St. Louis Canyon Trail

It reached 46 degrees and ended up being a beautiful day! We explored a part of the park we had never seen before...started off parking just off of Rt. 178 since the road down was closed due to weather, walked down the parking lot to the beginning of the interior trail to the St. Louis Canyon  After seeing the beautiful waterfall we then took the Bluff Trail over Kickapoo, Sac and Aurora Canyons to the Lodge. We used the restrooms and dried our wet clothing before walking down the flights of stairs to the Visitors Center and out the main entrance to the path that crossed back into the St. Louis Canyon parking lot to walk up to our vehicle. It was a great day to get outdoors!

 After a long winter full of snow over his head our sweet little Cole Nugget was excited to get outdoors.

Pretty trees and sun shining so bright...

The road off of Rt. 178 down to the parking lot was closed so we hiked it to the trailhead.

 Bowling with snowballs?  It was neat watching them unroll down the hill!

Spotted this trail leading out to the main entrance 

(which we later took to get back from the Visitor's Center)

Cute little bridges along the way

 Humbling and beautiful!

 It never ceases to amaze me how these trees take root on the side of the rockface inside the canyons.

 My baby girl says "HI!"

 Love how the canyon frames the waterfall.

Isn't it neat how the water seeps from the rock face?

The base of the waterfall was massive.

 Looking up...lots of detail in the frozen sculpture.

 It reached 46 degrees so parts of the ice were melting...closer to the base we treaded 4 inches of water to get behind the fall.  My poor son's shoes were not waterproof so he tried to run through the ankle deep slush.  Hard way to start the hike.

 Some spots were still solid ice...

 We climbed behind the frozen waterfall to explore.  This is the shot right before I took a nasty slip into 4 inches of slushy water above a frozen base.  My arm and hip feel like I've been hit with a meat tenderizer as I fought to save the camera and gear.

 Worth it...ABSOLUTELY!!!

Just look at all of those colors!

We thought the ice looked like super long fingers!

 St. Louis Canyon...you did not disappoint!

 Hiking the trail back...it was pretty decent but some spots were really slippery.

 Some parts of the trail were just muddy.

 See the tunnel?  

Cole size?

I think not...

 The stairs and steps were fun.  You really had to proceed with caution or slip down them on your bum like my husband did!

 It was so light outside with the snow and sun shining bright that it was eerie

walking up to a mustard yellow rock formation just out of the blue!

Trail treat...
Peanut Butter/Butterscotch Banana Muffins with Hot Cocoa...

 Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm

 Thumbs up for the muffins!

He inhaled his too! 

And snuck in a can of peaches for everyone as well! 

Thank you son!

 

The wind was whipping through here since we were in a clearing on the top of the bluffs...

couldn't wait to get back into the sun!

Poor thing...he was absolutely done...

 If you walk around the Lodge there are always beautiful wood carvings to see!

The kids liked this totem!

 Cole thinks this is the best way to hike and backpack!
Bless his heart!

Our daughter spotted 5 deer while we were hiking the bluff trail to the Lodge but they were too far off in the distance and looked like little sticks.  If only I had one of these lenses.   

A girl can dream right? 

Luckily, we bumped into the same 5 deer as we were walking the main entrance road to the path that cut back over the the St. Louis Canyon trailhead parking lot.   

Aren't they beautiful!

 I could watch them for hours...
They taste good, too, if I do say so myself...

 Hiking back...

Just look at those roots and vines grasping at the rock...

 I Heart Sunshine!!!

What an entrance!

As with all things, what goes up must go down...
Hiking back to the car...

It was a beautiful day to get out and about.  The birds were singing, the deer were roaming, and the squirrels were having a hayday! 

Desintation:  Utica, IL / Starved Rock State Park / St. Louis Canyon

~deer~