River to River Trail (Cedar Lake Section)

The River to River trail in southern Illinois is composed of both trail and road hiking.  I  I plan to thru hike the River to River trail in 8 days averaging 20 miles per day next year (2014) in mid February. The days will be short in February and I cannot afford to lose time backtracking to pick up the correct trail.  So, I am hiking as many of the actual trail sections as possible between now and my February thru hike.  I plan to hike from Grand Tower to Alto Pass on the first day.  The only trail section is the 6 mile Godwin trail through the Clear Springs and Bald Know Wilderness areas of the Shawnee National forest.  The rest of that section is hiking approximately 15 miles of gravel and paved roads.

I plan to hike to Giant City State Park on the 2nd day.  I am considering renting a cabin or at least camping in park's campground (with access to the showers).  However, I do not know what facilities are open at the park in February.  Also, this would only be a 16 mile day which would leave me with a couple of 22 mile days later on the trip.  I may to another 4 miles that day and camp closer to Rocky Comfort road (approximately 4.44 miles from the Giant City State Park lodge.

The second day will begin at Alto Pass (still not sure where I will camp that night).  Here is a link to my track at alltrails.com

http://alltrails.com/tracks/r2r-trail-section

To hike this section of the River to River trail, I parked at Cedar Lake and hiked south to where the trail jumps off Cedar Street coming out of Alto Pass.  So when you look at the track the River to River trail is actually on the west side of the lake (coming back up from Cedar street I took the Cedar Lake loop trail on the east side of the lake - not part of the River to River trail).  So from Cedar Street, you would turn left (north), stay to the west side of Cedar Lake, cross the causeway (going east) and follow the trail to Rowan Road.  From Rowan Road you will road walk to Hwy 51.  The next blog will pick up from Hwy 51 and take you to Giant City State Park Lodge.

Starting in Alto Pass, you hike out of town on Cedar street.  The trail leaves the road after about 1.3

Treatment Plant (gone too far)

Trail head north through summac

miles just before the water treatment plant (there was no blaze indicating  There is a small bridge on the road just after the trail leaves the road and the waste water treatment plant is on the left just pass the small bridge.  If you go over the bridge and can see the house and treatment plant on the left, you have gone too far.  The trail going north is cut through head high sumac and at the top of the hill you will find an orchard.

Wide mowed path on ritght

Orchard - stay to right side

Stay to the right side of  the orchard and you will see the trail leaving the orchard to the right (not blazed).  I is a wide moved path going downhill to a farm field.

Gate in opposite corner

First small field 

At the bottom of the hill you enter a small farm field and you will walk along
the edge of the field.  You will walk straight toward the tree line and then turn left headed for the opposite corner from where you entered the field and cross the creek bed.

You then enter a larger field and again you need to get to the opposite corner.  You will see a gate in that corner.  The River to River trail continues from that point.

Trail blaze near field gate

Stay right and cross creek bed

Now the trail is in the timber with private property to the right (there is a fence just to the right of the trail in this area).  The next fork in the trail is just before you cross the next creek bed.  You will veer slightly to the right and cross the creek.  This intersection was not blazed at the time I hiked the trail.

View down trail towards creek bed

The next intersection is a choice between going along the east or west side of Cedar Lake.  I do not have a picture of that intersection but you will stay to the

Left takes you to a trailhead

left.  The actual River to River trail runs along the west side of Cedar Lake.  The Cedar Lake loop trail runs along the east side and does cross the River to River trail eventually.  You will walk along the edge of Cedar Lake and then the trail hits a T intersection.  If you go left, you will end up at the Cedar Lake trailhead.

Go right (see R2R blaze)

You want to go right and you will cross over the Cedar Lake causeway.

Go left at top of hill

The next trail junction is another T with the Cedar Lake loop going left and

Looking back down trail toward causeway

the River to River trail going left.  The picture on the left shows the slight incline at the junction.  The trail continues at the top of that hill and you want to go to the left.  The picture on the right is a view looking back down the trail towards the Cedar Lake causeway.  I don't remember seeing a blaze at this junction either except that the trail to the right was marked as Cedar Lake Loop trail.

Go left

The next intersection was well marked and you go left.  The trail going to the right looks more worn but the trail to the left (least traveled) is the River to River trail.  Note the blaze on the tree at the very right edge of the photo.







The Cedar Loop trail hooks back up with the River to River trail at this point.  You continue straight
(or slightly left).  The other trail runs south (right fork).

Go left (no blaze visible at this intersection)

The next intersection is not blazed and you will go left.  Shortly after you take the left fork you will cross a creek bed.

At the end of this trail (just before the trailhead), the trail enters a cut in the timber for a power line.  You will walk though this cut for a few hundred fee and end up at the Lirley trailhead.

From the trailhead, you will head north up Rowan Road, turn left on McQuire Road and then right onto Old US Hwy 51.  The trail apparently leaves Old US Hwy 51 and head south (go right off highway) just before in intersects with Hwy 51.  I have not hiked the short section of trail which then crosses Hwy 51.  I have picked up the trail where it crosses Hwy 51 and hiked east.  But I have not looked for the trail from Hwy 51 to Old Hwy 51.

This section of the River to River trail from Alto Pass to Hwy 51 is 10.53 miles.  I provided a link to my track at alltrails.com earlier.  You should consider joining alltrails.com if you are not already a member.  You can select any of my tracks (or someone else's track) and use it as a GPS trip guide.  I have provided a screen capture of the track below:

Remember that the River to River trail follows the west edge of Cedar Lake and then crosses the causeway.

Rock Pile Mountain

I have been at training for 3 weeks in St. Louis and that cut into my hiking time.  Prior to training, I did hike to the top of Rock Pile Mountain in the St. Francis Mountain range on September 7th.  Here is a link to that track saved on alltrails.com  http://alltrails.com/tracks/rock-pile-mountain.  

The trail goes through the Rock Pile Wilderness area on the Mark Twain National Forest.  This 4,238 acre wilderness takes its name from a circular pile of rocks at the top of the mountain.  Here is the link to the USDA Forest Service brochure:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5419926.pdf

This trail starts on Little Grass mountain which is actually slightly higher than Rock Pile. You drop off Little Grass (about 300 ft) and follow a trail along the ridge tops to Rock Pile. The trail is not well marked and there are many blown down trees in the area the force to you to leave the trail and pick it back up. Be careful when you do this since there are other trails/roads in the area and you may pick up the wrong trail (I did this twice and had to "backtrack"). The top of

Rock Pile has a circular pile of rocks of unknown origin. I prefer to think this ring as made by prehistoric man for celestial ceremonies. The less romantic idea is a bunch of drunk kids decided to do this as a farce. This is suppose to be a loop trail according to all the printed literature. However, there is no loop. Once you leave the glades at the apex of Rock Pile mountain, there is a faint trail that goes west (or old overgrown road) that does lead you to a small pond. You can still see a faint road at this point going north and south. Going

north this road completely disappears. No road and no markers. You end up going cross country until you pick the road up again on the top of the ridge on the other side of of Cave Branch creek. So be sure and use you GPS to follow the road that is suppose to be there. I always bring a map and compass as backup. However, I also have an Anker high capacity battery that will charge my  iPhone multiple times to ensure I have access to GPS. The is no cellular phone service in this area once you leave the trail head. The under story is not too dense but the going is slow because of the number of blow downs and frequent checking on your bearings. This trail would be best to hike once the leaves drop. There is no vista from the top of the mountains which is somewhat anti-climatic. However, there is a large bald area with rock outcroppings.  

Trails of Tears State Forest, Jonesboro, IL

Yesterday I hiked at Trails of Tears State Forest north of Jonesboro, IL.  It is about a 45 minute drive from Cape Girardeau, MO.  Here is a link to my GPS track and other information on the hike.
http://alltrails.com/tracks/trail-of-tears-state-forest-main-street-north-ft
If you are interested in other trails I have hiked (and not posted on this blog).  You can view other trails and tracks at 

http://alltrails.com/members/akridelbaugh

The state has a good map that clearly labels all the fire trails (abbrev FT) in the forest (easy to follow).  Here is a link to that map:

http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r5/TOT/visitor_map_8_11_feb2013.pdf

The fire trails at this state forest provide many options for short or longer hikes (loop, out and back, point-to-point). The fire trails are wider forest roads with some connecting trails.The connecting trails typically drop down into the hollows and then climb back up to the ridge top to connect with the fire trails. So you can hike 1/2 mile or plot a 12+ mile route. The forest is awesome (yea I know overused term) with old growth (huge trees). I hiked in August, so the views were not that spectacular but the that will change in the fall and winter.

 I hiked north on FT 31 (also referred to as north main) and then onto the Lost trail which looped back to hickory hill trail and then to red shale hill trail. Red shale dropped into the creek valley (down about 300 ft). The trail along the creek was over grown (which is typical in this area during the summer) but well marked with trail signs so you could follow it. I did miss a connecting trail to the hickory hill trail and looped back to the top of red shale (no problem). I put a link in the trail information to the park map. The fire lanes are clearly marked (at least they were on north main). I will hike the south portion of the main FT in the future and provide a track. I estimate that will be another 6 mile loop. So if you combined both loops, you could do 12 miles. Be sure and bring all of your water. I did not see any water sources at the park facilities. The bottom drainage of the hollows may or may not have water depending on the amount of rain.

If you are looking for trails to hike, I would recommend going to http://www.alltrails.com.  You can join for free.  This site has been a great incentive for me because it lets me keep track of my hikes and I enjoy tracking trails using GPS and my iPhone.  

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” — Frank A. Clark

Tibialis Anterior Tendinitis

I developed tibialis anterior tendinitis on Monday of last week on a 6 mile hike.  I have not had any problems in the past even on longer trails (other than my feet hurting but no tendinitis).  Anyway, I have Merrell Moab boots and I bought them 1/2 size larger to avoid banging my toe against the toe box.  My feet were still sliding forward (especially my left foot) and I resorted to lacing the boots tighter.  This worked for the most part.  Apparently, I must have knotted the laces right over this tendon that day (I do not believe it was a cumulative affect).  So I did not hike for 4 days and then did 8.5 miles.  The pain came back and I will have to stay off until it is completely healed.  I looked up treatment, massage and taping for this type of tendinitis.  I will update this blog if any of this really aids in the healing process.  I am most curious about the KT taping.  I purchased the boots and Academy Sports in Cape Girardeau, MO.  The sole has already started to split on the left boot at the toe box on the left side.  I talked with a employee at Academy Sports yesterday and he said they had a 90 day return policy.  I am going to return the boots today and go one full size larger this time.  I have already purchased a pair of Merrell Moab Ventilator (shoes not boots) to keep the laces lower on my ankle (again 1 size larger than my street shoes).  I prefer the mid boot for ankle protection but it may not be that important for day hikes.  I will let you know if those shoes make a difference.

First Blog for MoTreks

I decided to start a blog on hiking.  I use to backpack years ago.  In fact, some of my gear may actually qualify as antiques.  I decided to start hiking again to get the exercise (too boring on the treadmill).  It is also too easy to quit when you are on the treadmill.  When you are 5 or 6 miles away from your car, you could still quit for the day (and have a sleep over) or call for an air lift but those are not really viable options.  The real option is to keep walking until you get back to the trail head.

One of the big advances in hiking outdoors is GPS.  I joined www.alltrails.com to find local trails and post my activity including tracks of my hikes.  I can track hikes using my iphone.  It provides real-time data on distance, elevation, coordinates, time and average speed.  It makes the trip more enjoyable and turns it into a game.  Alltrails keeps track of your activity and assigns a point score for your reputation.  The more you accomplish (trails hiked, tracks and pictures uploaded and trail review), the higher your reputation.  I will update this blog with information on new trails, equipment, good and poor hiking judgement, etc.

At this moment I am on a short hiatus (at least I hope it is short).  I hiked on Monday at Trail of Tears.  I typically hike approximately 6 miles on the red loop of the Pee-Wah (no problem).  However, for some reason I developed tendinitis in in my left ankle.  I believe it was due to the method used to lace my boots to avoid jamming my toe into the toe box of my boots.  I have laced the boots in a similar fashion in the past and it has not been an issue.  I can only assume that i laced it too tight or put the knot right over the tendon.  End result, I am not able to hike until it gets better.  I have tried heat and anti-inflammatory drugs and it is still too sore to hike on.  Hope to get out this weekend.