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.

Which Way is South?

Today was another lovely day so we decided to ride out to Initial Tree and then head over to High Knob Campground and back. We had found the north trail out of Ruth and Delbert's farm. Marie likes this trail much better. Anthony had given me directions on how to get to High Knob. "go past Thacker cemetery, go down the hill to the creek and trail 185 and then shoot straight south to Initial Tree..... etc. No problem..... Lily was in the lead today and boogered at the stone bench at the cemetery. Her form of boogering is just freezing up. Marie didn't see the problem and sauntered on by. That unfroze Lily's feet though she did blow hard going by it. Then we came to the hill going down to the creek. Marie was not to thrilled with this but Lily didn't see the problem and we bombed on down the hill, and Marie decided to follow. We spotted the trail marker for 185 and followed that.  And at some point, quite some time later, we realized we apparently didn't understand the "shoot straight south" part of the directions we were given. We were on High Country Trail. That is 185 but not the shoot south direction. It is however a very beautiful trail that follows along the tops of ridges and bluffs.

We did have a trail Map with us but it was hard to follow. We eventually came around and started seeing trail signs for Double M and decided to follow those and that is the direction we wanted. That did get us back up to Black Ridge Rd. not far from the trail head to Black's cabin. Lily was extremely good today as was Marie. 

The snow was starting in Maine.

Garden of the Gods Hike

We decided to go hiking today. We didn't want to overdo things with the mules. They were both barefoot and Lily is out of shape. And I don't think Marie has been ridden a all that much in a while. So, Garden of the Gods was our choice for today. We went over to feed the animals trailing along our now usual pack of dogs. Bubba and our neighbor's dogs Belle and and Sadie. They hear us as soon as we step out of the house and come over to visit. Bubba is ok with them. Amy has become the pied piper for the neighborhood dogs. Once the animals were fed, we went in search of the trail leading from the farm that Delbert said was north of the house. He said it was an easier trail out than the steep one we'd been taking from behind the barn. We found it and walked it and made a loop around. It is an easier trail out.

We went back to the house and grabbed some snacks and water to take with us and headed out. We decided to take the trail down around the base rocks. We've never done that before and we found some awesome rock formations that we'd never seen before. On the way back, we stopped for a photo op with the Shawnee Big foot. Then stopped in at High Knob Camp to say hello to JoJo. She made a few recommendations for future hikes that sounded good.

Tonight, we met Anthony, Cathy, Anita Gallion and her husband and son and another couple for supper at the Red Onion. They are fellow mule riders and lived fairly close to me on Karber's Ridge Rd. It was a fun evening and so nice to meet other riders in my neighborhood.

The weather forecast for Maine was still sounding bad. It was not looking like the storms would miss them.

Pounds Hollow Ride

Well, the day had arrived, time to saddle up the white steed and ride off into the sunset. Ok, not quite like that. First, while Lily is supposed to be white, she is at best some sort of cream color even after grooming. 10 months of ground in dirt doesn't come out in one grooming. And we really hoped to be back to the farm long before sunset. I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive about getting on Lily. She has not been ridden in 10 months. And she is still fairly young and green. But, with Amy's moral support.... or badgering.... I knew I had to get on her. Lily's never given me any reason to not trust her yet. Amy was riding my neighbor's mule, Marie .Neither of us had ever seen Marie ridden but felt confident she was a nice mule.

We went over to the barn and Lily promptly caught me. She's definitely an "in your pocket" kind of mule. Marie let Amy catch her and we put Zuri in her stall. That is Delbert's mare. It was a fairly warm day but crazy windy. So, not only has my mule not been ridden in 10 months, and has been well fed during that time.... we pick a crazy windy day for our first ride. We groomed and saddled and then mounted up. Lily stood very nicely for me to mount.

We headed out on the trail right behind the barn. It is a steep drop down to a stream crossing. I took the lead and Lily kind of bounced her way down the hill. Marie planted her feet and said, "Nope". Lily was dancing around in excitement while we were waiting for Amy to convince Marie that she really should go down the hill. It was not a good spot for a mule to be dancing around so I hopped off and led her to a better spot to wait. Amy did finally convince Marie to go down the hill. I led Lily a little way down the path and mounted up again. Lily was still excited but was behaving well. When we got up to Black's Cabin, Lily was all snorty about something by the cabin and froze up. Marie was not concerned and walked by so Lily followed. We crossed Black Ridge Road and took the trails over to Double M Campground. Then we rode south to Pounds Hollow Lake. The wind was fierce causing little whirlwinds of leaves and the branches and vines were swaying and creaking. Neither mule seems to be bothered by any of this much to our relief. A few times a  wall of leaves would blow up and sweep by us and they would be alert but they never really reacted. Amy on Marie were up front when we got to the trail that goes along Pounds Hollow. Marie did not want to take the trail as it starts very close to the water and with the wind, it was making waves. I asked Lily to take the lead. I had to ask a couple times as she wasn't thrilled about it either but she did go.

We managed to lose the trail along the lake and ended up doing a bit of bushwhacking to get back to the trail at one point. Marie was not thrilled about a few steep down hill spots. Lily bombed on down where ever I pointed her. Marie eventually followed. We didn't come out quite where we thought we would but did eventually make our way around. We took turns leading but Amy led the most. Lily was just excited and feeling playful enough that it was easier to park her behind Marie as it settled her down. We had a wonderful ride. I was very happy with how Lily was on her first ride after her 10 month vacation. And Marie is a lovely mule and Amy enjoyed riding her very much.

I called Bishop's and told them to go ahead and fix the truck. They said they would order the axle first thing Monday morning. We still could not decide on what vehicle to bring home or when would be the best time to head home. I contacted my boss at work and explained the situation to see if I could get the extra time off work if we decided to wait for the truck to be fixed. He gave me the time off so that part was all set. And Amy said she was ok with staying.

Rim Rock Trail Hike

We went on two adventures today. After feeding the animals, who have decided to behave and get back to their routine, we headed to Kentucky to an Amish saddle makers shop. We took the ferry across the Ohio river at Cave-in-Rock.

The saddle maker had some really lovely saddle and a lot of other very nice leather tack. I drooled. Amy bought a nice bridle and sat on a few saddles and asked a million very interesting questions on working leather and making saddles. 

On the way back we decided to go for a hike at the Pounds Hollow recreation area on the Rim Rock trail. I did some of the trail with Fred the previous winter. Amy and I explored a bit further. We hiked the left hand trail that runs along the top of the bluff to the stairs and went down to the bottom of the bluff to Ox-Lot cave. From there we hiked out to Pounds Hollow Lake and were delighted to find a Cypress swamp! We also found some daffodils coming up. We went back to Ox-Lot cave and hiked back to the parking lot around the base of the bluff. We did some exploring among the rocks. At the parking lot, we decided to hike the trail around the top of the bluff again in search for some prickly pear cactus. We did not find any but enjoyed the search anyway.

When we got home, we fed the animals. I got in touch with Delbert and Ruth to see if we could use Ruth's mule to go riding the next day and she said yes. Bishops called me and told me the rear end on my truck was fried and my starter was shot. They said they could rebuild the rear end but it would be cheaper for him to find me a low mileage axle and just replace the whole thing. Even that was going to be expensive. He had found an axle but would have to have it shipped in and said he would not have the truck ready until the following Friday. I told him I'd have to give it some thought and that I might just bring the truck back to the house and leave it in Illinois.

We were still watching the weather reports and it was looking bad for travel for nearly all of the following week. Maine was going to get hit with back to back storms. Amy's husband told us the best route home would be to leave Illinois and turn south.

Still Moving

2/6/17
Still moving. Seems like a never ending process that started nearly 1 1/2 years ago. My final move is approaching, just 8 weeks away. It coincides with the big mule gathering at High Knob camp near my new home. So I asked my friend and fellow mule owner Amy if she might use her trailer to haul the rest of my belonging to Illinois and I would haul her mule along with my horse in my trailer. Her trailer is a 4 horse, mine a 2 horse. I was thinking I could get the rest of what I had here in her larger trailer. After taking stock of all I still had here in Maine, I realized there was no way we'd get it all in her trailer. I asked Amy if she might be willing to make a run to Illinois with me with my truck and trailer and a load of stuff the first week of February. She said she would go with me. February is a tricky month weather wise to plan trips. And my truck has been a bit of a challenge with mechanical problems since I've owned it. But, after the latest repair and having a two different mechanics go over it and declare they thought it fit for the trip, Amy and I decided at the last minute to go ahead with the trip. Amy couldn't leave until today and there was a storm coming in. But, if we took the route down through CT and through PA, it looked like we would miss it or at worse only hit a bit of rain. I had scrambled to get my horse trailer loaded with the help of another friend, Mary-Jo. Sunday night I got the trailer all dug out of the snow and ice with a little help from Roger, the owner of the place where I'm keeping the trailer. So, we were ready to hit the road Monday morning. We headed out around 10:30 am.

At our first fuel stop in MA, the truck was acting a bit funny. Felt like something going on in the front end. Kind of like when the 4 wheel drive is not quite disengaging. I'm so paranoid about the truck now that we nearly turned around and went home, but didn't. Onward we went. Truck seemed fine out on the road. At successive fuel stop, I started feeling something weird going on in the rear end of the truck. Not so much a noise as feeling like there was some slipping. Not major and still seemed fine going down the road so we continued onward. We had not decided if we would drive straight through or not. We figured we'd play that by ear depending on any weather we hit and how we felt. I did want to get at least 1/2 way before stopping. I did all the driving today. We had a bit of excitement in Scranton, PA. On the 2 lane change from I-84 to I-81, in the dark and curving to the left suddenly we spot a large flattish unidentified object in the highway right ahead of us. I started to swerve around it and realize I can't due to traffic in that lane. ACK! Amy shouts, "it's a tarp" at which point I decide it would be safer to run it over than make any dangerous efforts to avoid it. We roll over the very large tarp and it makes a LOT of noise leading us to imagine the worst. Amy peers into the side mirror and tells me we are dragging the tarp. I pulled over right away and we got out to investigate. Our horror quickly turned to delight as we saw there was no damaged to either my truck or trailer AND we had managed to hook a HUGE heavy duty truckers tarp on my trucks leaf spring! We freed the tarp, pulled it out from under the truck, dragged it to onto the grass, folded it up and put it in my trailer. And it took both of us to lift it, it was heavy! We were delighted to have scored a truckers tarp! We are not normal women.  It was nearly 1 am when we finally hit some rain. The temps were in the low to mid 30's driving through the western mountains of PA so we quickly decided to stop. We pulled off the highway in Clarion, PA which is just about exactly the half way point in the drive. We followed signs for a Super 8 Motel. The motel was back off the road a bit and as I was driving up to it, it seemed strangely dark. And we didn't see any cars in front of the units. And then we realize we are driving on unplowed snow and ice..... and now praying we can turn around. We ended up in a small parking area behind the motel and the only other vehicle there was a very sketchy looking one backed into the bushes. We turned around and went right back out and pulled into the Monroe Heights Motel. It looked nice from the outside, in the dark.....Looks can be deceiving.  It was a fairly low budget motel but we took a room anyway. It served the purpose. It was clean enough and didn't have any bugs and the people there were very nice. Mostly the place was in need of some updating. It rained all night and Amy enjoyed the sound of the water running through the drain pipe on the outside wall that was just a few feet away from her head.

2/7/17
We were up fairly early this morning. We had a quick breakfast at the motel and headed out. It was still raining lightly but that didn't last long. It was warm enough to not have to worry about any ice or snow. We stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel along the way. Can't remember where it was and then we just kept moving right along for the most part. Amy drove most of this day. I didn't want to let her miss the fun of driving through Cincinnati or Columbus or Louisville. We could still feel something going on with my truck when we were maneuvering around at low speeds but it was going well on the highway so we tried not to worry too much about it. We fueled up the last time when we got off the highway in Illinois, just an hour north of my house on Rt. 1. All seemed to be the same with my truck there. When we got out of the truck at my house, we knew there was a big problem with my truck. We could now smell it. We knew the rear end was toasted. Sigh.... We had just missed Fred. He'd waited as long as he could be he'd had to leave for work. He said he saw us pass him on Rt.1. It was too late when we arrived to worry about the truck or the stuff in the trailer so we just went in the house and settled in. Poor Bubba was torn between being happy and freaked out.

2/8/17
Fred got home early Wednesday morning. I was so happy to see him!  We all went over to Delbert and Ruth's farm to feed the animals. This is the neighbor where Lily is. Delbert and Ruth are in FL right now and Fred is taking care of their animals while they are gone. Amy and I walked over and Fred drove over with Bubba. Fred showed us the routine for feeding. Fred went back to the house as soon as the horse and mules were in their stalls eating. Amy and I stayed to let them out. It was cold today and it was sleeting a little as we were walking back to the house. I contacted Delbert to see who he recommended I take my truck to. He told me to take it to Bishop Enterprises in Harrisburg. I called them and they said to bring the truck right over and they would look at it as soon as they could. Amy followed me over in the car. I parked the truck, and it would not start again. Wonderful..... We left Bishops and decided to go to the BBQ Barn for lunch. Then we went over to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries. I was bummed about the truck and we were thinking we would end up going back to Maine with the car or the Ranger and might have to leave my truck and trailer in Illinois. We also started to hear talk of a big snowstorm that was going to hit Maine so we would have to plan carefully on what days to travel. We got back, put the groceries away and went over to feed the animals. They were still acting a bit silly but we got them sorted out much quicker tonight.

To be continued on the next post......