It's our latest adventure....: Johnson Shut Ins State Park

We headed south about 100 miles from St. Louis to the Johnson Shut Ins State Park for some unplugging and nature immersion therapy. The park has been rebuilt after a billion gallons of water blasted through a ruptured reservoir wall and scoured a path to bedrock through mountainside earth and forest in 2005.

These dolomite glades have always been one of my favorite places in Missouri. There are several cool places to explore and hike within 15-20 miles of each other. Elephant Rocks is a short drive and Taum Sauk Mountain is a stones throw away. There are about 40 miles of the Ozark trail in this area and offer opportunities for all ages and varying degrees of difficulty.

We encountered a couple of fellas on the trail that seemed a bit out of place and were talking about rock flipping (off trail) and collecting scorpions. I wonder if they are poachers or just young unaware men that aren't even conscious of the harm they inflict on the glade and it's ecosystem. Lizards, snakes, tarantulas, and scorpions find refuge under these loose rocks, only to be ripped from their homes by flippers and transferred to a dark, cold terrarium to endure a slow, lingering death.

The locust and frogs were sweet music to my ears. Ticks, mosquitoes and other no-see-ums were a nuisance but tolerable. We had great weather on Sunday so we headed out for a hike. We spotted an otter, box turtles, a season of Summer Tanagers, a Vireo, Painted Bunting, some very vocal Warblers and a few creepy crawly's on the forest floor.

Severe storms moved in on our last night and we were paid a visit from the camp host and ranger to remind us to seek shelter in the camp bath house. Lisa and I talked about how to get Purle, Marvel, Itsy and Clive to the bath house if necessary.