Day 10 - ending near Olive Branch, IL - Downstate Illinois

July 16, 2025

Day 10 - ending near Olive Branch, IL

Today I plan to bicycle through Cairo, then end up at Horseshoe Lake SFWA - Alexander County.

I was up at 5:29am. Packed and leaving this city campground at 7:43am. I arrived at Karnak's Dollar General Store 10 minutes before they open, according to the clerk who was sitting on a chair outside. She asked about my trip. She's from Cairo, and was able to tell what it was like back when and how it is now. She says Cairo has never flooded (after I asked), or at least the levees held. Her father tended the water pumps in the city to keep it dry. She always went along with him during heavy rains and watched him operate the pump panels. Soon it was 8:00am. She opened the doors and invited me in. I knew I wanted to pick up Gatorade, then it took some wandering around to decide what to get for breakfast. It ended up being canned coffee and mini chocolate-covered donuts, which I ate in the shade on the west side of the building. The clerk was back outside the building when I was ready to leave, and wished me well.

I took Hillcrest Road and Big Valley Road to get to Grand Chain. Along these roads, instead of wind farms, they're installing solar farms. The roads were a little rough in some areas, and a water truck was spraying down the dust. For some reason, at the top of each hill, construction trucks are required to stop for 5 seconds. Construction traffic was all I saw along the way. And they were all stopping at the top of the hills.

I arrived at Grand Chain at 9:30am. I had all sorts of country roads mapped out to get me to Cairo, but when I went over a hill and saw a county mower tractor blocking the whole road, I decided to turn around and just ride highway US-37. That worked out well and brought me to Cedar Creek gas station/convenience store in Olmsted at 10:45am. This gave me a break inside their very cold store. Now also I have some ice for my thermos, and two more cold Powerades.

I was just north of Mound City when noon arrived. I was pleased with 19.6 miles done. I went a little further into town to sit down in the shade under a tree for a break.

Leaving Mound City I got onto the road on top of the levee. That worked out very well. There was a breeze up there.

I arrived in Cairo at 1:24pm, and Smoky Hill BBQ at 1:35pm. I had a BBQ sandwich there. The bread had been prepared like it is for a toasted cheese sandwich. I thought that was different.

I saw lots of empty buildings along my way through Cairo to Fort Defiance State Park where the Ohio River and Mississippi River converge. I spent 50 minutes in the park after I arrived at 2:35pm. They have a platform near the convergence point that's shaped like a riverboat. I took some pictures from the top of that and also down right at the rivers level. I also took pictures of both bridges south of Cairo. Neither one of them are recommended for bicycle use. I can see why.

On my way back to Cairo now, but using roads on the west side of town. I did pass the Magnolia Mansion. It's in fair shape and open for tours.

I was hoping my at-home plan to ride on a levee would work to get out of Cairo. It did, except it was slow-going because the gravel of the road was more rocky than this morning's levee road. After a few miles there was a place to get off and onto highway IL-3, and that's what I did. IL-3 isn't part of the Mississippi River Trail at this southern end of Illinois, but I routed to go on it anyway. This won't be my last deviation from the official trail route.

Part of IL-3 in this area has recently been redone with a wide shoulder, so it was very pleasant riding. I disregarded my country roads plan for this evening also, and stayed on the highway to East Side Campground of Horseshoe Lake, arriving at 6:02pm.

I rode through the whole campground. There's no one here except the Campground Host trailer, and now me. I decided on site #64 and self-registered. The sites have electricity and many also have picnic tables. The cost to tent camp is $8.

I took my time setting up the tent to let it's floor dry some. There was a nice southwest breeze helping that. The bike's front basket was getting loose at it's upper supports, so I tighten them down. Also brought tire pressures from 65 psi to 70 psi. I forgot to mention that this morning I finally oiled the chain before I left the campsite in Karnak. I think we're good to keep going.

The mosquitoes are pretty hungry here, but when I went down to the dock to get a sunset picture, I noticed they weren't there. So I stayed down there while I worked on picture selection for today.

There aren't showers here, but I knew that ahead of time. Hopefully I'll get one tomorrow night.

Jeff