A different hike

We had a good short hike today. The weather was good, so we went to the Bell Smith Springs area to do some hiking. It's only about 8 miles from camp, so we will eventually cover all 4 of the trails there. The trail for today was the Natural Bridge Trail, only 1.5 miles, but plenty enough, as you will see.

First, I owe ya'll a picture of the radio set-up, and I want to show you some falls we stopped at on the way. Below is the current set-up in the RV, I love the Brown Bros. key and paddles. I have them adjusted so all I have to do is think about dits or dahs, very little pressure or travel. They seem to be rock solid, too. Thanks, Kathy.

Kenwood TS480HX (200W on CW), TH-F6, Brown Bros. CTL

We stopped by Burden Falls on the way, this is the highlight of the Burden Falls Wilderness Area, which also has several trails. I just stopped in the small parking area and let Emo get a drink, while I took some pictures. By the way, I saw my third turtle, a deer, and a wild turkey on the way there. Other critters seen have been a rabbit, a snake, several colorful little birds, a couple lizards, and a peacock. Of the 3 meetings I've been to in the evenings, twice I've been scared on the way home by deer standing in the ditch by the road. Oh, we also saw a couple herons.

Burden Falls, a short on in the foreground, taller on in the background.

The tall falls

The short falls, fed by a shorter falls. Nice sounds here. Pleasant place, there were a bunch of black butterflies with blue markings there.

Next we went to the Bell Smith Springs Recreation Area. There is a small campground ($10/day, trees, pit toilet and pump water), a picnic area, and the trailhead parking lot. I decided to go to the arch first, and I'm kinda glad I did. The trails interconnect, and if you are going to go almost anywhere, you need to go down from the parking lot. The creek has carved out the cliffs. Here's how you go down at first:

Emo negotiating the stairs carved into the rock cliffs.

Once we got to the creek at the bottom, I realized there was only one way to stay on the yellow trail to the natural arch. I had to take off my shoes and socks, and wade the creek. Andy the Geologist can explain to me when I get back why there are only two types of rocks in this creek. Slippery and sharp.

The creek crossing

Emo kept busy swimming while I put my shoes back on.

We finally made it up the cliffs on the other side, and crossed over the natural bridge.

We did not take this shortcut.

This was a good, strenuous hike for both of us, we were satisfied. Emo had a blast because I let him off the leash the whole time, and he got to swim a lot. This area is very pretty, it compares to Glen Helen back in Ohio. Southern Illinois is kinda like a mix of Ohio and Texas, lots of ranches, cattle, and horses, but Midwestern terrain, too. I like this place.

I may not blog much for a few days, the Women's College World Series starts tomorrow, and I plan to watch it all. It will conclude Monday. This blog accepts anonymous comments, so drop me a note if you want.