Champaign Ski and Adventure Club Trip and Outdoor Activity Reports April thru June 2026 Part 1 of 3

[Mike Metz]

To All,      Wow !   What a spring and early summer. We have been very busy.        On Friday April 10th 7 of us hiked a river trail at River Bend Park, just southwest of Mahomet. We were there to check out spring flora and fauna including a giant bloom of bluebells. We also saw and heard many returning local birds and a few still migrating. We checked out a giant log jam at the east end of the trail hoping the spring flooding might open it up. We hiked 3-4 miles and then went to Southpaw restaurant to eat.       On Sat. April 4th, four of us paddled the Salt Fork River, near Oakwood, a trip of about 11 miles.        On Sun. April 19th Anja and I joined Ginger Hundgren for a guided  hike at Mettler Woods, a beautiful Conservation Park a few miles west of Clinton,IL., and a couple more south of Rt. 10. There were about 15 of us.           On Tuesday April 21st  Doug Staske, Carl Crapse, and I, joined 3 of my favorite paddlers,  Tim White of Maroa,IL. Rob Lewis of Springfield, and Dan Faust of Pontiac, on a near perfect day on the Middle Fork River north of Kickapoo State Park. A trip of 13 miles.     On Sun. April 26th, !2 of us in 11 boats enjoyed a 10 mile river trip on the Mackinaw near Goodfield,IL.        On May,2nd, Anja and I joined Ginger Hundgren and around 10 others at Turkey Run State Park in Indiana for some hiking on some of our favorite trails. Most stayed in the Lodge Cabins, and we joined Terry Walker who graciously let us pitch our tent on his campsite. As if that wasn't enough, he also fixed us breakfast in the morning. On Sat. morning Anja and I arrived a bit late and therefore hiked by ourselves. We managed to coax our 13 year old yellow lab, Lisa , to hike wooded trails and a lot of stairs near the river for over six miles.  Terry Walker  [ I won't give up his age,] but he was impressive hiking over 8 miles.  Ginger and the others who we referred to as the youngsters, [ as they are more than 20 years our juniors ] amazingly hiked over 10. On Sunday, Anja and I joined the group for more hiking, but we had to turn back because a new ladder in a canyon, caused us to have to backtrack because we had our dog. Despite this, it was a fantastic weekend for all.        On Sat .,May 9th  8 of us made the journey to near West Salem, IN. for one of our favorite paddling trips on Big Walnut Creek. Big Walnut is very scenic and full of fast water and many rapids. It goes down fast though, and we rarely get to run it two years in a row.  We put in at a county park and were taking out at a very torn up place on Rt. 36. Big Walnut did not disappoint as we viewed and heard every type of bird imaginable, and turtles, snakes etc. There are also two  covered bridges to go under.  We also met five middle aged men from the area who were very avid canoeists. All had first class equipment and expensive canoes. They were very jovial and friendly. We met them at our lunch break and they may have actually had more river stories than us. [ Just river stories tho ].   They pulled out before us and we didn't see them till near the end. At the end of our fantastic trip, we were all faced with an almost insurmountable  take out as it had been washed out by years of flooding.  We looked at each other and wondered if we could really lift our boats up the bank.  All of a sudden the five men were there again and called for us to follow them to the next bridge 1 and 1/2 miles downstream. We sent three of our ladies to drive our trucks downstream and three of us towed their kayaks   The men went ahead and we followed blindly but they didn't disappoint. What great guys!   They were waiting at another covered bridge and helped us out.  A few minutes later our ladies showed up with our trucks and we had a great take out experience. So much better than what we would have had to do at our normal take out. We sure hope to run into these guys again.            On Sun. May 17th 8 of us paddled from 300E Vermillion co. to Oakwood Rd. 12 miles   We saw eagles and much litter at the take out. We cleaned up as much as possible. How can so many people want to trash such great places?????