"You're standing in a river" "Awkward"

As promised last week, here are some rockin' photos from the half day hike at Starved Rock State Park.  (See what I did there?) Though technically, the hike was in Matthiessen State Park just south of Starved Rock. The hiking trails throughout the two parks are somewhat interconnected, so if we hadn't been told by other hikers we wouldn't have known the difference.

While Illinois may be known for being flat, as you can see below, there are plenty of valleys to hike down into. The view from the bottom was nothing short of amazing, and the ice falls (frozen waterfalls) were beautiful. The photos do not do them justice.

Did I mention it rained all morning? Yeah, that. It was a light rain though, so it wasn't unbearable. And actually, the rain helped activate the ice falls (again, frozen waterfalls). It did make for some slippery surfaces, but we muddled through. It wasn't our first hike, and certainly won't be our last. A little rain won't stop us.

We look forward to future hikes, especially in the spring when everything is in bloom. Although much of where we hiked will be a small river come spring, so we'll have to explore other areas of the two parks. In April and September they do full day hikes, and we hope to do both. If you're local and want to join us, let me know.


Going on a hike? You might consider taking GPS with you:
Garmin eTrex 20 Hiking GPS Receiver - ETREX20 (Google Affiliate Ad)
Garmin eTrex 10 Hiking GPS Receiver - ETREX10 (Google Affiliate Ad)