Clifty Creek Natural Area

So, it's been awhile, too long.  What happened you may ask?  Soccer season has begun!  Our weekends have been busy with carnivals, soccer and college football.  Although the weather has been gorgeous, we have struggled to find time for a family hike.  I have a list of Missouri Natural Areas that I've been dying to explore and the one at Clifty Creek was on the top of my list.  We finally got a chance to check it out this past weekend.  It's located 6 miles northeast of Dixon, MO, which is a little over a 2 hour drive for us.  Well worth it!  There is a 2.5 mile loop trail that takes you through the forest most of which is along and above the creek.  Some of the trail gets a little near the edge of high cliffs, but not too scary, even with the kids.  We did keep Leah a little closer on those portions though.  It is a rugged hike, but I would say easier than many that we have done because of the elevation change.  The inclines were not too difficult for the kids, but I would recommend taking a left at the start to avoid dealing with the steeper inclines at the end of the hike.  (We went right)  O, and what makes the whole trip worth it and my reason for wanting to hike there, the massive natural bridge that the hike takes you to.  It is incredible!  Like something you would see at Arches National Park in Utah, right here in central MO.  The river was basically dry because we have had so little rain lately, but I would like to go back again maybe in the spring to see the area with some water in the creek.  As a family, we HIGHLY recommend checking out the area.  The trail was not busy, in fact we didn't see another sole on the trail, even on a sunny Saturday afternoon.  I didn't get quotes from the kids this time, but they both did the entire hike without help.  Leah got a little tired towards the home stretch, but she made it!  Without further ado, here are some photos from the hike. 

Clifty Creek Natural Area
Miles logged - 2.5
Total miles for 2014 - 10.55 (Yeah, double digits!)
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places-go/natural-areas/clifty-creek

The decision.  Left or right?  We went right. 

It's a little hard to see, but there is a dramatic drop off to the left with the river bed down below.

Beautiful trail through the woods.

A little water in the river.

Blake standing near a cliff.

Some signs of fall!

The natural bridge!

Checking out a rock that was engraved from when there is water in the river.

A view from the other side of the bridge.

Steps leading either to or from the natural bridge depending on which way you began the hike.

The trail continues.

Very well marked.

A box turtle we found on the trail.  He was very cute and not too scared of us.

Some boulders along the trail.

He's not mad, he is just trying to look tough.

Nice view.

A cute lizard sunning itself.

Lunch back at the car.  I think the hike was a success!

Turkey Ridge Trail

O.K. so we're not doing great on meeting our goal of 50 miles for the year.  However, it has been a really busy, fun summer.  We did another close-to-home hike last week at Rockwoods Reservation in Wildwood.  And, o' my are the ticks really bad this year!  So bad that I am actually going to use Deet on my kids next hike.  After baths that night, I noticed what looked like a bunch of little dirt spots on Leah's ankles.  Turns out that she had these teeny tiny almost microscopic ticks all over her ankles and elsewhere on her body.  We must have pulled 30 of them off of her and a few on Blake and us as well.  I don't know if we came across a nest or what, but it was miserable.  Leah was such a trooper letting us pull those off her.  Besides that, not one of our best hikes.  The kids were tired and the trail was not very interesting compared to others that we have done.  However, it would be great for a trail run.  Here are some photos from our adventure.

Turkey Ridge Trail
Rockwoods Reservation
Length - 2 miles
Time - 1 hr. 7 min.
Difficulty - 2.5
Blake "Medium"
Leah "Kind of hard"

Total miles for 2014 - 8.05

Which way to begin?

Leah found some good hiking sticks for herself.

An interesting rock

My family on the switchback ahead.

A rest spot.

Headless daddy.

A tree branch over the trail.  Nice spot for an awkward pose.

Running to the finish!

Rock City

This past weekend we packed up the car and headed to Nebraska for my husband's 20 year high school reunion.  Going to Nebraska is nothing new to this family, we do it many times every year to see family and for holidays, etc.  However, this time I wanted to make the drive a little more interesting.  So we road tripped to central Kansas instead of our usual get there as fast as you can route.  We headed out to Salina, Kansas and from there drove north to a little known park called Rock City.  Call me crazy, but I love Kansas scenery.  I love the rolling hills and the openness of the plains.  It was also a perfect cloud day, you know the kind that are scattered throughout the sky like puffy marshmallows.  Rock City, just southwest of Minneapolis, KS, is home to the largest collection of giant rock concretions in the world.  What is a concretion you may ask, check here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concretion  The best way to explain it is in the photographs, because of course I took lots of photographs.  Would I recommend this pit stop on a road trip, absolutely!  It isn't too far off of I-70 in Kansas, the kids loved to climb around on the rocks, a good place to stretch an play for a bit, the little gift shop is run by a very sweet lady who gave the kids popsicles and all of the gifts are very reasonable (kids gifts from $.25).  Here are some images from our trip through Rock City.

Time to run after a long car ride!

King of the mountain

Pets are allowed too!

My little rock climber.

Odd luck to catch the bird flying overhead.

A pensive moment.

Beautiful land, very well kept.

Run more!

There was also a nice prairie trail that lead to some more concretions.

"Lips" as named by the locals.

We called this one "lounge chair"

"Doughnut"

The nice lady handing out popsicles.