Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks
By Jodie Toohey
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About this ebook
“White green moss grows
between copper, gold, and tan weathered lines drawn by
centuries of settled sediment
cut away by weather.”
Come along with Jodie Toohey as she hikes some of the trails in eastern Iowa’s and northwestern Illinois’ state parks. Part guidebook, part memoir, this collection of park descriptions and poems will take you on a beautiful, nature-filled journey through the Midwest and mid-life.
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Versed in Nature - Jodie Toohey
Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks
Jodie Toohey
WORDSY WOMAN PRESS | DAVENPORT
Copyright © 2017 by Jodie Toohey
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
Jodie Toohey/Wordsy Woman Press
www.jodietoohey.com
Book Layout © 2017 BookDesignTemplates.com
Cover: Author Photo, Wildcat Den State Park stylized by Renée Bushá, Sliced Moon Designs
Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks/ Jodie Toohey—1st ed.
ISBN-13: 978-0692860984 (Wordsy Woman Press)
ISBN-10: 0692860983
Contents
Maquoketa Caves State Park
Wildcat Den State Park
Wapsipinicon State Park
White Pines Forest State Park
Matthiesen State Park
Lacey-Keosauqua State Park
Mississippi Palisades State Park
Pikes Peak State Park
Lake MacBride State Park
Apple River Canyon State Park
Starved Rock State Park
Backbone State Park
Bellevue State Park
Palisades-Kepler State Park
Morrison-Rockwood State Park
Lake Darling State Park
Lowden State Park
Geode State Park
Lake Keomah State Park
Acknowledgements
Maquoketa Caves State Park
10970 98th Street
Maquoketa, Iowa
563-652-0061
The caves at Maquoketa Caves State Park were discovered in the 1830s. The park’s land was first purchased in 1921 but wasn’t built up with most of its facilities until the 1930s, thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during America’s Great Depression. One of the projects included the walkway through Dancehall Cave, which is located among the six trail miles through the park. Various additional caves in the park are accessible by crawling. The park contains more caves than any other Iowa state park. Attractions in addition to the caves include limestone formations, bluffs, shelters, and picnic facilities.
Source: Iowa Department of Natural Resources;
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks-Rec-Areas/Iowas-State-Parks/ParkDetails/ParkID/610127
Maquoketa Caves State Park, Iowa
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Buds swell in April trees.
Fungus like snow,
wedged deep in tree bark grooves.
Half walnut like pig snout
encased in clay.
Tree roots emerge as stairs
into deep ravine.
Wind rushes through bare limbs.
Upper thighs burn from
steep leaf-blanketed incline.
Rain rattles on dry underbrush,
but I cannot feel it on my skin.
Rock walls carpeted in new spring green.
Dance hall devoid of music.
It rains harder.
We sit in the cave’s mouth
arched high above
and watch as it trembles.
Slabs teeter in a snapshot;
it’s ready to fall over.
Trees cracking and creaking.
He says he’d like to own land
like this one day.
I agree, even though I know
I’d turn bored with it
as with everything else
which stays the same too long.
Our nest near empty,
we rush to our minivan,
to relieve our aging bladders
and find a signal for radar.
The greens and