State Park Fun

Today we took PB to visit Mom's favorite park. Indian Cave State Park is located 22 miles from home. Mom used to go hiking there nearly every weekend when she had big dogs. This was me and Banjo's first trip cause mom didn't think we would like hiking the trails. But we loved it! Banjo didn't ask to be carried a single time, he kept up with me the entire day. The park sits on 3,000 acres and has 20 miles of hiking trails.

When we drove through the park, Pink Baby got to sit up front so she could see better.

Me and Banjo sat in back, in our car seat so we could see out the window.

The first cool thing we saw was this old cabin in the woods. It is part of an exhibit. We were going to stop and get a closer look, but they had the gate locked. It's only open when they have reenactors there.

The next thing we saw was this view from the lookout platform. It overlooks the Missouri River. The same river PB road the Spirit of Brownville up when she left Tank in Kansas City.

Me and Banjo didn't like walking on the platform cause you could see through the boards and it was a long way down. It kinda freaked us out. Mom put us up on the bench so she could take our picture.

After leaving the lookout we walked down a nearby trail.

Along the way we found some pee-mail. There were lots of doggies in the park.

We walked and walked and walked some more. Then finally we got to the spot on the trail that mom wanted us to see. She said it was as pretty as she remembered. First, as seen from our point of view.

Then from mom's point of view.

After our hike, we drove down to the river where the Cave is located. Actually there are two caves. This one, which is small and goes back into the bluff a ways.

Here is a close up view of the entrance.

And then there is the main cave, a natural sandstone cavity, where the petroglyphs are located.

There was a sign, "No Pets", at the bottom of the stairs, but mom pretended she didn't see it and took us up with her. BOL

Here is PB sitting on the railing, with the cave wall behind her.

Due to all the modern graffiti, the petroglyphs are hard to see unless you know where to look. Mom has been there many times so she knew where to find them.

A bison, aka buffalo.

Two hooman profiles. Can you see them both?

Little stick people, another bison and a turtle at the top, but mom cut its head off!

On the opposite end of the cave, there is this mysterious formation. They believe this "chimney" is possibly man made. The park people filled it in with rocks many years ago to prevent people from hiking to the top and falling in.

This picture shows the size of the sandstone cavity. We were at the chimney end looking back over to the petroglyph side.

When we came down from the cave, mom took us to see the river close up. The Big Muddy, as it is called by locals, in its original natural meandering state was once the longest river in North America at over 2,540 miles in length. But nearly 72 miles of the river have been cut off in channeling, so it is now about the same length as the Mississippi River.

The Big Muddy is prone to flooding in the spring. Here is a tree with a high water mark. Looks like it's about 4-5' above the road.

I've probably bored you to death by now, so I will end this overly long post with a picture of Pink Baby and a warning sign.