Bluff on river hike to the Middle Fork Illinois Bayou
1/21/22
The cold...it chaps my loins. I embrace it and enter the forest. It is 5:30 with 12° and clear skyness. The briars gnaw at my pantaloons. The obstacles are pushed aside and the journey continues. The darkness is vaguely lit by the 2/3 moon...a waning gibbous. Eventually the the river is in view, but just barely due to the early dawn situation. The sun does rise to show a morning of great fineness. All is now revealed. The cliff drops off for what seems, hundreds of feet. I teeter on the edge taunting the river below. Soon, I move to the river's bank and note the intricacies that surround me. After time well spent in the valley, the ridge top is sought and acquired. At 12:10 with 28° the woods are left behind and replaced with the highway. The length of the hike is determined to be 3.8 miles.
