Distance
Elevation
Significance: Hiking through old geology and water-worn boulders
Day Three of my roadtrip and I got no sleep. The damn mosquitoes and biting flies kept me up all night. The storm predicted over the region brought winds which brought some relief, but the biting bastards were up after the storm flew by. I was miserable.
I drove off just before sunrise, heading into Cape Girardeau, MO and then into Illinois on IL3. Signs to the Little Grand Canyon trail were well-marked. I was the first one in the ample parking lot. This was the pups' first off-leash hike and they did great, staying on the trail and never once running off it. I was impressed. Both always watched me and never ventured out of my sight.
I was the first one on this 4-mile hike, breaking all the spiderwebs that had been webbed overnight. It felt so great to be on a trail again! I didn't see other people until just before I finished the loop, a young couple from Naperville. Just as I was ready to leave a family in a van pulled up, and then a biker. This is a popular trail!
The loop starts and ends at either end of the parking lot. The higher ridge is ten feet wide and crushed gravel, which may be ideal for strollers and wheel chairs, but the early rain left some grooves in the crushed gravel. There's one view toward the Big Muddy River and the hills in Missouri, but most of this hike is canopied by tall oaks, hemlocks and hickories.
It was so enjoyable watching the dogs be dogs and chase each other. They had been cooped in that Honda for two days with minimal exercise. This hike broke that chain.
Despite the rain, the only treacherous parts were in the canyon. I was afraid of slipping on wet rock or sliding down a muddy slope. Even the pups were cautious, but they watched me and took the same path I did.
I was hoping to find morel mushrooms but didn't see any today. I did hear some unique birds but didn't see them.
We were done and back at the car by 9am. Getting oriented on the hilly, curvy roads required all my attention, though, as the roads were narrow with no shoulders. With no cell service it was hard to get oriented. I made a second stop at the Pomona Natural bridge seven miles away (a very short 0.5-mile loop) and then headed toward Carbondale just to get reception and get directions to Scratch Brewing, a farm brewery Steve has talked about. It was just past 11am, I had time to eat lunch at Taco Bell and use my GPS and charge up my phone some while the brewery was still closed for business.
I left Carbondale at 11:30 to drive to the brewery. Without my Google Maps, though, this would have been a hard place to find as I was traversing narrow country roads. While the address lists Ava as the town, the brewery is in the country, to the southeast. I never drove through Ava.
I arrived at 12:30 and there were already quite a few people on the shaded patio, including a few dogs. Again I left the dogs in the car to avoid any confrontations.
The exterior is nicely designed. The main building and patio are made from wood and has a wood cabin look to it. Everything that goes into the beers is grown on premise. I recognized the hop vines and lavender, but not much else. It's like walking through a fragrant botanical garden. It was also very humid outside, so I sat indoors.
The place takes cash only. Ouch. I always carry cash with me on road trips, but keep that for emergencies only. I ordered a flight of four four-ounce samples, liked them all, but opted not to buy additional bottled beer for $10 each. I had no place to keep it cool as I didn't bring a cooler on this road trip due to space. My favorite beer was the burdock and oak amber lager (6.7% ABV), but that beer was not for sale to go.
https://www.scratchbeer.com/
The parking lot was packed when I left an hour later to head back to Carbondale. Clouds were looking grim as I made it back into town. I parked near the Carbondale Beer Works, the same brewpub that had closed early when I drove into town last summer. This time I got to see it in daylight.
A music festival was going on in the nearby town square and people were mingling in the grass. This was a street party to celebrate Carbondale's first marijuana dispensary, Consume Cannabis. This was not to smoke the stuff, but to celebrate the fact that a dispensary is in town.
I was inside the brewpub sipping a wheat ale when the dark skies burst open. The rain came down fast and hard. People from the street party darted inside to queue up for beer. Outside umbrellas got tossed into the parked cars. Luckily my Honda was parked an aisle away against a brick wall and was undamaged (except I had my windows open for the dogs, so the inside got drenched.
https://www.kfvs12.com/2021/07/09/cannabis-company-sponsors-local-musi c-festival-carbondale/
The rain didn't last, but the skies remained dark. I wanted to hike around the Campus Lake Trail, a trail I noticed on my last visit but didn't have time for. I got to the trailhead just before dark, just before another downpour that kept me in my car for another 15 minutes. By then it was very dark but I ventured out anyway, following the paved trail under little ambient light as there were no lights along this path. What little light I got was from nearby streetlights. Some sections of this path are not recommended at night, but luckily I met no one while powerwalking this trail. More lightning and another storm was coming and I wanted to get back to the car before the next deluge.
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