This weekend, a friend and I will be travelling 16.7 miles down the Illinois river, from Stratton State Park in Morris to Illini State Park in Marseilles. With weather in the 30s, the following chart on hypothermia should be helpful.

Without knowing the exact water temp, this chart won't be precise, but... If I take a spill in the water, I'm going to assume I've got about 15 minutes to reheat. Hopefully things won't come to that, but if they do:
-I've got 2 changes of clothing in separate dry bags, should one get lost or fail
-I'm packing handwarmers and heating pads. They don't generate enough heat on their own, but under insulation, they can increase skin temperature by a couple of degrees.
-I'm going with a friend, who can help in an incident.

Trip report to follow shortly!

Some oddball gear that I've found useful. Included are a a couple of shopping links too!

-Surgical tubing: For starting a fire. Air is a underrated tool towards getting some embers going. A surgical tube under your kindling can be used to get air to the most important part of the young fire.

-Barometer: Provided you know how to use it, you can get fairly accurate weather forecasting without a cell or radio signal. Decent battery powered barometers can be found for under $40 now.

-Radio: My favorite radio is a hand crank flashlight/battery combo. I still use my headlamp and keep a backup mini light. The radio is nice should you need a forecast or want to listen to something.

-Solar battery/charger: I've got a nice unit that is a 2x3 solar panel with a built in 8 amp battery pack. I use it to charge batteries, as well as the occasional dead phone. It's about a pound, but a good way to keep me from lugging a ton of extra batteries on a long trip. 

Canoeing / Kayaking Opportunities  
According to Illinois's Department of Natural Resources.
It's worth a read, but hilariously omits both the Fox and Illinois rivers.

Northwest Illinois (Region 1)

• Castle Rock - Boat Ramp for public access to the Rock River for Canoe or Kayak, 3 miles of State Owned trails. Primitive canoe-in campground is available. Canoe access area is also available in the town of Grand De Tour about 5 miles south of the park. A trip to Lowell Park (Dixon Park District) or Dixon Dam is approximately a 12 mile canoe trip from Castle Rock State Park. There are Day Use facilities at Lowell Park.
• Mackinaw - Boat Ramp for public access to the Mackinaw River for Canoe or Kayak with 2 miles of State Owned trails.
• Lowden Boat Ramp for public access to the Rock River for Canoe or Kayak, 20 miles of State Owned trails. It is recommended that you put in below the dam.
• Hennepin Canal - Canoeing and Kayaking is available for 78 miles of the canal. The waters are calm so back and arm power are required. The many locks are no longer operational and must be portaged (from Lock 21 east is particularly tough). For a great 1-2 day trip, begin at Rock Falls and continue to the Visitor Center.
• Rock Cut - Canoeing and Kayaking is available on Pierce Lake. Rentals available.

Northeast Illinois (Region 2)

• Channahon - Canoeists can paddle 15 miles of the canal between Channahon and Morris. The beautiful scenery between these two points may only be outshadowed by the abundance of wildlife viewing opportunities.
• Kankakee River Canoes or Kayaks are allowed on 25 miles of the Kankakee River. Enjoy the beautiful scenery, and you must wear a life jacket .
• Silver Springs - Kayaks and canoes are allowed at Silver Springs on Loon Lake or on the Fox River. No restrictions.
  

East - Central (Region 3)

• Kickapoo - Canoeing or Kayaking is available on 12 different lakes.
• Middle Fork - Public parking and canoe or kayak access to the Middle Fork River is provided at two locations. The Kinney's Ford access is located in the northern section of the facility and may be reached by driving one-half mile west of the 2620N/900E intersection. The Bunker Hill canoe access may be reached by driving east on the facility's south access road located at 2250N/900E. The west entrance bridge at Kickapoo State Park provides a canoe take-out point for these access areas. Camping is prohibited along the river, except in designated campgrounds. 
  
• Fox Ridge - There are two canoe or kayak launches, one north and one south provides a five mile trip on the Embarras River.

West - Central (Region 4)

• Peabody River King - Boat Ramp for public access to the Kaskaskia River for canoes or kayaks.
• Kaskaskia River - Boat Ramps for public access to Kaskaskia River for canoes or kayaks. Canoers should also be aware of barge traffic on the river and at lock and dam site at the mouth of the river.
• Sanganois - Boat Ramps are available for public access for canoeing or kayaking. No canoeing from one week prior to waterfowl season until February 1st.
  

South (Region 5)

• Cache River - The Lower Cache River Trail offers paddlers a quality canoe or kayak experience, 3 to 6 miles in length, through magnificent cypress-tupelo swamp.

Quick tip I picked up:
 5 gallon buckets with a lid make an excellent camping tool.
A.) They make for a waterproof container. Oddly shaped, but usually decent for stuffing a sleeping bag and tarp. For car camping they work fine. Boat camping can be a little iffy. It's not terribly hard to strap one to a kayak on the outside. Backpacking? You can pretty much forget about it.
B.) They are an excellent camping seat/chair. Reasonable height for most people, and the lid makes it stable enough to sit on.
C.) Water Bucket: should you need to clean or carry water more in bulk than by the bottle.

In total, you've got a 3 use minimum tool. Obviously buckets are not as easy  to carry as a bag, but in a boat, that doesn't matter as much. 

I'd like to highlight the TRIPS tab, as it contains a ton of information pertaining to taking a trip on each listed river.

Right now, I have full loads of information posted for the Fox river, Illinois river (through Starved Rock area), Dupage river, and Kankakee river. At some point, I'll finish off the Des Plaines river and Rock river.

Available information includes:
-Maps: google maps,  images. and downloadable KML files
-Distance charts: tables that allow you to calculate the distance of a trip using major points of interest
-Depth and flow charts: to tell how the water levels are trending
-General info: Basics to give you an idea of each river
-Dams and portaging information: info to know what is coming and what to do on the river!

Enjoy!

By no means do I consider myself a fire starting expert. However, I almost always can start a fire faster and more efficiently than my friends. A few tricks I use to get them going:

1.) TINDER. It's underrated by amateurs. Anyone can add paper to a fire and hope that it heats up enough to light a log. The key is to progressively work your way up to said log, by using sticks. When I build a fire, I don't even put the log in until I've got some decent coals going from sticks.

2.)DRY and DEAD WOOD. If a stick cracks when bent with minimal effort, it's typically good for fire. If it bends, it's not dead enough (and dry enough) to be effective.

3.)Fire starters. I pack 2 easy ignitables on every trip. A Can of Sterno fuel (basically gel alcohol, with a pudding consistency), and toilet paper tubes stuffed with dryer lint. Dryer lint is very flammable, but doesn't burn as fast as paper. Stuff that in cardboard, and you've got a decent ignitable that will last for 20-30 seconds, which is usually enough time to get some sticks going. The sterno fuel is more of a fail safe. If I have a hard time getting it going, I'll knife out a lotion squirt sized portion or two into my tinder. Sterno burns hot and lasts longer than paper, increasing your tinder light chances. 

After yet another miserable winter, 50 degree weather heads Illinois's way. That means CAMPING TIME!
My first trip of the season will be to "James Island" AKA a small island in the middle of the Fox river with nearby parking. It's also got a nice clearing, perfect for a night out. Even better, it's only 15 minutes away from my home. It's a nice solitude away from civilization, besides the nearby water plant blasting it's horn every few hours.

In any case, I plan to be updating this site all season long with pictures and information. I'd like to add on a few more trips too, but mainly for bodies of water close by me. I'll be updating this blog with regular camping information and tips, so please check back.

For now, I'd like to alert you to the RESOURCES page. On it I have links of my favorite mapping, review and information sites. This resources can provide maps, portage descriptions, points of interest, and even water levels. Be sure to check it out!