May 21st - Hartford, Illinois

This was the day we finally started following the footsteps of the Lewis & Clark expedition! We drove about 30 miles to the Visitors Center at the Lewis and Clark Historic Site, which was the start/finish point for this Volksmarch.

We were surprised to see only 3 steps in the directions:

1. Depart the L & C Historic site via the front entrance and proceed across parking lot to the entrance road.
2. At entrance road, turn left on road a short distance to Levee Road, also known as the Confluence Trail, on your left. …Go left (south) on Levee Road and follow until you are within close proximity of the Insterstate Bridge. Distance is 3.3 miles. Checkpoint: what is the color of the bridge?
3. Reverse course and return to asphalt section of Confluence Trail that runs beside Levee Road and follow back to the L & C Historic Site.

This has got to be one of the simplest sets of directions we’ve run across! Essentially the trail was an out-and-back along the top of the levee, which gave a good view of the surrounding (flat!) countryside. You can see the confluence point in the distance, but for most of the walk you are walking beside a commercial barge canal. We were astonished to see two triple-wide barge units passing (barely) in the canal. Since they were both moving at a snail’s pace, it was rather like watching hippos dance (think “Fantasia”).

For folks who will be walking this trail, I’d like to stress that there is absolutely no water, shade, or restrooms available at any point. In the summer it would be important to wear a hat, use sunscreen, carry water, and use the very nice restrooms at the Visitors Center. While in the Visitors Center, make sure to see the short movie that is shown every half-hour and tour the exhibits on the Lewis and Clark expedition. I particularly enjoyed a cutaway model of the keelboat that the expedition used to get to the Mandan villages during the first year. The cutaway gave a good idea of how everything was stowed beneath decks and some of the displayed implements, such as the sextant and telescope, were very pretty brass instruments.

The museum is currently constructing a full-scale replica of the five log buildings and stockade that Clark built and used for preparing for the journey in the winter of 1803 to 1804. This replica is scheduled to be finished December of 2003 when it will be used for a re-enactment of the arrival of the members of the expedition. That certainly would be fun to watch. I wonder if they will re-enact the departure of the expedition up the Missouri on the following May 14, or perhaps other events? I think it would be a hoot to come and redo these walks during these re-enactments.

Seeing the movie and reading everything in the museum took a bit of time, but it was well worth it. What with stopping off for lunch on our way back we didn’t return to camp until late in the afternoon and camp chores took up the time until dinner. Altho we are tenting we are certainly using the electricity at our site. At one time I was using 4 outlets to recharge the telephone and camera battery set, and to power the cooler and the computer. Certainly this style of camping is a long way from the backpacking of my youth, but on the other hand we are attempting to do this for six to eight weeks at a time. Certainly it all helps us enjoy our trips more.

While Monika was playing the dulcimer for “Die Gedanken Sind Frei” which has a lot of high notes, a male cardinal flew into the tree right above us and started chirping for all he was worth. This continued for several minutes, and he was clearly singing or scolding right at us. We finally concluded he thought we were challenging him for his territory and he was trying to scare us away. I imagine the overtones from the dulcimer somehow triggered him into perceiving the singing of a competing male. Other birds were also chirping and flitting about, so this also might have just been coincidence, but I don’t think so.