Trail hiking makes the heart grow fond.

It was pitch black when we pulled out of Lock 21 Campground to tackle the 300 miles to Shawnee National Forest in the southern tip of Illinois. Six hours later we were set up in a gorgeous campground on the western end of the National Forest. The Pine Hill Campground has only about 13 sites, has no amenities except a couple of vault toilets, but is set in a lush forest valley. We picked a level site with a smidgeon of sunlight for our rooftop solar panel and drove to find the Little Grand Canyon.

The primitive but gorgeous Pine Hill Campground. There were only two of us camping this first day.

Little Grand Canyon? Yes, I know that is an oxymoron. However, it turned out to be a beautiful forested canyon carved out by a tiny trickle of a creek. The 3 1/2 mile looping trail featured some treacherous rock climbing adding a nice touch of excitement. The sandstone cliffs looked like swiss cheese with lots of holes pitting the cliffsides. We tried to speculate what geological events might have caused all that pitting. The usual volcanos, shallow seas, and glacial pressures didn’t seem to offer a solution. Without any info plaques along the way to tell us, we were left with only our imaginations. I voted for aliens with jackhammers carving out their form of twisted art.

The weird alien twisted art forms.

After the Little Grand Canyon Trail, we intended to head over to the 1 1/2 mile “natural bridge trail” just a stone’s throw away. After banging out that trail, we planned on cruising through the city of Carbondale to see if we could dig up a taco truck.

None of that happened. First of all, Little Grand Canyon was really quite grand and we stayed a lot longer than expected, taking photos, climbing around, and getting lost a few times. Then we met a fun couple on the trail and got to gabbing. The time just flittered away, so we just returned to camp and steamed up a mix of buttered veggies with rice and a side of guacamole. Sound weird? Try it before you knock it.

Our biggest surprise so far has been all the greenery. The trees have not dropped any of their leaves yet. This makes for a nice time warp for us. So far the days have reached into the 70s, and the nights have bottomed out in the mid-40s - very comfortable.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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