This weekend, I did an overnight trip on the Fox River. It's the same 26 mile stretch from Yorkville to Wedron I keep doing. This time, we camped about 18 miles in, right by the Sheridan correctional facility.

Water level was low. We weren't paddling hard, and were loaded down with gear. The weather started off clouded, but then opened up to some nice sunshine. 
Our campsite was just south of the correctional facility fences on the river's left. It was a little muddy, but overall worked very well. 
Overall, it was good food, good weather and good company. 26 miles broke out to 18 day 1, and 8 on day 2.

On a rainy day in April, I paddled 26 miles on the lower Fox River. I started in Yorkville, and took out in Wedron. It was a cold and rainy spring day.  

My put in point was the Yorkville park district lot, past the dam and 47 bridge. My takeout was Ayer's landing, still closed for the season.
Despite it being spring, water levels were extremely low. I scraped a few times but didn't get stuck. There was next to no current.
The rain would come and go throughout the day. Overall, it wasn't bad. The sun would poke out to dry me off, then it'd rain again. 

First paddle of the year: I did the full dells run in a day. This trip consists of starting in Yorkville and paddling to Wedron. It takes you through the scenic dells area.

I started at the Yorkville rec center launch, just past the dam on the south side. I took out at Ayer's landing, who was still closed for the season.

The water level was a little below average. There wasn't a ton of current, nor wind to slow me down. I completed this paddle in 5 hours and 11 minutes. For a 26 mile paddle, that is right at 5 mph.

On a unusually warm November day, I took a 17.5 mile trip down and back up the Illinois river, starting and ending in Ottawa, I paddled the 8 miles down to Starved Rock, came back up around Sheehan island to see Buffalo Rock, camped for the night, then came back the next morning. 

Going down and up the Illinois River at that spot is relatively easy. There is a very slow current, with the wind balancing it out. You have to watch out for speedboats, as their wake can cause issues for a small kayak. I typically don't do this stretch over the summer, because there are a lot more speedboats between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The Upper Iowa river spans over 150 miles across northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota. It begins in Mower County MN, and flows through the driftless area, before feeding into the Mississippi. I attempted a 126 mile stretch of this, moving from Lime Springs to Lansing IA. Due to low water conditions, I only made it halfway, opting to end at the 60 mile marker in Decorah.

The killer part of every dam is the Hydraulic. Water will shoot straight down after going over the edge. It cycles back up in the boil, but then there is backwash that will pull objects back towards the edge. It is there that they get sucked back down again.

On 8/1/20, I went down the DuPage River rapids section in a canoe with two family members. The river was low, measuring to 2.4 ft at the Shorewood gauge. We started at Shorewood, and went to Channahon State Park: 10 miles.

Here is video from that section.

On the fourth of July, I did a fast paced paddle through the Fox River Dells area. I started in Yorkville, and pushed hard to get to Ayer's Landing around 1pm

Part 1 is around Blake's landing and the Fox River Resort, as you just start to come into the dells area.

Part 2 passes some farm fields and is a break in the cliffs

Part 3 is just past the big Island, as the river starts cutting south. There's a long line of cliff.

This is my favorite section of river in the Chicagoland area. It's very scenic and is a special part of the Fox River in Illinois.

Over Father's Day weekend, my dad and I completed a 28 mile run down the fox river. As the same with other trips, we started in Yorkville, camped around Sheridan, and ended in Wedron. The weather held up for the weekend, and it was a nice paddle.  I'm going to chart out where we started, ended, and camped.

This weekend, I went on a kayak trip down the full length of the DuPage river. I started at Weigand Park in Naperville, and ended at Channahon state park in Shorewood. 28 Miles. Along the way, I passed through the rapids south of Hammel Woods. The gauge at Hammel was reading at about 3ft at the time, average.

​I took two videos from my time on the river in the rapids area. Enjoy!