Starved Rock State Park

Saturday, January 28, 2012
Starved Rock State Park

I chose Starved Rock as my first park in the project because this is the park in which I have my earliest memories of hiking in the woods. My folks took me here way back in the 1960’s and I remember imagining those poor Indians starving up on a stone tower. The real story is a bit more complicated, but the legend is that a band of Illiniwek were chased to the top of a bluff by two other tribes during a war between the nations. The Ottawa and Potawatomi laid siege around the bottom of the bluff and starved all the Illiniwek to death. It turns out that Starved Rock is an appropriate place to start also because it was the first home to the Illinois State Parks Commission. I decided to intentionally overload my pack for the first trip to ensure that I would feel the weight reduction as I improve my hiking gear and packing skills. It was a beautiful sunny day as I drove to the park. I got a late start, but still had plenty of time to do 3 miles. The temps were in the low 30sF as I headed up the trail and the wind was blowing steady from the west