Saturday, April 30, 2011

Stay Beautiful, Southern Illinois.

Yesterday was Friday and it was the first day of my four day weekend. Weather conditions were PERFECT! Air temp ~ 65F, winds 5mph from the SW, sinuses surprisingly not pissed. I headed out to the levee and saw that the road was impassable.







Since I was blocked from the north, I headed south to Fountain Gap. The bluffs were gorgeous. I saw fields of wildflowers, lots of frogs, turtles, birds, butterflies. I kept going south passed Valmeyer. The first time I checked my watch, I had been out for 90 minutes already. I turned around to head home; started to bonk. Had plenty of water, but was low on energy; I only ate a piece of cold pizza before I left the house. The last 30 minutes nearly did me in.



































Saturday I woke up and decided to go hiking at Salt Lick Point Land & Water Reserve. I hiked the Newman Trail twice, for a total of about 4 miles. I was on the trail for just over 90 minutes. It was a nice climb with lots of scenic bypasses. I took a lot of pictures, saw a salamander and many frogs and insects, including 6 differenct species of butterfly. I heard several types of birds.
















The hike started off sunny and hot; but I was in the shade of the trees along the bluff. On the second loop around, the wind picked up and clouds came in. The cooler temps felt refreshing. When I came off the trail, there were three hawks circling. I had my flip on me and captured one.



Salt Lick was a nice little hike. I have a hard time setting boundaries and knowing when to stop. It didn't wear me out, but was still challenging. I would def do this trail again.

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