River to River Trail

72 photographs · March 2022

The River to River trail runs between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, crossing 157 miles of Illinois hills and traversing countless waterways. It’s a challenging trail, often more designed for horse travel than human feet. After years of hiking and running sections of it, Allison and I hiked the whole trail, westbound, in a week in the early Spring of 2022.

More about the trail here: rivertorivertrail.net

Black-and-white photograph of a bar lined with liquor bottles, a photographer in a knitted hat reflected in the mirror behind it, camera raised to his eye.

Black-and-white photograph of a withered rose sheathed in ice, icicles hanging from its petals, standing in the split top of a weathered wooden post beside a road.

Black-and-white photograph of a closed brick storefront with a hand-painted sign reading "Town & Country" above papered windows and worn concrete steps.

Black-and-white photograph of a hooded hiker with a pack walking a gravel track beside bare trees, with power lines and a wire fence running to the horizon.

Black-and-white photograph of a cow standing in a bare winter pasture behind a wire fence, with two white buckets and the photographer's long shadow in the foreground.

Black-and-white photograph of a fallen log crusted with frosted moss and lichen, a few dry leaves caught along its ridge above the forest floor.

Black-and-white photograph of deep tyre and boot tread pressed into frozen mud, a thin skin of ice in one hollow and a dry leaf at the upper right.

Black-and-white photograph of a cut tree stump showing its growth rings, ringed by overlapping bracket fungus, against dark woodland behind.

Black-and-white photograph of a sheet of thin ice filling the frame, covered with crossing needle-shaped crystals over darker water beneath.

Black-and-white photograph of an old tin can with a cracked, peeling label wedged in the fork of a bare branch in winter woodland.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker in a cap and daypack climbing a muddy bank above a sunlit creek, gripping roots and fallen branches.

Black-and-white photograph of a tree with mottled, peeling bark rising from a knotted, hollowed base at the edge of a creek, with still water in the foreground.

Black-and-white photograph of the photographer's shadow falling across shallow water running over rock at the foot of a cracked, overhanging stone ledge.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a pack stepping across a wide, shallow rock-bedded creek, with bare trees and long shadows on the far bank.

Black-and-white photograph of a split, weathered wooden post in close view, its deep grain and cracks crossed by the diagonal shadow of a branch.

Black-and-white photograph of two wooden trail signs on a post reading "RIVER TO RIVER TR. NO. 001", "E'TOWN", "HISTORIC RT. 001E" and "BATTERY ROCK", among bare saplings.

Black-and-white photograph of a trail post carrying a routed sign for "RIVER TO RIVER TR. NO. 001" and "CAMP CADIZ TRHD", a diamond marker, and a hand-lettered board reading "Initial Tree".

Black-and-white photograph of an animal skull wedged against the bark of a tree trunk marked with a white diamond blaze, with a metal-sided building behind.

Black-and-white photograph of a wooden sign reading "RIVER TO RIVER TR. NO. 001, GARDEN OF THE GODS 1.5, HEROD 6" in front of a broad tree trunk in winter woods.

Black-and-white photograph of rows of icicles hanging from a damp, mossy rock overhang above bare twigs and a wet leaf-covered floor.

Black-and-white photograph seen from behind of a hiker in a knitted cap carrying a light pack along a leaf-covered path through close-set bare trees.

Black-and-white photograph of the ridge of a dark corrugated metal building with a single hooded lamp beneath it, and an aircraft trail crossing the plain sky above.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker walking away down an empty paved road past a frosted field, with trail decals and a weight-limit sign on a utility pole in the foreground.

Black-and-white photograph of a narrow dirt footpath running through leafless woodland, with a white diamond blaze nailed to a tree trunk on the right and frosted grass in the foreground.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker walking a muddy woodland path, seen against low sun breaking through tall bare trunks.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker in a dark hood carrying a plastic bag downhill through bare woods, past a painted trail blaze on a lichen-covered trunk.

Black-and-white photograph of a gnarled, twisted tree trunk growing hard against a lichen-crusted block of sandstone in sunlight.

Black-and-white photograph of a hand-lettered wooden sign reading "One Horse Gap" nailed to a tree, with a mossy rock outcrop and ferns behind.

Black-and-white photograph of a weathered signpost reading "RIVER TO RIVER TRAIL" in the foreground, with a hiker sorting gear by a stone fire ring and large boulders beyond.

Black-and-white photograph of a woman in a cap and long-sleeved top wading shin-deep across a creek with a trekking pole, bare branches on the far bank.

Black-and-white photograph of a shallow rocky creek running through a wooded ravine, with a layered sandstone bluff rising on the right.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a small pack and walking stick heading away down a needle-covered path between tall straight pines.

Black-and-white photograph of a person in a headband and glasses shouldering a pack beside a car with its hatch open, on bare ground at the edge of winter woods.

Black-and-white photograph of a hooded hiker walking a leaf-covered trail through bare woods, past a diamond trail marker nailed to a trunk.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker in a balaclava and glasses bending over a metal fire ring, with a gravel road curving away through the trees behind.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker walking the edge of an empty paved road that dips and rises between a pine plantation and bare trees.

Black-and-white photograph of the top of a wooden utility pole, wires running off in three directions across an empty pale sky.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker in a cap and pack standing with arms spread beside a rocky creek in bare spring woodland.

Black-and-white photograph of a wooden signpost reading "RIVER TO RIVER TR. NO. 001" and "EAST TRIGG TRHD 6.5", with a sunlit path behind.

Black-and-white photograph of a tree trunk with flaking, puzzle-piece bark filling the frame, bare woodland and fallen logs beyond.

Black-and-white photograph of a weathered wooden arrow marker nailed to a tree trunk, with the sun breaking through bare branches above.

Black-and-white photograph of a large lichen-blotched boulder at the edge of a shallow creek, bare trees rising on the bank behind.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a backpack walking a rutted dirt track past puddles, a wooded lakeshore to the right.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker walking the white edge line of an empty two-lane road, past a roadside sign reading "TRAIL CROSSING".

Black-and-white photograph of a tall glass of beer on a dark wooden table, with a person seated in a slatted chair behind it.

Black-and-white photograph of a lone hiker walking away along a leaf-covered path between tall bare trees in dim woodland.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a backpack stepping from stone to stone across a shallow rocky creek in bare woodland.

Black-and-white photograph of the corner of a weathered wooden barn with a bright metal roof edge, beside a utility pole with looping wires.

Black-and-white photograph of a sign reading "IDNR CONTROLLED BURN DO NOT REPORT" staked in leaf litter beside a bare tree trunk in sunlit woods.

Black-and-white photograph of a yucca plant filling the frame, its stiff pointed leaves fanning outward with curling white fibres along their edges.

Black-and-white photograph of a woman in a mesh-backed cap holding a laced trainer out at arm's length, with a sunlit field and bare trees behind her.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a pack walking up a pale gravel road between a dark line of trees and open pasture under a clear sky.

Black-and-white photograph of a wooden utility pole standing in dry grass, its wires sagging away towards smaller poles on the flat horizon.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker cresting a gravel road beside a tall bare tree and a utility pole, with dry grass banks on either side.

Black-and-white photograph of two metal trail markers nailed to a rough tree trunk, with a hiker walking away along a leaf-covered path behind.

Black-and-white photograph of a narrow passage between two tall layered rock walls, with slim bare trees rising from the leaf-covered floor.

Black-and-white photograph of the mossy base of a large tree marked with a painted white blaze, ringed by dry fallen leaves on the forest floor.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a pack and a pole stepping across a flooded rock shelf at the edge of a wide river, bare woods beyond.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a pack walking uphill along the edge of a bare field beside tall leafless trees, a bird in the pale sky.

Black-and-white photograph of the corner of a brick building seen from below against a sky of small scattered clouds, a metal gutter along the right roofline.

Black-and-white photograph of a shop window holding two framed pictures of Jesus above a row of dented metal and plastic fuel cans, against a pegboard wall.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker with a pale backpack walking away through leafless woods towards a diamond trail marker nailed to a tree trunk.

Black-and-white photograph of a weathered wooden arrow marker nailed to a tree with flaking bark, bare saplings standing behind it.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker walking a gravel road below a tall rock bluff, with a large bare tree and bright sky to the right.

Black-and-white photograph of the back of a stop sign on a wooden post, a small trail sticker on its edge, with a hiker walking a gravel road past bare fields.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker on a gravel road raising one arm, seen past the blank back of a stop sign on a wooden post under heavy cloud.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker in shorts and a cap standing on a curving gravel road with both arms raised, beneath a wide bank of grey cloud.

Black-and-white photograph of a hand holding a small dark round object between finger and thumb above a straight gravel road, with a hiker walking ahead.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker walking a gravel road between ploughed fields, with low wooded hills ahead and tall banks of cloud overhead.

Black-and-white portrait of a smiling woman in a running pack and neck gaiter on a gravel road, with grain bins in the distance behind her.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker's bare legs and worn trail shoes from behind, walking a loose gravel road scattered with pale stones.

Black-and-white photograph of a hiker at the top of a flight of stone steps with both arms raised, beneath a towering bank of cloud and bare trees.