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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Cool water in a dry September forest.

Three year old Paso Fino filly, Dulce, learns creek water is good on a long ride. Not much water in this section of creek. At least the normally muddy spots on the trails are dry right now. September 26, 2026. Shawnee National Forest, Illinois.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Owl Bluff high up on a ridge line in southern Illinois. All of the state is definitely not flat.

Standing well back from the edge of a bluff that drops off a hundred feet (30 meters) to Lusk Creek far below. Tree tops roll across the countryside for miles under dappled sun. Fluffy white clouds dot blue sky. September 25, 2026 and the trees are starting to show fall color already. This is Shawnee National Forest.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Blue sky peeks through between rock and trees over creek. Shawnee National Forest at its finest. September 25, 2026.

Bowed Tree Crossing of Lusk Creek on a sunny day with a few white fluffy clouds in a blue sky. The extensive bluff line on the left goes on for miles. Trees on the right mount another ridge toward the top of Owl Bluff.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Dulce follows Georgie on an early fall trail. September 24, 2026.

Two bay beauties walk through Shawnee National Forest. Three year old Dulce Dama follows her mentor Georgie. She learned from Georgie that grabbing a bite of invasive Japanese Stiltgrass that grows beside some trails is a good thing. Yum. Trees and other forest vegetation are beginning to change color.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Marked Moonshine Ridge on the camp map. Wonder what went on here in the past?

Small cavities high in the bluff line look like good dens or hiding spots for forest creatures. Some tree leaves are starting to turn yellow or cover the ground in September while others remain green. Trail 493 in Shawnee National Forest is one of the prettiest and always recommended to first time visitors. Bluffs on one side, Hayes Creek on the other.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Effect when you accidentally use the "portrait" setting on your phone camera. I might try this again intentionally on proper subjects. This acorn cluster posed very nicely for their portrait.

Still green acorns cluster thickly on a bare oak tree branch. Photo taken atop Crow Knob in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. September 21, 2026.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Echoes of the past when farm houses lined an old road that is now a horse/hiking trail through Shawnee National Forest. The large knobby old tree drew me off the trail to discover a "well" preserved old well.

Carefully selected and stacked stones line an old well in the southern Illinois forest. When SNF was established in 1933, during the great depression, Civilian Conservation Corps workers removed old homesteads and planted pine trees in fields to start the depleted land on its journey of recovery.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Ferns in the forest bask in dappled sunlight.

Ferns try to fill in the space between small tree trunks in Shawnee National Forest beside trail 497 in September 2026.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Georgie says "What the **** humans?" She is an excellent trail maintenance partner. We walked a six mile loop from camp with me hopping off to collect trash frequently while Georgie munching on invasive plants. Totally filled up two small saddle bags.

Georgie looks at our haul out of the forest September 19, 2026. My saddlebags were just big enough to hold six miles worth of trash. Luckily most of it was aluminum cans that flatten easily to take up less space.

September 19, 2026 trash haul: two glass bottles, four plastic bottles, a little bit of blue and pink tape, and lots of aluminum cans. I got my exercise hopping off and back on my horse traveling six miles of trails near Hayes Canyon Campground. What is wrong with people? Why trash a shared national treasure?

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Bright yellow spotted just off the trail.

Is this Chicken of the Woods mushroom? Different color than I'm used to seeing. All over bright yellow with just a touch of orange in the centers. Growing on a fallen tree in Shawnee National Forest September 19, 2026.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Mushroom surprise when I walked behind a tree in the forest yesterday on a clean-up mosey down the horse trails.

Are these Willow Bracket (Phellinus igniarius)? Sure are interesting looking fungus/mushrooms. Found growing on a tree trunk in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois, September 19, 2026.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Dawn comes to Hayes Canyon Campground. Almost empty with heat warnings and 95+F (35C) temps for another couple of days. Very early morning very short horse rides in very un-September-like conditions in southern Illinois.

Looking out the east facing window of the cabin at the far western campsite in Hayes Canyon horse camp. Looks nice and shady but not cool yet. Most campers have carports covering their RVs.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Beautiful reason to take the rougher old trail to a scenic landmark in the Lusk Creek Wilderness area of Shawnee National Forest. Lots of room for horse riders, hikers, and occasional mountain bikers to disappear in 498,615 acres (about 201,782 hectares) and forget how crazy the world has become.

Georgie, a 13-year-old bay Paso Fino mare, looks and listens to what might be ahead on a narrow trail winding between bluff and stream. She is very careful and conscientious of her footing and does her job well, walking quietly when the trail demands but eager to pick up the pace and play when she can.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Forest dwellings small and large.

Moss covered tree roots cover a cavity in the ground under the still live and growing tree. Looks like the perfect place for something small to set up a home. Morning sun lights up green moss and creates deep shadows in the small cave.

A large rock shelter on the edge of a bluff line overlooking Bear Creek in Shawnee National Forest. Overnight hikers have made themselves a home with a fire pit that has blackened the overhanging rock ceiling. Behind the fire pit is a structure made of tree branches that I saw hikers using to hold bags of supplies one rainy day last fall.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Morning at the top of Hayes Canyon, near Eddyville, Illinois.

Scrappy cedar trees cling to solid rock with just a few hardy smaller plants and lots of lichen and moss. This is trailhead west going out of Hayes Canyon horse campground heading into Shawnee National Forest.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Jackson Hole, Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. So dry on September 15, 2026. Still beautifully soothing.

Solid rock marked with moss and lichen leads to a bluff edge that usually has at least a trickle of water dropping to Jackson Hole below.

Walking trail to the second waterfall (dry in mid-September) area at Jackson Hole. This is always a must hike for me because of the beautiful array of moss and lichen lining the trail. Morning sunlight filters through trees on the slope with a sheer bluff dropping off to Jackson Hole natural area just to the right of the trail.

Contemplation rock holds my blue water bottle. A perfect place to sit awhile and appreciate that there is still beauty and peace in this crazy world.

View from contemplation rock. No waterfall today but still a soothing escape with colorful layers in the rock bluff, trees, trailing vines, and blue sky.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Beauty found along the horse trails in Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois mid-September. Find the one item that does not belong here.

Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis), a variety of spiderwort found growing on rock at the head of Hayes Canyon in Shawnee National Forest September 15, 2026.

Lovely white mushroom decorated with pink grows beside a moss covered log in southern Illinois. Yes, I know what the pink design looks like now that I've looked at the picture a little closer.

Moss and lichen beside a walking trail to a natural beauty spot in Shawnee National Forest.

This is why I keep plastic grocery bags in my saddlebags. Beautiful ferns line a horse trail in Shawnee National Forest, but for some people, they must feel more comfortable and at home if there is also human trash.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Georgie works on forest maintenance. Clearing invasive packing grass to uncover a wonderful log full of turkey tails.

Japanese Stiltgrass aka Chinese packing grass has invaded Shawnee National Forest. Here it covers a dense patch of turkey tail mushrooms growing on a log beside the trail.

Georgie the Paso Fino mare is a good girl and worked hard yesterday to clear the non-native grass obscuring the native turkey tail mushrooms on a log.

After clearing the packing grass away these forest beauties shine through. Turkey tail mushrooms grow thick on an old log beside a trail in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois, September 15, 2026.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

September flowers. Last hurrah. What will winter bring?

Evening morning glory . White flowers closing down for the day in their bed of green leaves.

Goldenrod growing tall and bright. Yellow flowers taller than me glow. September 12, 2026.

Self-seeded pink impatiens grow between shrubs and ferns in front of house plant bed.

Lavender blooms a delicate purple shade at the corner of the house between shrubs.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Looking quite regal and sphinx-like, the hound is home from her last vet visit and all is good.

Squeaky, the blue tick color American English Coonhound, relaxes on hay in the barn. She had stitches removed from what's left of her tail today. The open sore lump wasn't cancerous, but it wasn't healing, so now she is a bobtail hound.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Watching the world go by on a Sunday afternoon.

Amelia, the gray tabby cat, looks out at the back yard from her post atop her human on the deck at the back of the house. Maybe she is imagining how her wild ancestors hunted the forest and desert plains.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

September clouds. Evening. Sunset getting noticeably earlier. Summer heat hanging on. Layers of life.

September 5, 2026 at 6:21 pm. Looking east as the sun sinks on the western horizon. Treeline just a dark silhouette. Small dark clouds look like lips on larger explosive looking bright white floof of a cloud behind against moody background clouds turning the sky blue-gray.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Dulce takes a break in the creek. Three year old horse is the equivalent of a human teenager - questioning everything and sure they know more than you do.

Dulce Dama, Paso Fino bay filly, sporting her stylish green bridle and showing off her shapely little head as she learns it is ok to stand still with a rider on her back.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Hot. C'mon September! You can do better than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38C).

Red Celosia is an attention getter at the front corner of the house.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Wildflowers on the last day of August 2026. Nature carries on.

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Gloria @rideintothesunset.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Dulce's first photo - or why all my pics are taken with a phone. Dulce is a three year old horse and does NOT like to stand still for more than a few seconds with me on her back. We are working on this.