emlock  liffs  ide

It's early Sunday morning and riders gather at the Boonville Cafe.  The main topic for conversation is Denny Richard's new ride, a Suzuki VStrom 1100.

All agree that Denny has a great bike, but then there's the need for coffee.  Time for a head count; Rick, Barry, Nature Dave, Rick, and Denny, but no Chris.  Oh, that's right...his company sent him to New York for several weeks of fun.  Understanding how much Chris, dedicated employee that he is, would rather be working than riding, we just had to send him a sign of our sympathy.

Half way to our destination it was time to get rid of some coffee...I mean, stretch our legs and what better place than Huffman's Mill Bridge.

Nature Dave helped build this bridge in 1863 at a cost of $5,700.  The bridge had actually been in use until about five years ago when a bus full of orphans crashed through the wood floor killing all 28 children.  I'm kidding about the bus; just wanted to see if you were still reading the narrative or just looking at the pictures.  To continue...

At Hemlock Cliffs there were several waterfalls, interesting rock formation, blazed trails, and, well, cliffs with hemlock trees on them.

The only critters in this stream were crayfish and minnows.

Trails were well marked but trees that had fallen due to the recent ice storm presented a small problem for old guys like Rick.

Rick and Brian hike under another waterfall and boulder formation.  Anybody seen Denny lately?  Oh well... Having worked up a good appetite from the 1.5 mile hike, it was off to Marengo for a bite to eat.  After lunch Nature Dave took to the back roads from Milltown to English.

A flash of light.  Perhaps another brilliant idea from Nature Dave?  Not really, just the inside of the train tunnel near Taswell.

Checking things over from below.

A different perspective from above the tracks.  A hike back up the hill to the the bikes.  And did it ever feel good to sit down after all that walking and hiking.  What better way to end the day than to meander down to SR 62 and hit a few twisties on the long way home.

Nature Dave Godeke March 2009