Back to Hemlock Clifts

Swimming at SIL 

On PAL Day 2013 I was gung ho and planted 6 boxes.  One was at a library here in Evansville celebrating their 100 anniversary.  Then I planted 4 boxes on a 3 mile trail at Ferdinand State Forest.  And the last box of the day was at Hemlock Cliffs in Crawford Co.

Hemlock Cliffs

We drive past the sign for Hemlock Cliffs 4-5 times a year when we go visit my sister-in-law.  I wanted to see the area so I planted a box there.  Based on my online research I knew there was a mile trail loop and some rocky/waterfall areas.  I didn't want to stay to long and I was alone so I planted the box, viewed the main waterfall and left.

We were up at my sister-in-laws this weekend and before we left home my husband and I had talked about going on a hike.  My sister-in-law has 40 acres and we usually just walk her property but I suggested that we go to the cliffs.

Cool steps in the rocks

Saturday afternoon rolls around and some of the kids were tired of swimming and I suggest that we go to Hemlock Cliffs.  Three of the kids wanted to go and we took off.  It's about a 20 minute drive to the cliffs.

Checking out a "cave"

Two years ago I had planted the box at the parking area to make it easy to get to. I figured that it would not get many finders since folks would not want to go that far off the interstate to grab the box.

I walked up and found the box out in the open but it was in great shape.  According to AQ it only had 2 finders in 2013.  I was excited to see that it had 2 other finders this year :)  I initialed one of the corners of the logbook (which I often do when performing maintenance) and put it back where it was supposed to be.  I was very happy that it was still there, in good shape, and had a few more finders.

Selfie :)  Me, the princess & Lil Ewok.
Lego Clone trooper is to cool for selfies 

After that, the kids and I walked the 1 mile trail loop.  The kids liked the part that followed the rocks and stream but fussed when the trail started to head back to the cars.  Lil Ewok asked me to carry him right as we could start to see cars thru the trees.  The trail was pretty and I am glad that we walked it.  We didn't find any boxes/caches/Munzee but had a great weekend.

Labor Day Weekend

Looking for a good spot to plant

We just had a great weekend camping at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, In.  It was about 3 hrs from home.  I was in high school the last time that I was there.  This was my husbands and kids first time.

I looked on Atlas Quest while planning for the trip and I was excited to see that there was one box there.  But we looked for it and could not find it.  It had not been found in 2 years.  We did plant a box while we were there so now they have one box again.  My noxer husband said that I should have brought more boxes to plant.  I guess that means we will have to come back another day.

Creek Peek program

One of the great things about Clifty Falls is the creek stomping.  One of the tails is directly thru the creek.  The kids loved this trail.  Also, the creek is full of fossils.  I picked up a little one for Lil Ewok and the princess asked me to help her find one.  I told her if she can't find a fossil she must have her eyes closed.

Fossils

We did a few nature programs while we were there.  One was a creek peek.  They gave the kids nets and encouraged them to catch fish and bugs from the water.  Two of my kids scooped up crayfish.  They were so excited to get to chase all the little critters around in the puddles.

 We also made bubbles at the nature center and took an owl walk.  My kids were so tired and we probably should have skipped the owl walk.  The naturalist called for 3 owls and the one that called back is the Barred owl that you hear all the time.

Big Clifty

The trails at Clifty Falls are pretty rugged.  There is no trail strait down to the creek; they are very rocky with lots of switch backs.  There are 3 big waterfalls-Big Clifty Falls, Little Clifty Falls, and the Tunnel falls.  It sounds odd but the railroad made a 600 foot long tunnel down by the creek.  But the railroad went bankrupt and never finished the project.  Seems like it would have been much easier to go around the creek/valley/ravine.

The campground was nice.  We were in the primitive area which was very flat but it had little shade and for a few hours each day we hid in the shade of the tents, van, etc.  The kids were happy with the nearby playground.

Fat man squeeze

With all the hiking (and heat) we ran out of water/Gatorade.  The two big kids and I ran to town to get more drinks and grabbed 2 letterboxes in Madison.  It was dark at this point but we had fun finding them.  Good weekend overall :)