| Giant City State Park Campground has about eighty | | | | evening. |
| sites, most with electricity, but no water. Water spigots | | | | Today we decided to explore the beauty of Giant City |
| are placed strategically around the park. The roads are | | | | State Park. The park boasts a variety of trails ranging |
| very narrow with tight turns. We managed to find this | | | | from an easy 1/3rd of a mile to a sixteen mile one or |
| out the hard way. The roadway gave way at a | | | | two day hike around the park. We chose to hike four |
| culvert and we were stuck with the back end of the | | | | of the shorter trails. Two of the more interesting ones |
| trailer on the ground and the wheels in the air: a very | | | | follow. |
| uncompromising position. The hostess of the | | | | The Giant City Nature Trail is one mile in length of |
| campground, Carol, was very solicitous and let us use | | | | moderately difficult hiking. The trail winds up and down |
| her cell phone (of course we were in cell hell again) to | | | | and through the sandstone bluffs. Wind and water |
| call for an extrication vehicle. When the tow truck | | | | combined forming shallow caves and honeycomb |
| arrived a crowd of about twenty adults and children | | | | niches for wildlife to make their homes and nests. The |
| gathered to view the spectacle. I jokingly told them that | | | | name of Giant City comes from a section of bluffs, |
| we were charging $5.00 per head to view the | | | | which are carved vertically straight. The walkway is no |
| proceedings and only 50 cents for soda. We are | | | | more than three feet wide in most parts, with right |
| eternally grateful for the kindness of these people. | | | | angle corners. The positioning of the bluffs reminds the |
| The tow truck driver was going to try to pull the trailer | | | | hiker of narrow streets in a city, thereby giving the |
| out of the situation using a winch and a long piece of | | | | name of Giant City. Graffiti vandals of yesteryear, c. |
| angle iron. If he did that, the trailer would be severely | | | | 1862, have left their marks on the wall faces. Along the |
| damaged. He was not properly equipped to free the | | | | same path is a balanced rock weighing several tons. |
| trailer from its predicament, especially with each of the | | | | To pass the rock you have to go under it. The trail |
| wheels having independent suspension. He said that he | | | | then ascends a series of stairs to the top of the bluffs. |
| was told that it needed winching, nothing more. Many | | | | I found a horse trail, which led near the top of the |
| of the adult spectators then became active | | | | streets of Giant City. Viewing the street from the |
| participants, offering suggestions and following them up | | | | summit is like being in a four or five story building, |
| by getting wooden ramps made to support the tires | | | | looking down at the narrow streets. |
| and trailer. By rolling onto the ramps, the rear of the | | | | Another trail we took was the Stone Fort Nature Trail. |
| trailer lifted off the ground. We extricated the trailer | | | | This was only 1/3rd of a mile in length. Most of the |
| with a minimal amount of damage to the vehicle. I am | | | | travel was up a fairly steep hill along a stream to the |
| amazed at the kindness and friendliness of strangers. | | | | top of the bluff. On top of the bluff is a reconstruction |
| We were too stressed to find out their names. They | | | | of a stone wall, which the Native Americans erected |
| disappeared back to their camp sites, like the clay | | | | about 1,000 years ago. It was 285 feet long, six feet |
| people from the old Flash Gordon Series. | | | | high and nine feet thick. Archeologists believe that walls |
| Ate dinner at the lodge in Giant City State Park. The | | | | were built to mark boundaries for the extensive trading |
| CCC built the lodge in the 1930s, beautifully constructed | | | | network of the various tribes. Early Anglo settlers |
| of stone and native hardwoods. The highlight of the | | | | removed many of the rocks to use in construction of |
| menu is the fried chicken dinner, all you can eat. Many | | | | their own homes. The wall was restored by the CCC |
| chicks gave their lives to sate our appetites that | | | | and is considered a prime archeological site. |