Carol and I renewed our love of hiking since Kismet came into our lives. A one-year old rescue Chihuahua mix is a bundle of energy who lives to hike and climb. Steps and boulders excite her. Carol and I are both on the mend, her from dental surgery and me after nearly a year long struggle with a very persistent case of plantar fasciitis that has been calmed with a cortisone shot.
Our first hike was a very civilized one at Chautauqua Bottoms in Carbondale. This hike features wildflowers and is completely level.
The next day, we found a really spectacular one called the Little Grand Canyon, just miles away from Lake Murphysboro State Park where we were camping. We did the two mile round trip and the main overlook provided a distinctive wow factor. It is probably the most spectacular hike I remember doing in the Midwest. The Shawnee National Forest is known for breathtaking beauty and the blue sky, puffy white clouds, a forested canyon and white rock cliff composed a piece of majestic art.
Giant City State Park is home to 8 hikes and we did 6 of them, only eliminating the two marked as very rugged. The best of the bunch was the Giant City Nature Trail which was one mile. The bluffs form what appear to be stone walls. After a long wooden walkway, we caught our first glimpse of the park’s namesake, the “giant city streets” which are reminiscent of a walkway in an old European town. Anyone who had not seen skyscrapers must have been in awe of these giants.
Stargazing in a location without ambient light has always felt like a spiritual journey for me. The vastness of the universe, the multitude of stars and galaxies serving as a humbling reminder of our place in the universe. Yet geology has of late ignited me with the same sense of awe. I felt a reverence standing in a spot that was just miles away from where the glaciers stopped, marking a line between the flatlands and the boulders before me.