

 A trail view of the staircase leading to the 

LaSalle Canyon parking lot.

 Beginning the return walk across the 

headwall of Owl Canyon.

Can you please take our picture on the Hennepin Bridge?

Absolutely! 

This day felt like Indian Summer so:

"With beauty before me, may I walk. 
With beauty behind me, may I walk. 
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.
Wandering on the trail of beauty, 

May I walk."
-  Navajo: Walking Meditation