Trails and pools!

I just got so absorbed by life that I almost forgot about blogging. Here, I come back with more eagerness and lot more things to share in addition to food recipes. I visited various places this summer with some of my awesome friends.

Last weekend I just happend to go for an hiking trip in 'Elephant Rocks state park' which is nearly 195 miles away from Springfield, MO.

The giant, red granite rocks are one of the most unusual geologic formations of southwest region in the States. These huge boulders stand in perfect sculpted position by the relentless forces of weathering and erosion over millions of years of geologic time.

The natural gaps between the rocks were so narrow that it is termed as the 'Fat man's squeeze'. There are various spur trails in this park to hike. One of the trail goes through 'The Maze' , a 100 foot region of vast rocky bed. Within this maze you will find 'the devil's kitchen', a semi-enclosed area formed by a monstrous rock. It was in deed so much fun to explore the caves and depressions in the rocks with friends.

As you walk along the trail, you get to explore the beauty and diversity of the flora in that region. There were also these naturally formed water bodies surrounded by lush green vegetation. On seeing the water, we all wanted to swim. So we headed to another state park close by ,Johnson Shut-ins.

Fearing water might get into the camera, we just left it in the car. But here is a wonderful collection of pictures that shows how it is to experience Johnson shut ins..

The unique thing about this park is the flow of Black river through the 'shut ins' ,a cluster of naturally formed hard volcanic rocks. These rocks pushes the water into many chutes, waterfalls and plunge pools. There are some potholes of nearly 50 feet depth. It was a terrific experience to dive and swim in those pools.

The most fun part began when we came across the different ranges of waterfalls. Each one of these falls brought a different yell of excitement. We almost forgot that we are not kids anymore and were sliding in those water chutes fighting with the other kids for turns :)

There are so many interesting spots in this place that it would take a whole day exploring and enjoying it without any hurry. This is definitely an amazing place for a summer weekend getaway!

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