As these Friday adventures have continued, my strategy has become clearer. I want to hike trails in the morning and early afternoon. Then, I want to visit towns in Illinois that I’ve never been to…which is most of them.
Yesterday, I started off with Humistan Woods. It was difficult finding the place. There were multiple addresses online and my GPS accepted none of them. Rural addresses are so weird (67000 E 2100 N. That’s the address!) It took some extra time, but I finally arrived. The entrance is a well-hidden one-lane road that leads to ten parking spaces. If this place had been busy, I would have been SOL. During my 3.5 hours there, I saw four people max. In fact, I spent more time with deer than people. Fine by me.
This is what you might call a beginner friendly hike. There’s no chance of getting lost and the terrain is manageable. That didn’t bother me at all. I had a great time covering all the trails.
After my nature fix, I visited the lovely little town of Pontiac. It is one of the stops along Route 66. This is the major claim to fame for a lot of little towns in Illinois. Downtown is filled with signs that number the sites. You can download the path on your phone. I chose to just walk around. You can’t miss most of the stuff.
After a stroll around Pontiac, I made one more stop — Braidwood. The Polk-a-Dot Diner wouldn’t be one of my usual destinations (One of my Friday rules is no restaurants) but I had to get photos of their statues.
There were others (James Dean, Marilyn, the Blues Brothers[?]), but lots of people were around them and I wasn’t in the mood to wait. Seriously, this diner was packed at 3 on a Friday. It must be the place to be in Braidwood.
So, a very successful trip. Great exercise and another home-state town crossed off the list. Next week will be more of the same, but the week after is going to be special. It’s a five-day trip to the Shawnee National Forest. That’s over 498,000 acres (more than 20,000 kilometers for you weirdos) of forests, caves, canyons, and God knows what else. I’ve already booked my hotel. Can’t wait.
James Scott Byrnside 