A trip to Southern Illinois Part 3 of 4

I loved going to Cave-in-Rock. I read that a pirate ship was once hidden in the cave but I can't find confirmation. I found the history fascinating and will leave you with just a little information.

From AI on Yahoo, "Cave-In-Rock, Illinois is an imposing geological formation on the banks of the Ohio River.... The cave gained infamy in the late 1700s and early 1800s as a notorious hideout for river pirates, counterfeiters, and outlaws who preyed on passing flatboats...Worn into the white limestone bluffs by Ohio River flooding, the cave was extensively carved out during the melting period following the Wisconsin Ice Age. It measures roughly 55 feet wide at the opening and extends 120 feet deep. A unique 100-foot vertical fissure in the ceiling acts as a natural chimney, allowing smoke to escape and making the space perfect for human habitation.... " 

After descending some steps, we walked down a paved path.

The entrance.

Entering the cave.

Looking back towards the opening.

Further in, looking back.

Inside the cave. There is natural light because of the fissure.

The Cave-in-Rock car ferry can be seen from the high cliffs near Cave-in-Rock.

The ferry goes straight across the Ohio River to Marion, Kentucky, and back. It makes about 3 trips each way every hour. This free ferry fascinated me because the boat swung the barge part when approaching the dock. The 'hinge' is the red part in the photo below. 

We took the ferry to Kentucky and supposedly the largest Amish settlement in Kentucky but we learned that in recent years, at least half of the families have move to other places. It sounds like the new bishop might have been a little too modern for some families and they wanted to live more conservatively. I'm sure there were many other reasons also. 

There weren't a lot of Amish places to see but we did find the  bakery, Hidden Valley Kitchen. After eating a free blueberry donut hole, we had to have their specialty, the  blueberry donuts. I think we also had a couple of fried pies and some oatmeal whoopee pies. Enough treats for more than a week! We also found some ripe tomatoes at the bakery and some fresh lettuce at an Amish roadside stand, so we enjoyed eating BLTs a couple of times.

One day we went to Bell Smith Springs to hike to the natural bridge. We met a Boy Scout troop going the opposite way. They all said hello except one young man - he said something like "Are you having a great day?". The conversation with him just made me smile as we kept hiking and hiking. 

Eventually we decided we weren't on our way to the bridge because we had hiked far too long. Right after we decided to turn around, we met a backpacker. He said we would eventually reach the bridge if we kept going but it was a loooong ways ahead. Going back the way we came was the shortest way! When we got back to the trailhead, we decided that we'd had a nice hike and we'd just call that a good day or maybe a great day! 

It was an interesting day - we didn't get lost, we didn't find our destination, I slipped and fell while ascending a big rock - I was pretty dirty but not hurt badly, and Ray's allergies seemed worse.

We drove to High Knob to see how it would be for sunset shots. 

It was pretty but sunset shots weren't going to work because of trees. If I looked a different direction, I could see the layers in the hills. 

Sunday morning Ray's allergies were much worse so we visited Urgent Care in Harrisburg. He got some meds and was told the pollens are really bad right now. We spent the rest of Sunday at  'home' resting. I needed the rest too. I also spent time sewing a binding on a quilt I brought along.

We took a second day of rest even though Ray felt some better as did I. I did take a short walk around the farm, ran into host Kathy and ended up in the barn holding a baby peacock! I also spent some time with their Great Pyrenees, Sam, and the 2 goats. 

That evening we got some much needed rain. The deep ravine behind our outside seating area had LOTS of runoff from the 3" of rain.

With the runoff 

No runoff

On our last full day, we went to Burden Falls. We met a "ranger-type" person that was working there. She said the rain quickly floods the area and then quickly runs off. The only trace of last nights rain (1" there) was a wet ground and wet rocks. The falls is pretty and was probably really crazy during the rainfalls.

We drove to Rim Rock and decided to only hike upper trail because it was getting late. We found this interesting tree.

Of course, we stopped for wild flowers.

There were lots of trees so it was hard to see much of the scenery.

When it began to rain, we decided to turn around and head back to the parking lot but stopped to take a selfie first.

On our way 'home' we drove through Pounds Hollow Recreation Area. It was a pretty drive and Pounds Hollow Lake is quite long with boating, fishing, and swimming. Since we didn't stop and go down the steps, I couldn't get photos of the lake but I did grab this picture of the area thru the windshield. 

More to come ....