Revisiting the Scene of the Ambush!

 OK. I'm on a roll now!

After leaving Turkey Run State Park in Indiana, for the second time this trip, I made it to the I-57 Kent Lake Rest Area in Illinois in time for a leisurely dinner while watching the last of the daylight fade over the lake.

With the light gone I retreated to The Van and checked out my maps. I noticed that I was only an hour and a half from Illinois' Little Grand Canyon and since I seemed to have this theme going of stopping off along the way on this trip I thought why not!

So fairly early the next morning I found myself in this little corner of the Shawnee National Forest. But, now that I was actually here I was having a few second-thoughts.

You see, I was here before 5 years ago, and while it was a spectacular hike in its own way, it didn't go quite as well as it could have.

That time Mother Nature caught me not paying attention at a tricky spot on the trail and bitch-slapped me to the ground. - HARD!

Just like a fellow blogger I follow when his bike skidded out from under him on a turn, I landed on the right side of my hip. Unlike that other blogger, I somehow didn't need to get a new hip installed as a result. But it was still a sobering, and painful, incident.

But, with more macho bravado than sense, I settled my pack into place on my back this morning  and set out anyway.

Clockwise around the three and a half mile trail this time. (I did it counterclockwise last time. Always good to mix things up!)

Mother Nature quickly gave me one more chance to come to my senses by throwing a tree across the trail in front of me,

but she also threw a symbol of nimble-footedness in my path as well. You know - the mythical Mercury and all - that fleet-footed trickster with his winged hat who was always pushing the boundaries.

I chose to ignore the first omen, the massive tree blocking the trail, and believe in the second. Although there was no flying over that tree! Since it's larger than it looks in the photo, I had to pick my way around the obstruction, glad that I knew enough to slather on the bug-juice in this chigger-laden part of the country as I pushed a new path through the brush.

Last time I was at this overlook it was severely overgrown, especially out in front where vegetation blocked most the view, so there wasn't much over to look.

This time it has been carefully trimmed back, opening up the view a little more,

and the placard renewed.

Up until now the trail has been pretty civilized, but that was about to change and I was given one last chance to do the sensible thing.

- I didn't -

At first the going wasn't too bad,

But it didn't get any better

and pretty soon everything was going downhill - in a hurry!

It was time to strap the grippy-spikes onto my boots and remove the rubber covers from the titanium tips of my hiking sticks, (Actually the covers are supposed to be used just for transporting the sticks to prevent stabbing anything but I don't like the noise of the constant tick of titanium striking ground so I leave them on all the time - OK, most the time.)

because when faced with terrain like this I'll take all the help I can get! (Yep, I came from up there.)

The going was slow, partly because that's what the conditions demanded, partly because flashbacks of that previous fall kept getting in the way, but I managed to make it down to the floor of the canyon with no spectacular mishaps.

The lighting down here was different this time. But I wouldn't call it worse, in fact in some ways it was perhaps better.

Last time this shot was of sunlight slashing diagonally through a drifting mist. Atmospheric and mysterious, but moments like that are, by their very nature, ephemeral at best,  

and by keeping my eyes open and taking my time I still managed to find a few gems of nature and lighting down here in the bottom of the canyon.

But frankly the easy-going canyon floor doesn't last long

and soon I was faced with climbing my way back up out of here - right past the spot where I crashed and burned last time. (OK, more like thudded and moaned, but you get the idea.)

And I'm not sure what the deal is with the cairns. It's not like there was any other way to go.

Obviously I made it, and with no additional bruises or injuries. (Maybe I am getting smarter in my old age!)

Though interesting, this is a small spot with no camping on site, a single, relatively short 3.5 mile trail, and not much else going on, so I'm not sure it qualifies as a destination in and of itself, but if you happen to be passing by it's not a bad place to check out.