After dark I stood on the road outside our cabin and played the songs of Barred Owls, Great Horned Owls, Screech Owls, Whip-poor-wills, and Chuck Will's Widows. Barred Owls responded first followed by Great Horned Owls. Screech Owls were the last to respond.
The next morning after breakfast we walked the park's Indian Creek Trail, hiking through mature, climax-deciduous forest. We spotted a Tulip Poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, that was well over 100-feet in height, the tallest tree species that occurs east of the Mississippi River, that is if they germinate and grow in optimum habitat--forested valleys where more moisture is available.
While crossing a creek with crystal clear water, Lonnie asked me why we don't have streams that clear where we live. The answer involves two factors: first, streams in the Shawnee National Forest are more likely to have rock bottoms; and second, forests, I learned in college, produce the cleanest runoff water. Rain drops first strike a succession of tree leaves on their way to the forest floor where they land with less impact on a layer of leaves from the previous growing season. In comparison, much of the watershed of the Kaskaskia River, which runs through our home county, is farmland with lots of exposed soil that finds its way into streams, rivers, and lakes.
Later in the day we visited the Bald Knob Cross near Alto Pass. Throughout the day we passed through extensive mature forestlands, which I find spiritually cleansing. I found myself missing the relatively pristine mature forests of the Shawnee National Forest, where I spent a lot of time while attending SIU-Carbondale.
