A Walk in the Snow

We had several inches of snow yesterday and I had resigned myself to staying inside my snug little house. However, my friend Lawrence called and suggested we take a hike in a nearby park. After a few seconds to get my mind around hiking in the snow (after all I did just get back from Antarctica!), I said, "OK!" We arranged to meet in the park which is very near his home.

I grabbed a quick shower and put on several layers of clothes--about the same as I wore in Antarctica-- and added sunscreen and sunglasses. After brushing the snow off my car I proceeded cautiously through town. The streets weren't bad, but there can always be a slick patch that the plows missed. The highway was clear so there was no problem until I turned off onto a county road to reach the park. That road had been partially cleared by local traffic, but the further I went, the more ice and snow I encountered. Eventually I was creeping along at 20 mph on a winding, hilly road, wondering if this was such a good idea after all!

Giant City State Park is a beautiful area, created during the last ice age as glaciers pushed up huge boulders and gouged out caves and other interesting rock formations. It's a favorite spot for lots of outdoor activities, including camping, hiking, picnics, and horseback riding. At one time or another in the past I've actually done all of these--but never in the snow!

I took this shot several years ago when another friend and I spent an early spring afternoon in the park

Lawrence and I were headed for a hiking trail called "the trillium trail", but when we arrived we found that the severe ice storm which struck our area 2 weeks ago apparently had damaged the trail to the extent it was not considered safe to hike. The park administration had closed it off.

Note the red tape across the sign. The a small yellow sheet taped on the left side explains the ice damaged area is unsafe.

Here's a view of part of the trillium trailhead that we could see from the parking pullout. I imagine in springtime trillium is abundant in the area, as well as many other wildflowers. Since I haven't learned yet how to upload pictures from other net sites--but I will eventually-- click to see pictures of this delicate wildflower. Trillum

Good little citizens that we are, we decided not to defy the park administrators. Lawrence suggested we walk up the asphalt road for a bit to see if any other trails looked promising. Since the road was deserted, we made our way to the next trailhead.

Before we left the trillium trail area I took one more shot of where we couldn't go. The trail follows a gradual gradient up to the ridge, over and back down and is a little over a mile. Normally it's not a difficult hike, but even if the trail hadn't been closed, it would have been a challenge in the snow.

The wet snow had pretty much melted off the dark road surface but there were some slick spots, so we stuck to the side in the snow, which offered better footing. I turned around to take this shot, and you can see our footprints. It looks one set but that's because I was trying to walk in Lawrence's footprints, and not having much luck, since he's a 6 footer and I'm 5'3".

I've driven in this area when there has been snow on the ground, but I'd never walked through it. The woods take on an entirely different dimension in the snow. It was very quiet, but after a few minutes we could hear a snow plow in the distance.

By the time we ambled up to this lot the plow had cleaned it up and was scraping against the asphalt. When I took this picture, the driver decided to leave. Maybe he thought I was a spy for the park rangers, checking up on him!

The trail behind this parking area was not closed, so we decided to give it a try.

In my haste to get ready for the hike I had forgot to bring my walking stick. Lawrence found some deadfall branches and broke off two pieces for us to use as temporary walking sticks--and they worked just fine!

It would have been illegal to break off a branch from a tree, but due to several recent ice and storm storms there was plenty of deadfall to choose from.

Here's Lawrence as he started off to find some suitable small limbs already on the ground. When we came back down from our hike we left our "walking sticks" near the trailhead in case some other intrepid hiker might want to use them.

The trailhead begins just beyond the picnic shelter on the left.

As we hiked I stopped several places to snap pictures.

Things that usually look very ordinary take on an entirely different aspect in the snow. Nature's "ornaments" on this evergreen are more beautiful than those on any "Christmas tree".

Eventually we reached an area where the trail became steep and the rocks looked really slippery. We both paused, considered, and pretty much simultaneously agreed it would not be wise to carry on any higher. We could probably get up, but coming down could be an entirely different deal! Personally I don't do down nearly so well as up, so I was considerably relieved that my friend also didn't want to pursue the trail further.

We weren't really ready to head back, however, so we brushed the snow from some flat rocks and sat down. Happily, before leaving home I had decided to don my waterproof pants, so I was quite comfortable on the rock. This shot was taken looking back down the trail from our rocky perch.

I made use of Lawrence's arm as we made our way back down to the trailhead, since I figured he'd rather have me lean gently on his arm than pick me up if I lost my footing and went down.

We walked back up the road to the trillium trailhead where both our vehicles were parked and stood talking for a while. After a few minutes we were somewhat surprised to see an enormous Peterbilt truck slogging up the road toward us. The truck stopped in the middle of the road, and since it seemed highly unlikely someone would be expecting a delivery in the park, Lawrence walked over to talk with the driver. Turned out the guy's actual destination was another mile or so up the county highway and he'd been given the wrong info about where he was supposed to turn off. As a result here he was in the park with his big-assed truck and no place to turn around.

Lawrence has had some experience driving big rigs like this one and told me he doubted the truck would be able to turn around, even up at the next trailhead parking area, although it was considerably larger than the pullout where we were parked. However, the trucker decided to give it a try and started on up the road.

My friend shook his head and said he didn't think the truck would be able to turn around. We waited, and sure enough, after a while the truck reappeared, slowly backing up the winding asphalt road. After another conference with the truck driver, Lawrence and I pulled out of the parking area and headed slowly back toward the highway with our hazard lights on and the truck following carefully--backing up! That trucker knew how to handle his rig, I'll say that. We pulled out onto the highway and Lawrence got out to help guide the trucker back onto the road. Once his rig was headed in the right direction, he gave us a big high five and went on his way.

We continued the additional half mile or so into the quaint little town of Makanda and found a little ice cream/coffee shop open. We enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate (mine was raspberry flavored-ummmm) and then headed back to the highway. Lawrence showed me a different route to get back to Carbondale, and that road was totally clear, which was a relief. (BTW, I strongly suggest you check out the link to Makanda, as it is an interesting little "hippy haven" town, nestled in the hills. It was also the home of the late Senator Paul Simon, who loved Southern Illinois with a passion.)