Fox Ridge State Park

We had a day off yesterday -- hooray for Spring Break! -- and decided to go somewhere new and do something different. So we made the short drive to Fox Ridge State Park, just south of our home, and explored some of the trails there and had a picnic lunch. It was a fabulous day! The weather was cloudy but warm, the trails were the most interesting and challenging that we've found in central Illinois (though Mike argues they were wimpy compared to Utah trails), and we enjoyed being together. The scenery was not great -- everything is still pretty brown and drab -- but we did see and document some hints of green that whisper, "Spring is here. . ."

We took the rugged route to the Eagles Nest.

This is not an assessment of the park or our little trip. The tree just reminded Mike of a thumbs-down.

Green!

Can you see the ghost trees in this dead forest? They sort of look like quaking aspen, though I don't think they actually are.

This is the first switch-back we've seen in Illinois, and it was so momentous we had to document it.

We made it up to the Eagles Nest! (Yes, I'm wearing my 10-year-old Idaho's Junior Miss t-shirt.)

This tree was interesting. There were some large rocks stuck in the center, splitting the tree into four parts. It made Michael think of a story told by Thomas S. Monson about The Peril of Hidden Wedges.

Here's the river. When we saw it, Mike said, "It's pretty in an ugly sort of way."