Sand Ridge State Forest

Rick, Nick & I went off for a much need weekend trip to Sand Ridge State Forest near Forest City, IL.  I can say this, the name does not lie about "sand", we might as well have went to Indiana Dunes... But it was still a good trip.  We didn't quite make the whole yellow loop, but we did see a good portion of the park. We started at the ranger station and hiked the yellow trail counter-clockwise, spending Friday night at BC2, before heading north on Saturday.

It rained early Saturday morning and this was the first time out with the new tent, I was a little worried, but it held up no problem! (Go Tarptent!)  The 3 man tent got a little cozy after Nick & Rick decided to avoid the tent walls during the rain... but as long as everyone stay's in their 3rd of the tent, it's really quite roomy. 

Hiking Saturday, through the never-ending sand, we headed north on the yellow trail and followed it around to BC10, stopping for lunch at the group campsite. Once at BC10, we decided to head south on the blue, brown and finally orange trails to camp at BC4, instead of following yellow around to BC6 as we had planned.   

It was strange to see cacti in Illinois, they were all over the place

Cooking dinner Saturday night

 All in all, a good trip, lots of new gear (my tent, Nick's pack) and old skills tested.  Now to just get these two to head out more than once every 8 years...