Low Water at Starved Rock

Monday morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Starved Rock State Park right at opening.  Many of the trails were closed due to the recent derecho storms, but we could still access several canyons.  Parking near the visitor center, we first hiked up into French Canyon.

It was completely dry so we could walk right up into the canyon.

No waterfall today, but it was still a beautiful canyon.

From here, we headed up to the lodge and then hiked towards St. Louis Canyon.

This one is spring fed so there's always a little water, but very little today.

We hung out in the canyon for a while since we were the only ones here.

On the way back out, we saw a little thrush in the canyon.

We hiked back towards the lodge, then took Bluff Trail heading east.  Pontiac Canyon is always dry.

Right past here was the overlook for Wildcat Canyon.  Like the others, it was mostly dry.

We didn't both taking the many steps down into the canyon.  It was getting crowded, so we hiked back to the car and took off.

Our next stop was Buffalo Rock State Park on the other side of the river.  Right near the parking area was the bison pen.

There were two adults and a calf.

After some pictures of the bison, we headed down to the first overlook of the river.

River Bluff Trail headed west on a bluff high above the Illinois.  There were a couple spots along the trail with nice views.

I spotted a monarch butterfly along the trail.

There was another overlook of the river near the end of the trail.

Right past here was the catfish effigy mound.  Part of Effigy Tumuli, it was an art project to make earthen mounds similar to those constructed by Native Americans.

From ground level, it's hard to tell what they are, but a trail led up to the top with really nice views.

On the way back, we took Woodlands Trail that passed by the frog effigy mound.

We finished our hike up back at the car.

From here, we headed south towards Harrisburg in southern Illinois.  We were supposed to stay at Super 8, but they apparently changed their minds about allowing dogs so we stayed at the Economy Inn.

Waterfalls of Iowa

Sunday, we left Clear Lake and headed east to Decorah and parked by the Upper Iowa River to access Malanaphy Springs State Preserve.  Early on a Sunday morning, there was only one other car here and we set off on the Malanaphy Springs Trail.

The trail was high on the bluff above Upper Iowa River.  There were a number of cliffs and rock outcrops along the trail.

It was about a mile to the end of the trail near the top of Malanaphy Springs Waterfall.

Not much was visible from up here and since it dropped directly into the river, there was no easy way for a good view.  I found a way to climb down river right side.

There was a small patch of land to stand on at the base of the falls.

I climbed around to see another stream of the waterfall that flows under the rocks.

There was a lot of orange jewelweed flowering down here.

The views of the river were really nice too.

Then I climbed back up and held Alex so Sandy could take a turn.  When she climbed back up, we climbed a little further up to Malanaphy Springs, the source of the waterfall.

The water flows from a crack in the cliffs.  We climbed a little higher as the cliffs here were really cool.

We got some pictures then climbed back down and headed back on the trail.

From here, we headed into Decorah to Dunning's Springs Park and Ice Cave.  It was very crowded, but we found a place to park.  It was just a short hike up a paved trail to Dunning's Spring Waterfall.

It's a scenic waterfall but was very crowded.

I climbed up along the side to the spring from which the water originated.

There were some nice cascades just above the waterfall.

It was crowded so we didn't stay long.  Next we hiked down Ice Cave Road that was closed to vehicles for under a mile to the Decorah Ice Cave State Preserve.

We hiked a short ways through the cave using a flash light.  However, due to a partial collapse, we could only go 10 feet or so into the cave.

We couldn't go far enough into the cave to see the ice, but it was quite chilly in here.

On the way out, I talked to a couple locals who said that 50 years ago, the cave went all the way to Dunning's Spring, but had since collapsed in.  About 10 years ago, you could still go 30 to 50 feet in, but more recent collapses had very limited how far we could go in.  On the way back, I stopped for a view of the Upper Iowa River.

Then we took off from Decorah.

We drove south to Pike's Peak State Park along the Mississippi River at the confluence with the Wisconsin River.

The park is named for Zebulon Pike, the same as Colorado Spring's Pikes Peak, but quite a bit less than 14,000 feet.  The main overlook just beyond the parking area had great panoramic views even at only 1000 feet.

Then we got on Bridal Veil Trail and hiked down to Crow's Nest, another overlook with great views.

From here, the trail descended into the drainage of a small spring-fed tributary.

Bridal Veil Falls is a small waterfall on this tributary.

It's a small waterfall on a low-flow tributary but was scenic nonetheless.

We walked behind the waterfall and then back up to the trail.

Bridal Veil Trail ended at East Hickory Ridge Trail where we turned right.

There were some cool rocks at Hickory Ridge, but too much vegetation for any views.

On the hike back, we took West Hickory Ridge and Weeping Wall Trails to make a loop.  I ran out to the Lower Overlook for one more view before we left the park.

Then we took off.

We drove back to MacGregor and had a late lunch at Latinos, then started making our way to Illinois.  We stayed at the La Quinta Inn in Peru and some drinks and dessert at Jalapenos before retiring for the evening.