I've been away from these forums for a few years, for a variety of reasons. I got back into hanging two years ago while recovering from a badly dislocated broken ankle. My first hiking trip was at Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest in the far southern part of Illinois, which the glaciers never scoured. Lots of sandstone bluffs and good hiking less than six hours from my home in Chicagoland. My overnight trek into the Garden of the Gods Wilderness was only about six miles, but I needed to take it slow. My left fibula was healed with a titanium plate & 7 screws holding it together, but the soft tissues of the ankle needed some work.

I started the clockwise loop at the popular Observation Trail where I snapped the pic below of Camel Rock, which is the poster child for visiting Southern Illinois.
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Hiking down into the Wilderness on Trail 001A, the first notable landmark is the aptly named H Arch high in the bluff wall:
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The official trail switchbacks up and over the ridge, but I've never gone that way. Instead, I follow an unofficial trail that crosses and re-crosses the creek as it descends through a nice canyon. Eventually it meets another creek which I followed upstream through another canyon. below are a couple pics from the creeks.
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I followed the creek off trail and found a nice spot to hang my WB Blackbird XLC and Mountainfly tarp for the night.
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Before heading up to the ridgetop on Trail 108E I looked around and snapped the pic below. To the right of the tree, can you see a dragon's head with its mouth partly open?
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Back up on the ridge before getting back to the Observation Trail, some very interesting formations can be found which the crowds never see:
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This last one is my favorite, which I call The Scream:
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