Shawnee National Forest- Bell Smith Springs- Largest Spider in Illinois (Mom, Don't Read This)

I'm going back down memory lane as spring gets closer, so I've decided to do a bit on Shawnee National Forest.  I visited there twice, once in fall and once in spring.   The first expedition, the fall expedition, was to Garden of the Gods, Pounds Hollow, Bell Smith Springs, and Giant City State Park.

Bell Smith Springs is one of eight wilderness areas in Shawnee National Forest, located in far southern Illinois.  It is essentially a Midwestern canyon, with several creeks flowing through a narrow gorge.  Large expanses of  a glade community are present on the cliffs above.  

As these glades are heavily shaded, reindeer moss lichens and lots of mosses grew abundantly.  The only similar plant community I have ever seen was at Line Creek in Georgia.  ( I just want to point out that I may use a lot of links in my posts, but this is the Wild Land of Link-oln after all...  I have that pun copyrighted.)

This species of moss is perhaps a half-inch in diameter.  I knew what it was once, but many years of education has since pushed that fact out again for such useful things as sin x = 1/ csc x, Le Chatelier's Principle, and Etruscan burial rituals.

Here is a picture of the overall community.  Red cedars (Juniperus virginiana) grew over the tangle of shrubs and small trees, and taller oak-hickory forests on deeper soils grew farther behind.  As we contiued into the canyon, we could see where huge boulders had cracked away from the canyon walls.

Heuchera parviflora, the cave alumroot, the rarest of Illinois' three alumroot species, grew in the cliffs, surrounded by mosses, lichens, and liverworts.

At the valley's floor, a small creek flowed among large boulders.

Floods are supposed to have carved the valley's large canyons, and clearly, this tree had a fight to stay put, with the masses of exposed roots, all covered with lichens.  

 Since I have been to the Blue Ridge Mountains, I now realize that the Shawnee Hills are but an imitation of that grand and beautiful range.  Still, it's an imitation that is absolutely stunning at times.

 I believe these rocks are known as the Devil's Backbone, and in this region there is a considerable lot of his property, to paraphrase Mark Twain.  I prefer the name Shark's Fin for these rocks, however, and seeing them in person only adds to the belief that the namer of these rocks had never seen a shark.  I half expected a giant shark made of rock to raise these fins and appear.  (I had a very active imagination when I was younger.  I still do.)

 The moss-covered glades continued on both sides of the canyon as we turned around.

 Several large flat rocks hung over the cliffs, like great diving boards. As it seems there is a lover's leap in the vicinity of every chain of hills, I presume this is the local one.

 The most notable feature was the enormous blocks of sandstone.  This is an area widely known for flowers, but I think I must have visited at the wrong time.  Still, there were a few plants.

This is a DYC (danged yellow composite) I found in a shaded area.   I have no idea what it is.

 Some of the sandstone blocks split perfectly in half, as though a giant's blade had cut it in two.  Indeed, the rock formations along this area are deserving of fantastical names, so varied are they.

 Before we turned around to go back up to the bluffs,  I spotted this small LBM (little brown mushroom [Every branch of nature has its hard-to-identify species.  As another example, you have LBB for little brown bird in birding]), growing amidst the moss.  This area has no shortage of mosses, and a bryologist (This is a person who studies mosses and liverworts for a living.  No, I'm not quite that crazy yet) could have a field day here.

 We went back on the bluffs over the creek, admiring the fall colors.  Then,  I yelled loudly.  Arachnophobes, look away.

There are no tarantula species known to live naturally in Illinois, but when a species of spider as big as my hand is just strolling along through the woods six feet away, what do you think my first reaction is?  I'm not one of those enlightened people who captures spiders and releases them outside.  I have someone else kill it, or I will if I'm the only one available.  

I once upset a number of volunteers at Lincoln Memorial Gardens when one of them pointed out a fairly large spider near my foot and I stomped on it unthinkingly.  That was the only time I have ever been shamed for killing a spider, though I am more reluctant to do so nowadays than before if said spider is outdoors.  

Of course, there is no way on earth I'm getting anywhere near this spider, nor is anyone else, so we turned around after a few pictures for identification.  It appears to be closest in size and locality to be a female Carolina Wolf Spider, but I don't know.  The Carolina Wolf Spider is the largest known spider species in Illinois, and this is definitely in the same genus (Hogna spp.)  The only similarly colored individual is this one from Kentucky, linked here.  

Anyway, we went on to Garden of the Gods after this, so I do intend to return to Bell Smith Springs at some point, preferably the spring or summer when more plants are visible and the spiders are better hidden.  There is also a trip to Starved Rock in the works, so stay tuned for that.  The Hemlocks will be solved, once and for all!