We spent the weekend climbing in Jackson Falls which is located in the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to be out of service to disconnect for a few days.
We drove majority of the afternoon on Friday after staying in a truck stop in Woodhull, IO. Thursday night was horribly windy and the parking lot didn’t offer much protection. Being high off the ground with canvas siding made for a rowdy couple of hours followed by an early wake up call as the fleet of semis started their day’s commute. Later that evening we pulled into the forest in search of a campsite that would offer a flat landing for the truck. We pulled into and backed out of multiple sites before finding the perfect spot. It was tucked back and adjacent to a melodic stream. In an effort to escape the rain that fell that evening, we posted up in the camper, making dinner and battling out games of mancala.
Although the previous night’s rain left the rock slightly damp, we had an awesome day of climbing on Saturday. We took the morning slow, waiting for the sun to show it’s face to aid in drying the rock. The weather ended up being perfect and we met a lot of really cool people that helped us navigate the canyon. We were able to get on 3 different climbs, each providing a different challenge. It was a huge relief that Tom was able to climb without much difficulty or discomfort. He has been nursing a finger injury the last few months and we weren’t sure how it would hold up. We cracked some tequila at the bonfire that night in celebration of both Cinco de Mayo and the day’s accomplishments.
We were a bit sore on Sunday morning, but jumped on a few climbs in the afternoon. Tom confidently lead a pretty sketchy 5.9 and I reaped the benefit of the option to top
rope it.
We ate some lunch on the way out and then pointed the truck in the direction of Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We decided not to bite off the full 5 hour drive in one go. Hoosier National Forest landed us close to half way, so we spent the night there. Sitting at the campfire gave us time to refocus our intentions for the trip and remind eachother to take deep breaths and enjoy the ride.
This morning started with a sunny breakfast and coffee, yoga, splitting wood to bring and packing up to get back on the road.
Next destination: Red River Gorge in Wellington, KY
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