Trip 8 - MRF Ghost Town (3rd Run)
Observations:
1.) There is some strange fenced-off structure here.
2.) There are a few odd, out-of-place pine trees here. They are massive. They just don’t seem to belong amongst the other trees.
3.) Things really started getting suspicious when I came across a huge, solid, rusted iron pole laying off the trail. After seeing this and all the other odd things in this area (see Trip 6), I went online to do some research. I found a website for the trails north of Cougar Village (Compare Gateway Off-Road Cyclists’s map to mine!) Apparently, these northern trails are official bike trails, and that explains the bikers (see Trip 7). This website acknowledges the old gravel areas as “abandoned blacktop.” Upon doing more research, I discovered that this area is the former site of the Mississippi River Festival. See The MRF: Now and Then.
4.) This is the official parking lot for the bikers and the northern trails.
5.) Once again, I noticed the plastic colored tapes on the trees along this path as well. At time I could see the other path because of the tape in the trees. I think it is a way of marking each path, since one path had orange tape and the other had pink tape.
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An old shed and compound |
That giant pine tree seems out of place... |
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Old cables to something |
Closeup of cables |
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Oh. It's just a massive iron pole. ... ... WHAT?! |
A closeup of the bizarre pole |
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Spools of barb wire lay near the iron pole |
Piles of barb wire lay near the spool |
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Other clutter near the iron pole |
A piece of an old fence? |
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Model Airplane Field rules |
More guidelines. Does anyone actually come here? |
This page created by Todd Astroth @ SIUE.
Last updated: December 18, 2008 (for you MLA users out there!)