River to River Trail Thru Hike: Full Series // A 161 Mile Journey Across Shawnee National Forest
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- #thruhike #rivertorivertrail #shawneenationalforest
On May 15-21th, 2021, I completed my solo thru hike journey of the River to River Trail across Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois. This was the most daring physical challenge I had embarked on yet, where I pushed myself to walk 161 miles from the shores of Mississippi River to the Ohio River in just 7 days.
I hope you enjoyed the sights and sounds of this beautiful area that I am so grateful I got to experience and film!
Please subscribe for more thru hiking adventures to come!
Day 1-7 Details:
(Note: I used the REI Hiking Project App for my navigation of this trail, and all mile marker distances are reflected from its database.)
Day 1:
-23.31 miles traveled
-Camped at mile marker 137.69
-Campsite Coordinates: Lat: 37.588950 Lon: -89.311916
Day 2:
-22.82 miles traveled
-Camped at mile marker 114.87
-Campsite Coordinates: Lat: 37.584218 Lon: -89.095966
Day 3:
-25.67 miles traveled
-Camped at mile marker 89.2
-Campsite Coordinates: Lat: 37.480416 Lon: -88.937716
Day 4:
-23.62 miles traveled
-Camped at mile marker 65.58
-Campsite Coordinates: Lat: 37.482766 Lon: -88.688121
Day 5:
-23.04 miles traveled
-Camped at mile marker 42.54
-Campsite Coordinates: Lat: 37.536968 Lon: -88.501675
Day 6:
-22.66miles traveled
-Camped at mile marker 19.88
-Campsite Coordinates: Lat: 37.600558 Lon: -88.358938
Day 7:
-19.88 miles traveled
-Link to my GPS to search for my route from this day: share.garmin.c...
Main Gear Used on this trip:
-Zpacks Duplex
-Waymark Lite 50L Frameless UL Backpack
-Thermarest Neoair Uberlite
-Western Mountaineering Summerlite Sleeping Bag
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JoJo is my mother.. I can’t wait to go to coffee this morning at camp and show her this video of your journey!! Thank you so much for the shout out! Happy trails bud!!
That is so cool!! Thanks for letting me know about the JoJo connection! Please tell her hello and thank her again for helping me out!! Really appreciate you watching and showing your mom the video too. I hope to visit the Shawnee again soon. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already! Happy Trails!
Very well done. This is the first video I’ve seen on this trail. As I pondered and prayed about which you tube of it to watch first, I felt impressed to choose this one. I’m so glad I did! Thanks for sharing the journey! It was very exciting to go through it with you. I admire how you worked through the challenges but, didn’t let it detour you. You didn’t quit, no matter how tough it got. And the lessons! Thanks for sharing from the heart. They were in-valuable! I lead a Women’s hiking group in the Hoosier State. Need to branch out to my Illinois roots and explore this trail. Thanks again! May God bless all you set your hands to do!
Wow, thank you so much for this incredibly kind and thoughtful comment on my River to River Thru Hike Series! Your words are very touching and encouraging to me. It helps reaffirm why I hike trails such as this one and make the videos I release on this channel- to connect with others and inspire them to enjoy Creation and challenge themselves to do things they didn't think they were capable of! Please let me know if you ever decide to do any of the R2R and want some help planning- those 161 miles made quite an impression on my memory haha! Thanks again for watching, comment, and subscribing (if you haven't already). God Bless You!
Beautiful❤
Thanks for watching! :)
I really enjoyed the video, great presentation. I ride my horses on the r2r trail and surrounding trails, usually from High Knob Camp. Great pictures and putting the descriptions of plants and places was very enjoyable 😉
Hey thanks so much for tuning in and leaving such a thoughtful comment! I had such a great time on this thru-hike, the R2R will always hold a special place in my heart. I loved the High Knob area, I can tell why it is a favorite among horse riders! Thanks again, and be sure to subscribe if you have not already to stay in touch!
That was a serious journey. This is stuff that great memories are made of!! Thanks for sharing. Enjoy the trails and stay safe!
Yes it was! Despite all the difficulty and challenges, this is a trip that I will never forget and am so glad it is captured in video form for me to always return to with gratitude. Thanks for watching and for your support! Hope you have a great weekend!
An amazing accomplishment. Your videography dramatically shares the beauty and challenge of the trek. Well done! Thanks for taking us along.
We enjoyed this series, one episode at a time, which added an old-fashioned viewing anticipation. What close ups would we see? What vistas? What basic pleasures of backpacking would we find? What dangers? What life lessons would come from the struggles and joys of the miles? With excitement, we would set out on the next day with hope for our beloved star.
Exciting, beautiful, real.
Solo, but not alone.
Klondoogie. Amen.
Well said. While I was both on the trail and revisiting the footage afterwards, I also felt this anticipation I was in a foreign, new place, and afterwards the time away from the miles made everything new and fresh again. I hope to continue to apply this discipline of using the ebbs and flows of life to grow and learn, whether underneath the leafy canopy, or trying to make the mundane of life a holy effort.
Thank you for your viewership, your support, and most of all, your friendship. Heck, you're family! Peace and love to you and yours. Shine and LahDuska!
“...discipline of using the ebbs and flows... ...a holy effort.” ✨
I would absolutely love to find a good group of hikers to enjoy this trip with
I hope you can find a group to do it with sometime! It was one of the best hiking experiences I’ve ever had, even though
It was very difficult. Thanks for watching!
@BluegrassBackcountry yeah I watched the video you recommended and your a tough walker buddy lol it was a beautiful trail you did ..the river to river hasalways been on my bucket list
@@matthewlambert8789 thanks for taking the time to watch man! Yeah I pushed myself harder than I ever did on this trip. I’ve got another 170 mile trip planned for this fall in New Hampshire and I’ve got a lot of training to do before I can say I’m even close to the shape I was in for this River to River trip. Thanks again for tuning in! Be sure to subscribe to stay in touch!
Thank you for sharing your journey. I plan to do the R2R East to West in late April to early May 2023. Your videos will certainly help.
Thank you so much for watching! Please let me know if I can help in any way with your upcoming thru hike of the R2R next year in terms of planning, campsites, etc. I am happy to help! Be sure to subscribe to stay in touch! Happy hiking!
I definitely wanna do this river to the river, but I know it takes a large amount of rations preparation, and packing properly..love this channel you got my sub
Great videos and I'm not sure if you remember but I got the chance to meet you at the Lirley Trailhead as you left the Cedar Creek area.
Thanks so much for watching, Shawn!! Yes I remember meeting you, it was a pleasure! Congrats on all your success with your TH-cam channel and beyond, let me know if you ever visit Kentucky and want a guide, would love to hike together sometime!
You should get some snake boots ot raps to put around you legs so you,ll be safer next trip.
Thanks for the tips, I'll keep that in mind the next time I am in snake country! Thanks for watching :)
Are you wearing gortex salwea?
Good eye! Yes I was - definitely a little overkill for this trail, but I have had bad luck with trail runners (namely Altra Lone Peaks) giving me bad foot/heel pain, so I will take the added weight on my feet and less breathability for more ankle/foot support. They are great! Thanks for watching!
At 36:55 what waterfall is that?
Thanks for watching! I’m not 100% confident, but I think it might be called “Bork’s Falls”.
Try some fishing along the trail
I definitely would love to return and do some fishing along some of the trail, I saw some great fishing hole opportunities. Thanks for watching! Dont forget to subscribe!
Seems like not many people thru hike that trail so there isn't much support or people to meet
It’s definitely less than say somewhere like the AT, but there are more R2R thru hikers than you may think! There are several R2R Facebook groups I follow and I see people finishing a thru hike quite often. Thanks for watching!
I'm sorry, but JoJo gave you a lot of bad information. Williams Hill is 150' higher than High Knob and is in the Shawnee. She also gave you bad information about the Battery Rock leg. You also have other mis-information in your video.
I appreciate you taking the time to watch and bring these things to my attention. It is hard to fact chat check while covering the amount of miles I was per day, so I was taking people at their word. Do you have the information to share (websites, books, etc) about Williams Hill and the Battery Rock section? Would love to know more.
It would have been great without the crispy bacon comment about someone’s pot bellied pig
It was all in jest! I was quoting one of the greatest news bloopers of all time
th-cam.com/video/pMA3x-bc8iM/w-d-xo.html