Camp Ondessonk (
www.Ondessonk.com ), in Southern Illinois, functions all summer long as a youth camp, but in the other three seasons, it welcomes "grown up" campers, who come to participate in the numerous types of programming that is offered. I was there to attend a week-long Road Scholar (
www.roadscholar.org ) hiking program. I "survived" a week-long Road Scholar hiking program in Sedona, Arizona, in the spring, so I was ready for a similar challenge of exploring an area of the USA that was unfamiliar to me, yet only a five hour drive away!
After I traveled down the heavily wooded driveway at the entrance, the road opened up into a spacious area surrounded by beautiful green pastures, complete with grazing horses!
The first building I came to was labeled as the St. Noel Center. This was where the rooms were located for the Road Scholar program. The front of the building had a large wooden deck in front, with ramps available for rolling suitcases from the parking lot. This photo of the back of the building shows the decks that were adjacent to the bedrooms in the lodge.
My room had a welcome sign, with my name on it, and was MUCH more spacious that the rooms had been for the Road Scholar program in Sedona! In fact, it was more like a suite! The large front room could have slept ten people, and also included table, chairs, benches, and a closet. The room where I slept had a queen sized bed, night stand with lamp, table with chairs, elevated deck, and private restroom! There was also a "peep hole" in the door, so I could see what was in the hallway outside my room. Another plus was that free "wifi" was available in my room, so I could check on the outside world (if I so desired), via the Internet.
In contrast to the St. Noel lodging, the summer campers have a choice of tree houses or cabins. This photo shows some of the tree houses, which are accessed by a labyrinth of connecting catwalks. The treehouse units feature A-frame roofs, three closed sides, and are very rustic (i.e., they do not have electricity or water).
During summer camp, the units are like a family for the entire week, and attend activities together, compete in camp games, and build a sense of community. Since The Learning Channel on television has been having a show on treehouses this year, they need to make a visit to Camp Ondessonk, to see how well these units have withstood the test of time! (Camp Ondessonk started in 1959).
The various groupings of treehouse units each have their own fire circle, benches, picnic table, outhouse, and shower house. Our host told us that anyone of us who wanted to, were welcome to try an overnight in one of the treehouses, but none of the fourteen participants took him up on his generous offer of an "overnight in the outdoors" invitation!
The guy walking backwards in this photo, is Brian Croft, who is the Director for the Road Scholar programs at Camp Ondessonk. On the very first day, he led us in a hike around the property. The reason he is walking backwards (which we found out later), was so that he could access our level of physical fitness before we got out on the actual trails. His theory was that if any of us could not navigate this initial walk around the property, then we would definitely encounter problems in the week ahead!
This carved wooden sign along the way gives the story of how the camp got its name. "Ondessonk" is a Huron (Native American) word meaning "Bird of Prey". The name was given to a Catholic Jesuit priest that came to North America from France in the early 17th century, to bring the gospel to the Huron people. He wore a dark-colored robe and hood---which reminded the Indians of a bird---whenever he would flap his arms. Unfortunately, he was martyred during his missionary work, and so the camp was named to honor his memory. Likewise, many of the landmarks around the camp are named after Catholic missionary martyrs from the same time period.
This is the swimming area that is bustling with youngsters splashing about in the summertime. A zip line starts high above the adjacent tree line, and comes to a watery end in this same area. Once again, the Director invited us to try out the cold waters, by zipping down the line or the slide, and once again, there were no "takers"! I like ziplines, but not ones that land in chilly water in October!
Camp Ondessonk also has a very nice climbing tower, which is used at the camp to help youngsters "learn life-lessons, while ascending new heights." Their specialized Rock Camp includes detailed instruction in climbing technique, basic knots, and safety systems. When my son was becoming involved in rock climbing several years ago, I was happy to pay for a climbing course he took at Mt. Rainier in Washington. The more you know when you participate in a sport, the better off you are! ( That was also the time when I first became aware of an organization that I continue to support called, Solid Rock Climbers for Christ ---
www.srcfc.org ).
This lake serves as the separation boundary between the girls camp, and the boys camp, whenever coed summer sessions are scheduled. Counselors tell stories about "scary night creatures" that haunt the swinging bridge, that connects the two sides (which presumably will keep the separation of sexes, in tact, until dawn!)
The lake also has docks, set up for teaching kayaking and canoeing to the campers. Again, our Director invited us to go paddling, but we just didn't have time, with all the hiking we were doing every day!
The man shown walking across the swinging bridge in this photo, went back later and rode his mountain bike across it--- all the while shooting video of his ride! He showed it to us later, when we had gathered for supper, so that we could "oohh" and "aahh" over his adventure! ( There are numerous trails within the camp property that can be used by mountain bikers participating in scheduled events during the year ).
The bottom floor of the St. Noel center had this gathering place in front of the fire place, where the Road Scholars and staff, would meet, before breakfast, and again before supper, so as to get acquainted, rehash the day's activities, plus "frame" the activities for the day ahead.
It was nice to have white tablecloths, cloth napkins, and real china/silverware for all of our breakfast and supper meals in the St. Noel Center! I was also glad that Brian led the group in a "Moment of Silence" before our meals in the St. Noel Center. As a Registered Dietitian ( and a Christian ), I was intrigued to learn that a former U.S. Surgeon General, in his book about America's obesity problem, sighted studies that showed folks made healthier meal-time choices when meals were preceded by a "Moment of Silence". The results were the same, regardless of the religious belief of the study group participants. Once again, it shows the wisdom of Jesus, as he set the example of giving thanks to God, before a meal!
And the meals were delicious! One of my favorite meals was Prime Rib night! Plus, there was always ample salad to go with each meal, which merits a high score in my book!
Desserts were different for each night, but my favorite was "make your own ice cream" sundae, which included edible waffle bowls, and a variety of toppings!
This stone marker reminds those who see it, that Camp Ondessonk is a place where God's creation sings to the soul. Their Mission Statement says they desire to provide an environment that inspires physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth for individuals and groups through the appreciation and stewardship of nature. These four areas---physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual---are the same four areas, symbolized in the number "4" in the healthy living program I participate in, called "First Place 4 Health" (
www.FirstPlace4Health.com ). It is a good example of the Bible verse from Luke 2:52 that says "And Jesus grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man."
As the sun set on my first day at Camp Ondessonk, you can be sure that God's creation was singing to my soul! It was a day with "MILES OF SMILES"!! Tricia
On Tuesday, my Road Scholar hiking group boarded two vans, and drove to Ferne Clyffe State Park ( www.dnr.state.il.us ). Our first trail to explore in this park, was the Round Bluff Nature Reserve Trail. This area has been formally dedicated as a sanctuary for native plants and animals. It contains a high-quality sandstone glade and cliff communities, typical of the Shawnee Hills Natural Division in Illinois. It is a notable geographic feature, in that it is a small mesa, with cliffs rising to 110 feet.
At the entrance to the trail, we all lined up to put our hiking shoes through the foot brush.
As our shoes were being scraped of any noxious substances, we could read on the placard in front of us, that this practice was started to reduce the spread of exotic invasive species. 
The trail starts out on a gradual incline, beside a sandstone bluff, covered in moss, ferns, and other indigenous plants. Some members in our group were listening intently to identify the chirping birds we could hear in the tree tops high above us!
After a short distance, the group climbed up onto the sandstone bluffs, in an area with "step-like" ascents to the top. The taller people were very helpful to us shorter ones, who did not have legs long enough to take the "steps" in one giant stride!
Once we were all on top, we stopped to rest, and take a group photo. The Road Scholar staff from Camp Ondessonk were always very accommodating, when being handed about ten different cameras, to click the shutter on the camera of anyone who wanted the scene captured on their own personal camera. In addition, the staff members were carrying both a video camera, and still camera, to take photos of our adventure, for use as promotional marketing tools for future programs. If I had known I was going to be photographed so much, I would have planned my wardrobe a little better! My only goal had been to have lots of layers, as we were told it would be necessary to dress for temperature changes throughout the day. So, I had lots of layers, but none of them were matching! 
After climbing down from the top of the bluffs, we continued our hike around the base. There were many places where the dirt had eroded from beneath the cliff base, to create rock shelters. I can imagine these would have been suitable gathering/living spots for early humans who lived in this area.
And of course, there were more crevices to explore! I followed these guys up into one of the crevices (left photo), and posed for a photo (lower right hand corner), where the opening ended in a very tall and narrow passage, with no way out. After getting reports that the crevice was "somewhat unremarkable", about half of the group waited at the base of the bluff (upper right photo), while we quickly explored the area, and returned to the bottom.
One of the reasons I chose this particular Road Scholar program was because it was held in the Autumn, and I am a "leaf peeper"! I was able to photograph a few of the colored leaves of deciduous trees, but most of them were in the early stages of their color transitions.
After we completed the Round Bluff Trail, we progressed to the Big Rocky Hollow Trail, which is also within Ferne Clyffe State Park. Botanist Chris Benda pointed out this tree, that is still alive---despite having a hole all the way through it, big enough for his arm to pass into, so he could wave his hand on the other side!!
During rainy seasons, there is a waterfall flowing over this bluff. On the day were were there, however, the area was dry, enabling us to thoroughly explore the rock overhang, without getting wet!
There were very tall bluffs on either side of the "waterfall", and several in the party climbed up to a ridge above the falls to explore. I like to get humans in my photos, to help provide a scale of the relative size of the geographic features. I especially like my human beings to give the "uplifted arms victory symbol", to make it easier to spot them in the photo. Both Jean ( on the left ) and Brian ( on the right ), were kind enough to grant my request, as I photographed them from a long distance away. One of my acquaintances that regularly photographs climbers on El Cap at Yosemite, told me it is near impossible to see the climbers, who appear the to be the size of ants, in a long shot of El Cap----unless they have on a brightly-colored tee-shirt! All our group made it down safely from their climbs, and we enjoyed an outdoor lunch (complete with a warm fire in the steel fire pit!), in the picnic area located near the entrance of Big Rocky Hollow Trail. (I was glad this location also had well-maintained women/men's toilets, too!)
From Ferne Clyffe State Park, we drove to hike a section of the River to River Trail. The name refers to a popular trail that goes between the Mississippi River and the Ohio River. 
Our group did not hike the entire section of the River to River Trail, as we were headed to explore the Panther Den Wilderness area of the Shawnee National Forest ( www.fs.usda.gov/shawnee ). Botanist Chris Benda explained to us that the designation "Wilderness Area" means no mechanized traffic is allowed (plus a long list of other criteria, that I cannot remember). 
The vertical walls of this area were AMAZING!! Our trail co-ordinator "let us loose" to explore on our own, with directions to meet back at the bottom in an hour. Even though I was trying to keep up with the leader, he was soon out of sight, as there were so many "crooks and crannies" to dart into!
Every now and then, I would come out into an opening, and spot some of the group in the distance! I had a whistle on my backpack, so I knew that if I got completely lost, I could make myself heard, if necessary!
One of the Camp Ondessonk ( www.Ondessonk.com ) staff, told us about yet another crevice he would lead anyone through that wanted to try it. He encouraged us to give it a try, saying he had successfully led an 80-year old gentleman through it earlier in the year. I entered the crack, and saw staff member, Johnny, standing at what I thought was the end of the pass-thru. However, what I found out after I got inside so far as to be totally committed to finish, was that Johnny was standing at a space where the rocks made you turn 90 degrees, in order to proceed to the exit.
This second half of the "crevice expedition" is where I encountered my biggest obstacle, and literally got STUCK!! It was only by these guys holding onto the tree outside the exit, and pulling really hard on my arm, that my adipose was able to get sufficiently compressed to make it through! I joked later that I was beginning to think I was going to have to phone a surgeon to give me "emergency liposuction"! Apparently, my dilemma was enough to discourage any of the other women from trying this one!
After getting stuck in the dark crevice, I was ready to see some BLUE SKY, and that is exactly what happened, as our group drove to the Blue Sky Vineyard ( www.blueskyvineyard.com ), to see where our Road Scholar director had married his lovely bride. It was a very picturesque setting, and easy to understand why someone would choose it as a wedding venue!
To help us interpret all the natural flora and fauna we had seen, Chris Benda had visual aides during the evening, to put "written words" with the "spoken words" he had shared during our time together. I was thankful for this follow-up, and in a similar way, I am thankful for the "written words" in the Holy Bible that help us get to know God. I am using this example as a visual aid to help me learn one of my First Place 4 Health ( www.FirstPlace4Health ) memory verses. It says "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom..." Colossians 3:16 . Hopefully, these words I have written (with accompanying photos!) have created a spark of interest in exploring the places shown. Simply log on to www.southernmostillinois.com to start planning your own adventure, or check out www.RoadScholar.org for a pre-planned experience. Either way, I think you will see it is a place that can give you MILES OF SMILES!! Tricia
