River To River Trail Thru Hike: Trail Summary

After editing together the entire thru-hike series, I felt my interpretation of the trail was a bit skewed by the stresses I was enduring at the time. With enough time away from the trail, I decided to reflect on things with a fresh perspective and more objectively summarize the thru-hike experience.
The last thing I would want is for my videos to discourage anyone from considering a thru-hike of the River to River trail and hopefully this summary video will aid in alleviating those concerns.
#backpacking #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikinglife #hikingadventures #thruhike #rivertorivertrail #shawneenationalforest #r2r #illinois #illinoishiking #southernillinois #hammocklife #hammockcamping

[@HikingWithShawn]

I'm a board member of the River to River Trail Society. Your feedback is important, and I'm going to mention it to the board. I do agree that the blazes can be confusing at times., especially at forks and such. The Shawnee National Forest was a horse forest for a long time. Now, it's gearing more toward hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrian users together. But to give credit to the horse people, we have over 400+ miles of trail in the Shawnee and that trail would had never been established without horseback riders. But the horse-damaged areas are rough. That's no joke. Luckily, groups like Backcountry Horseman and STC are doing things to try to make the trails better. A lot of work has been going at High Knob for example. That area has really needed attention for a long time. The road walking can be a buzz kill for some, but because of all the private property, it's the only way to accomplish it. Some of the trail you hiked on was private property where landowners have partnerships with public land management officials. I think more businesses along the trailhead areas would be nice. More cabins, B&Bs, Warm shower sites, general stores, etc. I hope one day that happens. Hey - I suggest you two section hike the R2R and go on the trails that fork away from the main trail. There is a lot of Shawnee that you didn't see. Bell Smith Springs. Little Grand Canyon. Snake Road. Indian Point. So much more. Definitely come back and see us! We have loads to offer!

[@BigFatHike]

Sariah and I have hiked Garden of the Gods, Giant City, Ferne Clyffe, Rim Rock and Lusk Creek multiple times over the years and enjoy the Shawnee area immensely. As individual parks, there's plenty to do and explore for sure.
I probably should have mentioned in this summary that this was my first thru hike experience (not counting the 41 miles at Pictured Rocks Lakeshore) so I don't really have a comparison to accurately judge the R2R thru hike experience against. I know other longer trails also have some road walking, which is why I didn't feel that was a negative (outside of highway walking), but you're right about all the private property the trail must cut through and the difficulty that presents in establishing and maintaining the trail system.
I wish there were an easy answer to fix the problems, outside of a few million funding, but maybe as the years progress, more hikers will emerge in society and a stronger focus will be placed on improving parks and trail systems. That said, I enjoyed the challenge and learned a lot from this hike that I will apply to all future thru hike attempts. Thanks again for watching!

[@airun8702]

Thanks for sharing your experience with such honesty and transparency, it’s encouraging to hear how people work through struggles like you did on trail and then after the challenging experience is over a person can realize that experience made them a better person which makes doing a hike like that well worth it. I’ve section hiked the R2R a couple of times, I know what you mean about important places on the trail not having a blaze, one reason is that sometimes blazes get tore down by vandals, and I’ve seen more than once at intersections the tree with the blaze on it got blowed down, but yes the problem with the blazes hopefully will get resolved, thank you so much for your input on what you experienced, and congratulations on completing the trail!

[@HomeAtLast501]

I'm in Ohio, and I want to recommend the Manistee National Forest in Michigan. Gorgeous.

[@HomeAtLast501]

I'm in my mid-fifties, and when I was 26 I lost 45 pounds in 3 months. I did this by changing my eating habits permanently --- not going on a short-term diet to lose weight. I found the key to doing this was to get off of all processed foods, and instead to only eat food in its natural state. So, NOTHING with sugar added, no preservatives, no desserts, no packaged foods, no fast food whatsoever.
I also had to set standard portion sizes for myself. So my new eating habits were the following:
- PROTEINS: no protein for breakfast, 2.5-3.0 ounces of protein per meal for lunch and dinner
- GRAINS: 2 servings of whole grain per meal (ie, the caloric equivalent of 2 slices of bread, about 225/250 calories
- FRUITS & VEGGIES: as many fruits and veggies as I want
I found that exercise had very little impact on my weight loss, it was all about what I ate. In fact, at the time I was running 4-5 days per week, and I actually cut down to 2-3 days when I changed my eating habits, and still lost all that weight very quickly.
The key is that by not eating sugar and refined grains, and not eating preservatives, it stabilized my blood sugar, so I didn't get cravings. My hunger stabilized.
Additionally, by eating so many fruits and vegetables I was getting so many nutrients that this deminished my hunger, AND it gave me TONS of energy.
It was life-changing.
For what it's worth.
Oh, I also don't eat after 8:30 PM so I can give my digestive system a break. This was hard for the first few days, but I easily adapted after that.

[@Chickenfoothomestead]

Well, I'm bummed out to hear about the conditions of the trails. It sucks getting off course, kind of a mental defeat after already being pretty wiped.

[@MikeycatOutdoors]

I didnt see any mention in the Cons about the monotony of the scenery at Lusk Creek or the hunter that shot towards you near Giant City or wherever that was. Im sure that latter one dampened your spirits on the trail while it was fresh in your mind. (Short-term PTSD)
Overall, this one is a more rose colored glasses take on things. Its kinda like looking back on childhood family vacations...you remember the neat stuff and forget about the long boring drives, getting motion sickness, and the sibling bickering in the backseat for 12 hours. "Are we there yet?" Lol.
But yeah, the trail markers do suck in places along the trail. Without avenza, a hiker would be SOL if they miss a turn.
You have a good cardiovascular system to do 15 miles a day with a 30lb loaded pack. Did you ever suffer from hikers gut? (Diarrhea or constipation)
Wheres the next adventure? Springer to Katahdin? 😉

[@BigFatHike]

I didn't include Lusk Creek because I felt it was just nitpicking. I've hiked Lusk Creek in the past and it's full of interesting sights (just not so much on the R2R trail). I thought about including the hunter taking a shot at me, but that wasn't so much the trail as it was bad timing.
The only two consistent things on this thru-hike was the pain and my bowel movements, lol!
My wife and I are doing another section of the AT in April (Winding Stair Gap to Fontana Dam). If by next fall I end up with a bunch of time to take off from work I might try another thru-hike.

[@MikeycatOutdoors]

@@BigFatHike My daughter and I hiked the trail near Clingman's Dome and a 3.5-4 mile section (7-8 mi out & back) of the AT from Newfound Gap to Icewater Spring Shelter a couple of years ago. It's been a dream of mine to do an AT thruhike attempt since I first started thinking about it in 2015 and really thinking about it in 2017. My first taste of the trail was in 2018 when I hiked the entire "width" of the trail near the parking lot at newfound gap. Lol.
I gained weight and high blood pressure from working 3rd shift for a couple of years and need to get back into shape (although round is a shape, just not the shape I want to be. Lol) I led a bunch of cub scout hikes since 2016 until this year and started my YT channel during the pandemic as motivation for weight loss/cardio fitness and getting back to nature more. I've been doing overnighters in Missouri and in the Shawnee to learn what works and what doesn't. I'll probably do the full R2R sometime (instead of day hikes on it) as prep for the AT. For me, PTO is my limiting factor, as are kiddos and a wife that has sciatica and 70 hr work weeks. 😫
I enjoyed watching the series, rants and all. It reflects the non sugar coated feelings, fears, and unforeseen issues that arise on trails. Good luck with your next hiking endeavors. Thanks for posting these. 👍💯🍸🥳

[@morph2011]

You might want to see a doctor and check your blood glucose. Dry mouth and getting up multiple times to urinate at night might be warning signs. Just my opinion I’m not a doctor. Congratulations on your weight loss.

[@BigFatHike]

@@morph2011 I actually see a lot of doctors every year due to an unrelated cist in my pituitary gland and because of my weight gain, they did a series of blood and stool tests to check for diabetes. My A1C is always within normal ranges and consistent as a clock, much to their surprise.
The frequent urination occurs the first night of being out on trail because I'm passing all the caffeine I've consumed from iced tea, which is my drink of choice (unsweetened, of course 😏). After that, I'm not taking in caffeine anymore and I only urinate once or twice a day going forward.
Considering I weigh over 300 lbs and hiking an average of 15 miles a day it's not much of a stretch to assume that one gallon of water a day simply isn't enough for me. In order for me to not become dehydrated, I'd most likely need to cut way back on my tea consumption before heading out on trail and stop at more water sources than I have in the past.
Keeping myself from rushing through the trail is my next big hurdle to overcome. If I can tackle that successfully, I know I'll have a much better experience. Thanks for watching!

[@MikeycatOutdoors]

1st to watch and 1st to comment. Woohoo! Be back in 30 minutes. 😁