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    Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks
    Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks
    Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks
    Ebook76 pages33 minutes

    Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks

    By Jodie Toohey

    ()

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    About this ebook

    “White green moss grows
    between copper, gold, and tan weathered lines drawn by
    centuries of settled sediment
    cut away by weather.”

    Come along with Jodie Toohey as she hikes some of the trails in eastern Iowa’s and northwestern Illinois’ state parks. Part guidebook, part memoir, this collection of park descriptions and poems will take you on a beautiful, nature-filled journey through the Midwest and mid-life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJodie Toohey
    Release dateMay 25, 2017
    ISBN9780692860984
    Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks

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      Book preview

      Versed in Nature - Jodie Toohey

      Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks

      Jodie Toohey

      WORDSY WOMAN PRESS | DAVENPORT

      Copyright © 2017 by Jodie Toohey

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

      Jodie Toohey/Wordsy Woman Press

      www.jodietoohey.com

      Book Layout © 2017 BookDesignTemplates.com

      Cover: Author Photo, Wildcat Den State Park stylized by Renée Bushá, Sliced Moon Designs

      Versed in Nature: Hiking Northwest Illinois and East Iowa State Parks/ Jodie Toohey—1st ed.

      ISBN-13: 978-0692860984 (Wordsy Woman Press)

      ISBN-10: 0692860983

      Contents

      Maquoketa Caves State Park

      Wildcat Den State Park

      Wapsipinicon State Park

      White Pines Forest State Park

      Matthiesen State Park

      Lacey-Keosauqua State Park

      Mississippi Palisades State Park

      Pikes Peak State Park

      Lake MacBride State Park

      Apple River Canyon State Park

      Starved Rock State Park

      Backbone State Park

      Bellevue State Park

      Palisades-Kepler State Park

      Morrison-Rockwood State Park

      Lake Darling State Park

      Lowden State Park

      Geode State Park

      Lake Keomah State Park

      Acknowledgements

      Maquoketa Caves State Park

      10970 98th Street

      Maquoketa, Iowa

      563-652-0061

      The caves at Maquoketa Caves State Park were discovered in the 1830s. The park’s land was first purchased in 1921 but wasn’t built up with most of its facilities until the 1930s, thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during America’s Great Depression. One of the projects included the walkway through Dancehall Cave, which is located among the six trail miles through the park. Various additional caves in the park are accessible by crawling. The park contains more caves than any other Iowa state park. Attractions in addition to the caves include limestone formations, bluffs, shelters, and picnic facilities.

      Source: Iowa Department of Natural Resources;

      http://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks-Rec-Areas/Iowas-State-Parks/ParkDetails/ParkID/610127

      Maquoketa Caves State Park, Iowa

      Sunday, April 12, 2015

      Buds swell in April trees.

      Fungus like snow,

      wedged deep in tree bark grooves.

      Half walnut like pig snout

      encased in clay.

      Tree roots emerge as stairs

      into deep ravine.

      Wind rushes through bare limbs.

      Upper thighs burn from

      steep leaf-blanketed incline.

      Rain rattles on dry underbrush,

      but I cannot feel it on my skin.

      Rock walls carpeted in new spring green.

      Dance hall devoid of music.

      It rains harder.

      We sit in the cave’s mouth

      arched high above

      and watch as it trembles.

      Slabs teeter in a snapshot;

      it’s ready to fall over.

      Trees cracking and creaking.

      He says he’d like to own land

      like this one day.

      I agree, even though I know

      I’d turn bored with it

      as with everything else

      which stays the same too long.

      Our nest near empty,

      we rush to our minivan,

      to relieve our aging bladders

      and find a signal for radar.

      The greens and

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