Clifty Falls

Thursday morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to Clifty Falls State Park.  It had rained all night, so we were hopeful that the waterfalls would really be flowing.  We first parked at the trailhead for Tunnel Falls.  It was lightly raining when we started around 8, but not too heavy.  As we approached Tunnel Falls, I could see that the waterfalls would definitely be flowing.

However, creek-walking in the gorge on Trail 2 might not be feasible.  Tunnel Falls was raging but the view from the overlook was mostly obscured.

I found a place on the trail that had a mostly open view.

The creek below looked very swollen and flowing fast, so getting in the creek didn't look likely.  Continuing on the trail, we came to the tunnel, an abandoned railroad tunnel.

It's closed part of the year, but was open in the summer.  We didn't pass all the way through as Alex didn't like the cave.  However, we could hike on the trail around to the other side.

Right past here, the trail passed over a small seasonal waterfall.  The heavy rains had really brought the waterfalls to life.

There were some yellow jewelweed flowering here.

The trail got pretty narrow and rugged in points, but very scenic on a foggy morning.

Trail 5 ended at Lilly Memorial Overlook and there was a beautiful seasonal waterfall here - I called it Lilly Memorial Falls.

It's not named or marked on the map, but I thought it was really beautiful.  Trail 4 continued from here to Hoffman Falls.

It's a big waterfall, but the view from the overlook is poor.  I searched around for a better viewpoint but didn't find one.  There was a nice drop on a tributary though.

With no better viewpoint, we started heading back.  Near the tunnel, I took a spur down to the creek to see close up how full it was.

We definitely would not be creek-walking today.  Then we headed back up to the car.  We made a quick stop at Lookout Point.

There was a distant view of Clifty Falls and even from here, we could tell it was raging.

Next, we parked at the main parking area and made the short walk to the overlook for Clifty Falls.

It was really flowing.  There was a lower overlook, but the view was more obscured.

Then we hiked over to Little Clifty Falls.  The trail went right over the top of the waterfall.

The view from the trail was not very good and I was unable to find a better view.

Unfortunately, the views of the waterfalls from the rim trails are rather poor.  It's kind of catch-22 in that the only good views of the waterfalls are from the gorge, but when the water is up and the waterfalls look their best, the gorge is inaccessible.  Before leaving, we went on for a hike on Trail 8 along the west rim of the gorge.  No views of the falls from this side, but we did see some Great Blue Lobelia blooming.

Then we hiked back to the car.

From here, we crossed the river into Kentucky and started driving south.  Near Berea, we got off I-75 and headed to John B. Stephenson State Nature Preserve.  A short, 3/4 mile trail led through the preserve.  With all the rain, Anglin Fork was really flowing.

A number of late summer wildflowers were blooming along the creek.

There were some aster and jewelweed flowering.

Soon we made it to Anglin Falls.

It's a seasonal waterfall, but with all the recent rains, it was really flowing.

There was a little rainbow at the base.

We spent some time climbing around and enjoying the waterfall.

It's big enough that it's hard to get a picture of the entire thing.

After enjoying the falls, we made the short hike back.

From here, we headed to Williamsburg and checked into the Super 8.  For dinner, we just walked next door to El Dorados for Mexican.

Garden of the Gods

Wednesday morning, we checked out and left Harrisburg.  We headed south towards the Ohio River and our first top at Cave-in-Rock State Park.

A short paved trail led down to the river between some massive rock formations.

The views of the river were very nice here.  Heading left we soon came to the cave.

It was really massive.  And we could hike a good ways into the cave.  A footpath led between large rocks into a large opening in the cliff.

It would have been really dark in here, but there was an opening above that let a little bit of light in.  We got some pictures in here and then headed on.

Our next stop was at the Garden of the Gods Recreation Area in Shawnee National Forest.  The Observation Trail made a short loop through the garden with great views of the rock formations and hoodoos.

The trail was built into the rock itself.

Steps had been built into the rock as well.

Although a short trail, it was very slow going with so many fantastic rock formations to see.

Peering down the cliffs, the swirling rocks continued down.

About half way through the loop, we climbed out on the rocks.

The views of the garden and surrounding Shawnee Hills were really beautiful.

It was just amazing how millennia of erosion from wind and water had worn down the rock into such interesting shapes.

It's no wonder that this is one of the most photographed spots in all of Illinois.

We spotted an eastern fence lizard on a tree, very well camouflaged against the bark.

 Devil's smokestack was a massive stone pillar.

Standing 30 feet high, it was formed when softer sandstone eroded away.

We went out on the rocks for wonderful views everywhere we could.

Camel Rock was another fantastic named rock formation.

There's no question how it got its name.

After we finished the Observation Trail loop, we took Middle Trail to West Bluff Trail into the wilderness.  There were several spots to go out on the cliffs here for views of the hoodoos and other rock formations.

We saw some flowering spurge blooming.

At the end, we got on Garden of the Gods Loop Trail and passed by some cool cliffs.

The trail got rather hard to follow, so we just turned around and headed back.

From here, we got on the highway and headed east into Indiana.  We got off I-64 and headed into Hoosier National Forest to Hemlock Cliffs Special Place.  We got on the Hemlock Cliffs Trail to hike the loop counterclockwise.  The trail soon descended into the canyon.

There was a seasonal waterfall where we reached the base of the canyon.

Not much water flowing today, but the canyon was really beautiful.

Unusual to find a box canyon like this in Indiana.

At the start of the canyon, it narrowed to just a small crevice in the cliffs.

Continuing on the trail, we passed by some beautiful cliffs.  It was a real jungle down in here.

There was some orange jewelweed flowering.

A short spur trail led through a massive shelter cave.

Then we finished the hike back at the car.  A very eventful one mile hike.

From here, we got back on the highway and continue to Madison, staying the night at the Super 8.  It rained quite a bit overnight.