One Horse Gap

Amy had been hoping to get to One Horse Gap to ride at the upcoming mule gathering in April. It is not all that far from High Knob Campground but further than you'd want to ride so we'd have to trailer over to ride it. We decided to hike it today to get a look at the area.

Finding the road in and where to park was a bit of a challenge. The GPS didn't recognize many of the roads around One Horse Gap. The first one we tried to drive down kind of petered out and we ended up turning around. Strangely, when I put my phone on Google Maps, it was able to locate One Horse Gap and we followed that and found it. We did have a map of the trails and headed out not knowing what to expect of it for a hiking trail. It turned out to be a lovely hike. We found our way around with only one short unplanned side trip. The rock formations were a bit different here than what we'd seen elsewhere on our hikes and rides. More rounded and smoother, and very interesting. On the way back we drove down to One Horse Gap Lake just to see it. It is a very pretty spot.

Another lovey day and great hike. I really hate to have to leave. But, I'll be back soon!

Back to Bell Smith Springs

So, while Maine was getting yet another snowstorm, Amy and I decided to go back to Bell Smith Springs to hike the blue trail. It was yet another lovely day. We took the blue trail from the parking area instead of going down the stairs. This take a path along the top of the canyon on one side, eventually taking you down to the bottom of the canyon to cross the stream and then up to the top on the other side. A really fun and beautiful hike. We had a bit of trouble convincing Bubba to cross the creek. He is NOT fond of water. We did talk him into it eventually. Amy and I got separated at the end of the hike, she needing to head right to the parking lot to use the ladies room. I lagged behind exploring. I then realized I could not find the stairs that takes you to the top of the bluff to the parking area. I walked back and forth along the creek several times. I knew by my GPS that I was in the right area. I finally went back to the last trail marker I'd seen and really looked around carefully for the next marker and FINALLY spotted stairs, though not the ones I was looking for. It was all good though as they also led up to the parking area. I got up there and Amy was no where to be seen. I had taken quite a while to find the stairs so wondered if she'd gone back down in search of me. Or, she may have had trouble finding the stairs just as I had. I went to the overlook and called out to her and sure enough, she too had been unable to find the stairs. She was back across the stream on the ladder by the natural bridge. She spotted me made her way back over. We had a good laugh over it.

Amy, in the center crossing the creek

 When we got home, Bishop's Auto called and the truck was ready to go. Fred drove me up to Harrisburg to pick it up. Time to start thinking about heading back to Maine. I hated to even think about leaving. Amy was ready to get back to her home and family. We decided we'd head out Saturday morning so we had one more day to enjoy.

Initial Tree

It was back in the saddle again today. Today we were determined to get to Initial Tree and make the loop on trail 150. We went to the farm and fed the animals around 8:00 a.m. then went back to my house for breakfast. We headed back to the barn around 10:00 a.m. and went out into the pasture with halters in hand. Lily immediately caught me. Marie and Zuri led us on a merry chase before letting us catch them. It was a cooler day today but with only a light breeze and sunny. Perfect riding day for the mules with their winter coats.

For once we actually managed to do the trails exactly as we planned to do them without getting off track even once. Wooohooo! Lily led for most of the ride and she was absolutely wonderful today. Nice and forward but in work mode and paying attention to what she was doing. She froze up once when we spooked up a herd of deer. And she was on high alert coming into Initial Tree and froze up again. Marie led the way in. We stopped at Initial tree and tied up for a few minutes. When we left there, Lily had one more spot where she went on high alert but I was able to keep her moving down the trail in the lead anyway. She was good about it. We had a great ride!

Millstone Bluff and McKinney's

Today's adventure took us to Millstone Bluff. An old Indian village that JoJo had told us about. We stopped at Harbison's store to pick up some drinks for the hike and saw some cowboys pull in with their horse all loaded and saddled in their trailer. Not a sight you see often in Maine.

Millstone Bluff is an interesting site. Not a long hike but lot's of informational signs along the hike explaining what is known about those who lived on the bluff. We enjoyed the hike very much. 

From Millstone Bluff, we headed to Marion to McKinney's Western Store. It's a huge store and fun to go to even if you don't have any money to spend. I managed to get out of there with only buying one grooming brush. 

When we got home and went over to the farm to take care of the animals, I gave Lily and Zuri a good grooming with the new brush. Had to break it in of course.

My mother took a picture of Amy's car in her driveway after the 1st storm ended

Burden Falls and Bell Smith Springs

The days were starting to settle into a routine. Up before 8:00 a.m to walk over and feed the animals. Then home for breakfast. The news out of Maine was that the storm had hit and it was not good. White out conditions so bad that for a while, they even pulled the plow trucks off the road. By the end of today, there would be 2+ feet of snow in Bowdoin. In some places in Maine there would be 3+ feet on the ground. And they were saying there was another significant storm coming on Wednesday to Thursday. We were still not sure what we wanted to do about heading back to Maine. If we left my truck and came home in the Ranger, we'd have to put a set of tires on it. If we came home in the Focus, we had to get it registered (as it was due this month) and it did not have winter tires on it. My studded tires on it were in Maine. Amy's husband was now saying to not even try coming home until the weekend.
So, for now we would just continue to enjoy the lovely weather we were "stuck" in. So, we voted to go for another hike. JoJo had mentioned a spot that sounded like it would be a great hike. We called her to get directions to the trail head. She asked if she could come with us and we were delighted to have her company. We even badgered Fred into joining us. So, the 4 of us and Bubba crammed into the Focus and we headed out.

Our first stop was Burden Falls. This is one of the highest falls in Southern Illinois. It is a series of falls totaling about 100 feet with the largest single drop being about 20 to 25 feet or so. It's near the road so only a short hike to see the falls. There was not much water going over the falls today but lovely to see anyway. I have included a picture of the falls after a rain with a lot of water going over it.

Then it was on to Bell Smith Springs. This is a lovely place to hike with 8 miles of trails along a canyon with a stream running through the middle. JoJo directed us to the parking lot. From the parking lot, there is a set of stone stairs leading to the bottom of the canyon. We wandered along the bottom for a while, then caught a trail that took us up along the top and we came to the most amazing natural bridge. There was a ladder set into the rocks to climb down near the bridge but we couldn't take that way having Bubba with us.

The natural bridge

The natural bridge from the bottom

Natural Bridge, hard to tell the bottom of it the photo. 

An American Sycamore Tree

We followed the yellow trail and then got onto the white trail. We lost the markers at one point and and climbed down into the canyon to the trail below. They did some searching for a way to cross the river. Fred, Amy and I hopped rocks across. Me ending up with wet feet. JoJo chose to cross over on a large fallen tree. Once across, we still had quite a time finding the stairway to the parking area. It is not well marked and blends right into the rock formations so you can't see it until you are nearly right on it. It was a beautiful hike!

Prickly Pear Cactus in winter.