illinois can
yon
this is a behemoth of a canyon, though you can't tell from this photo. our adventure started here. it took ashok and i some walking just to get to this point. and what a serene walk it was! when we got here, two people were taking photos. the lady said we should climb the canyon wall to have a look at the source of the pool that had collected in the canyon. she said, "i'm 50 and i did it with no problem." well, she didn't have to say more. we made our way up the side of the canyon, a little steep but definitely doable, and this is what we saw:
we sat there for a long while, on the edge of the canyon, in awe of the power of the water that had formed it. an old man with white hair and a white mustache was sitting just ahead of us; he had put us to shame with his easy pace. he told us that we could walk along the canyon rim and end up at the parking lot. we had to try it. at this point i noticed a sign that had 'fallen', but i gave it no thought other than a vague, "hmm.. that sign fell." so we made our way across the water where there was an easy opening. by this time, the old man had disappeared in the opposite direction and a group of foreign tourists came across in the direction we were headed. we walked along the rim of the canyon, periodically checking out the view and the steep drops. then we very nearly walked into two burly forest preserve police, but they weren't your granola types, more like young marines. they gave us a lecture on why we weren't supposed to be on the rim of the canyon, people have died, the park doesn't have the money to keep up the trails, etc. they took our ids, phoned them in and whatnot. the marines were basically nice and left us with a warning, but what a buzzkill!! they told us the easiest way down, and off we went, and off they went to kill other peoples' buzzes. so this is where it gets interesting. we couldn't find a decent way down for the longest time. we could have gone back in the direction we came, but i didn't want to run into those ding dongs (to quote otto). eventually we found a spot where a descent was feasible, and ashok made it down easily enough, but i was a big baby and took several minutes to muster up the courage to realize that i was going to have to slide at least 3 feet before i hit the boulder beneath me. i sat there, contemplating only the moment, and grabbing a hunk of moss with my right hand, which had grown thick and verdant on the wet canyon walls. but it wasn't strong enough to hold me. i didn't want to fall! waaahhh! but there were no other options. thank god for my husband! he talked me through it in a very calm voice, and i slid down the great illinois canyon and fell on my ass with a thump, but aside from a hand scrape and a slightly bruised ego, this nature girl was fine. and we were ready to move on!
we sat there for a long while, on the edge of the canyon, in awe of the power of the water that had formed it. an old man with white hair and a white mustache was sitting just ahead of us; he had put us to shame with his easy pace. he told us that we could walk along the canyon rim and end up at the parking lot. we had to try it. at this point i noticed a sign that had 'fallen', but i gave it no thought other than a vague, "hmm.. that sign fell." so we made our way across the water where there was an easy opening. by this time, the old man had disappeared in the opposite direction and a group of foreign tourists came across in the direction we were headed. we walked along the rim of the canyon, periodically checking out the view and the steep drops. then we very nearly walked into two burly forest preserve police, but they weren't your granola types, more like young marines. they gave us a lecture on why we weren't supposed to be on the rim of the canyon, people have died, the park doesn't have the money to keep up the trails, etc. they took our ids, phoned them in and whatnot. the marines were basically nice and left us with a warning, but what a buzzkill!! they told us the easiest way down, and off we went, and off they went to kill other peoples' buzzes. so this is where it gets interesting. we couldn't find a decent way down for the longest time. we could have gone back in the direction we came, but i didn't want to run into those ding dongs (to quote otto). eventually we found a spot where a descent was feasible, and ashok made it down easily enough, but i was a big baby and took several minutes to muster up the courage to realize that i was going to have to slide at least 3 feet before i hit the boulder beneath me. i sat there, contemplating only the moment, and grabbing a hunk of moss with my right hand, which had grown thick and verdant on the wet canyon walls. but it wasn't strong enough to hold me. i didn't want to fall! waaahhh! but there were no other options. thank god for my husband! he talked me through it in a very calm voice, and i slid down the great illinois canyon and fell on my ass with a thump, but aside from a hand scrape and a slightly bruised ego, this nature girl was fine. and we were ready to move on!
more to come soon...
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