Touch of Nature was conceived in 1949 to create an outdoor education curriculum for the university, and SIU later expanded the educational opportunities and became a pioneer in offering therapeutic outdoor recreation opportunities for people with disabilities. In fact, the Special Olympics Program's roots began on this property. In 1972, the National Park Service named Touch of Nature a National Environmental Center Landmark.
Touch of Nature's goal is environmental education through experiential learning and exploration, all taking place on its 3100 acres of rolling hills, lush forests, and picturesque lakefront as seen in this photo of Little Grassy Lake taken at "The Ledges." The wildness of this area is emphasized by their immediate neighbors: Giant City State Park, Ferne Clyffe State Park, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, and Panther Den Wilderness Area. This place is truly not only a touch of nature but also a touch of heaven!
Here's another photo of Little Grassy Lake, this one taken near the beach and canoe/kayak launch.
Our job was to expand the center's growing trail system as well as assist in developing its newest outdoor program area which offers a dozen or so raised wooden decks like this for tents...
...as well as this gathering place (called Raccoon Circle) with its wooden seating around a campfire for programs. Here's what existed when we arrived...
...and by the end of the week, a drainage problem had been corrected, gravel had been placed over the clay floor...
...the center campfire pit had been created, and pieces of flat sandstone that were carried from a nearby creek bed were being artistically placed to provide a solid floor.
We also dug out part of the adjacent hillside to create a level clay pad for a planned outdoor kitchen facility which will be used to prepare meals for the campers who will be staying here...
...and then gravel was added to give the kitchen a stable floor.
But our primary function was to build trails to the tent pads and also to extend the existing Ledges Trail which will take hikers deeper into this magnificent forest. We hiked about a mile to where the trail ended...
...and then worked on the arduous task of digging with Pulaskis and McLeods to remove topsoil and reach the sturdy clay beneath, thus fashioning sustainable trail tread that will stand up to the wear and tear of hikers but not be washed away or damaged by rainfall...
As is evident in these photos, the scenery is drop-dead gorgeous and provided a mighty fine work environment to say the least! Even the weather cooperated with sunny dry days and temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s.
Can you think of a more scenic place for your daily lunch break and rest breaks?
In the next two photos, you get glimpses of Little Grassy Lake in the background. The trail will continue to follow the shoreline for the next few miles as the trail is extended, and will eventually reach the wilderness area on the other shore of the lake.
Our reward was a feeling of pride and accomplishment when we hiked back to camp on the beautiful new hiking trail we spent hours building as seen in these next photos. The final step was to "naturalize" the trail. The top soil that was removed was distributed over a large area and then we gathered leaves and downed branches and placed them over the bare ground to achieve a natural look on both sides of the new trail tread...
The last day we cleaned our tools in Little Grassy Lake before hiking back to the lodge to clean ourselves...
On these Volunteer Vacations, we volunteers usually have to prepare our own meals and clean up afterwards, but Touch of Nature used their cafeteria staff, giving us a much appreciated break from food preparation. And the food was good! A heartfelt thanks from all of us to all the food service staff!
Friday, our final evening together, we were taken to nearby Giant City State Park Lodge for their famous all-you-can-eat chicken and catfish dinner. (I had eaten here 20 years ago after backpacking in the Shawnee National Forest with my sons, and yes, the meal was just as wonderful this time!) The lodge building was one of many built by the CCC back in the 1930s.
These volunteer work projects are not all work -- there is also a field trip to experience some nearby area of special note. First, they took us to the Giant City Visitor Center to see the exhibits and two short films. The second outing was a canoe trip through the Northern-most cypress and tupelo swamp in the USA -- the Cache River State Natural Area.
Who knew that Illinois even had a swamp, much less such a magnificent swamp to paddle???
Our leader, Steve, is a naturalist as well as a lifelong resident of the area, and he provided a running commentary explaining all that we were seeing as we paddled.
Here's a beautiful stand of tupelos...
Steve is a passionate ambassador for the outdoors and a professional educator dedicated to getting people of all ages out into Nature and teaching them about the wonders and beauty and peace of the natural world, and more importantly, about the beauty and wonder of themselves and how we all can find inner peace through Nature. He is a raconteur extraordinaire who effortlessly entertains by weaving together ukulele, song, stories, history, science, philosophy, psychology, and humor, and whose zany, outgoing personality draws people in and builds connections with adults as well as kids of all ages.
Our stalwart American Hiking Society volunteers:
Front row: Steve, Carol, Jane, Christine, and Diane
Back row: Al, Jim H., Josh, Jim D., Chuck, Vickie, and Yvonne
Our leaders for this project were Josh Jahnke, graduate assistant in environmental education, and Steve Gariepy, the environmental education program coordinator, whose vision, expertise, and organizational skills guide and define all this work. Josh expertly handled all the detail work preparatory to getting us there and then leading us on the project (when he wasn't attending classes.) A number of other student-staff members also joined us on various days, and all were helpful, knowledgeable, and dedicated to the outdoors and this program. SIU and Touch of Nature are rightfully proud of the work their staff combine to achieve! Thank you all!
I have 74 photos from our week available for viewing and downloading on Shutterfly here. Click on 2017 AHS Shawnee National Forest. You can see larger photos by clicking the larger box by Photo Size at the bottom. You can also download any photos you might want.
Here's a video of our week in the woods...
1 comment:
Great reading yoour blog post
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