We pulled into the parking area for Lusk Canyon, Illinois, and immediately saw we had entered hunter camp. Deer carcasses hung from trees and a hunter immediately confronted us exclaiming that we couldn't go out there with out orange. "There are men with shot guns." To which Kyle Lapczynski replied "Do they shoot everything that moves" and I replied "so they have beers in their hands?" The hunter stammered back a reply and we eventually started down the trail. After all, the Shawnee National Forest is certainly public land.
We maintained conversation down the flat trail and eventually saw two lazy hunters in trees right next to the trail. After awhile, we reached the Indian Kitchen horse camp and soon descended to Indian Kitchen, Shawnee National Forest. We'd arrived at just the right time. The evening sun bathed the tall sandstone cliffs in a lovely orange. We took p8ictures and enjoyed our surrounds. The cliffs to the south were particularly neat since the light shone perfectly to accentuate the pitted texture. After soaking up the beautiful surrounds, we explored downstream Lusk Creek but quickly met a sheer rock wall bottomed by cold water. Our luck last a little longer upstream. We traversed a narrow ledge and met a briary thicket. We retreated to our packs and hiked back up hill later passing the solemn hunters and eventually arriving back at our vehicles. I chatted with an old hunter and found out where the nearest restaurants were. We stopped by Bear ? but decided to continue to Harrison where we feasted on Mexican cuisine. It was funny. The busser twice tried to serve us someone else's meal.
After dinner we drove to Jackson Falls, a delightful climbing camp. I knew we were near when i spotted camp fires. Many climbers frequented the camp that night. Kyle, Erin, and I built a fire and talked. We were joined by a climber, Tom, who currently travels the country solo until his cash runs out. After our evening fire, we went to bed. To Jackson Falls
Lusk Creek Canyon
Indian Kitchen
Indian Kitchen.
Lusk Creek Canyon
Indian Kitchen.
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Viewed:
Lusk Creek Canyon
Indian Kitchen.
I really liked the pitted look of this sandstone cliff.
Lusk Creek Canyon
I really liked the pitted look of this sandstone cliff.
Viewed:
Viewed:
Lusk Creek Canyon
Indian Kitchen.
Indian Kitchen.
Lusk Creek Canyon
Kyle and Erin stand in the shadows within Indian Kitchen.
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Viewed:
Lusk Creek Canyon
Kyle and Erin stand in the shadows within Indian Kitchen.
Indian Kitchen.
Lusk Creek Canyon
Indian Kitchen.
Viewed:
Viewed:
Lusk Creek Canyon
Kyle climbs up a sandstone ledge.
Kyle stands atop a ledge.
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