Heat, Hounds and History in the Shawnee Hills

Self portrait, near the end of my hike. Just stuck out the camera and said "Whew!" as I tramped under the broiling sun.

The River to River Trail near my starting point at Ferne Clyffe State Park.

For a history lover like me, an oasis in the heat: historical marker on the trail for George Rogers Clark and his men. Interesting (at least for me) that this spot was known as Buffalo Gap. There were still some buffalo left in the state at the time of Clark's journey.

Snapped this photo of a wildflower and visitors along the trail.

My somewhat planned trip to the River to River Trail in southern Illinois' Shawnee Hills didn't go as somewhat planned, and that's OK. The main purpose of the trip was to field test new equipment, mostly backpack and boots. Was going to arrive at camp Friday, ended up not getting there till late Saturday afternoon. Decided to camp at Ferne Clyffe State Park, which turned out to be a very good decision. It was a beautiful place, with waterfalls, caves and rock outcroppings in addition to nicely laid out and clean camping sites. Choruses of late-night coyote howling made sleeping a little difficult.

Up at 5:30 next morning, coffee downed, and loaded pack with about 25 pounds of stuff. Didn't need all of it but wanted to test the pack and the weight to see how it would feel. Filled my new MSR water bladder with clean, cool water from the camp pump. I have chosen the bladder over water bottles because I thought I might like its convenience over bottles. With the bladder a hose line can go directly from the pack to my mouth. On this very hot day that was a big plus. Fully loaded, the bladder held plenty of water for my hike.

And the hike. Wow. It was a very hot day but I thought shade would help. Well, at least it did for the first couple of miles of the River to River trail heading east from Ferne Clyffe park. Thereafter, the trail had very little shade, with much of the trail was on gravel roads; thus, I would not recommend this stretch of the trail to anyone during the warm weather. Not very scenic either. The trail has much nicer sections than this one. It was tough going, but as long as I had water and took breaks, I was fine. I know the risks of dehydration and overdoing any activity in the heat. I have no idea how many miles I logged, but I hiked for about seven hours through the park and then on the trail. I didn't take as many photos as expected either.

The only problem I had during the hike was encounters with dogs. A feisty dachshund yipped at me as I passed along the road just off his property. Since it was an out-and-back hike I knew what to expect the second time, and sure enough the little guy just yelled at me as much as he could. He was not a threat, but a second encounter with three dogs charging down from a house on a hill made me tense. These were big dogs and they started circling me, with two of them going behind me and one in front. As it turned out, thankfully they were noisy but not of a mind to dash up and gnaw on me.

My boots (Hi-Tec Altitude IV) and backpack (Gregory Z55) with water bladder (MSR) all performed quite well and were comfortable on a blazing day. I hope to use them soon on my next trek on the Appalachian Trail out east.

NEXT UP: Time to start some real training for the Stoneman triathlon to be held in Springfield at the end of this month.