It appears as if my final boat trip of the season hit the books 2 weeks ago. So sad. I went on a short trip to the Illinois river with friends. Simple 1 mile trip to get out in the woods. We started at Stratton state park in Morris, headed downstream about a mile to a barge parking area, and setup camp in the woods. Nothing overly complicated, as we were just looking to spend a night in the woods. The next day, we paddled back upstream and were done. The wind was gusting west to east, making the trip out very difficult. It was pushing so hard, that there were cresting waves. My 15 foot canoe took on some water. It took us over an hour to travel that one mile distance. Granted we had all our overweighted gear on us, but it was quite intense. The Illinois has seemingly no current, and is open enough to where there isn't much shielding from the wind. It affects your paddling much more than any other river I've been on. Honestly, it can be as bad as a wide open lake. When you have a tailwind, it is great, but a wind pushing you backwards will slow a normal 3 MPH pace to a crawl. Camping out here was excellent. We heard plenty of coyotes as soon as it got dark out, but were undisturbed the whole night. While it got cold, we were able to keep warm by a fire, and had a really solid night. At the edge of civilization in Morris, it's easy to feel like you are in the deep woods. These short trips are good for a quick one night trip, out and back.
Comments
This past weekend I went on a 26 mile trip from Yorkville to Wedron. We passed through Millington, slept in Sheridan, and ended at Ayer's landing. I went with two friends, one experience outdoorsman, the other... more of a rookie. It was a solid trip, but not without facing the challenges of heat, bugs, and high water. We did 16 miles on day one, camped in Sheridan area, and then did 10 on day 2. Our put in point was the hydraulic road river access in Yorkville, just west of 47 and the dam. Our take out point was Ayer's landing. My friend had a friend with a trailer there, so we were able to park/leave a car there for free overnight. We camped just outside of Sheridan, around the 16 mile marker. We found a little park by the southbound bend of the river, named Glen Woods. We had to walk up and ask the nice owner for permission to stay, but she said yes! She also bestowed us with a bag of water and beer (on ice). The site was well mowed, and bugs were at a minimum. Shortly after we setup camp, a group of 10 canoeists came and asked with they could stay. We told them to go ask the owner for permission, and were denied. I'm assuming that is because they were such a large group, but we didn't find out for sure. In terms of campgrounds, there is also a farm with some woods/trails right after the entrance road to Sheridan on the north side of the river. It's worth checking out. Otherwise, there are some clearings that are reasonably accessible south of Sheridan. Some tips to note:
-My rookie friend didn't pack an air mattress because he thought he didn't need one. He didn't sleep a wink, and was miserable the next day. always have an air mattress! -There is a decent amount of poison ivy along the riverfront. Avoid leaves of 3, that are in an equilateral triangle shape. -We saw two wrecked canoes at one point. Don't leave your boats too close to the water, because a flash flood can take them. -The hottest point in the day is between 2-5. Some might think it's the midday overhead sun, but once that heat lingers for a few hours, it gets much hotter in the mid afternoon. -I packed bug spray, fogger, citronella incense, off sticks, and a bug light. It took care of the mosquito problem pretty well. That and some smoke from the campfire. My Wife and I went out on a 10 mile trip for the 4th of July Holiday. We started at Eaton Forest preserve, off 59 and 135th in Plainfield; then finished at Hammel Woods, off 59 and Black roads. We took out my new canoe, which flew down the river. 10 miles on the water was done in about 4 hours, with us taking no breaks to get out of the water, but taking a couple of paddling breaks to relax.
This section of the river is surprisingly remote, and calm. We were either passing trees/forested area or farm lots the majority of the time. We did pass a few neighborhoods, but it was less than one would expect. We only saw one power boat the whole trip, which was surprising given the consistent low level of the water. It was deep enough for canoeing (although we have a couple of minor scrapes). This weekend, I took a half day trip with my dad from South Elgin to Geneva. The Fox river was up from recent rain, and flowing at a decent 3 mph average. Our 7 mile trip started from John Duerr Forest Preserve, and ended in Old Mill park. We had to portage one dam, in St. Charles. This 7 mile trip took about 3 hours, on the water. The portage in St. Charles spanned 4 blocks, and took about 30 minutes. It was a quicker trip than I had estimated, because of both the flow and tailwind. The St. Charles portage would have been rough if it wasn't for my kayak wheels. The weight of the boat was a challenge, but we were able to make one trip, instead of multiple to grab gear. We took out on the west side of the river, walked it through downtown, then popped back in by some rocks by the 2nd bridge past.
My canoe still has some unresolved leaks from last year. As it was drip drying, I located two possible seeping cracks which I patched up when I got home. It was bad enough that we had to dump the boat out twice along our trip. Other than that, it was smooth sailing! I really enjoyed this part of the Fox river, even though it was more civilized than I usually prefer. Some notes: -Old Mill park in Geneva has 3 hour parking right by the river, You'll need to find further off parking for longer days. -We ran into some boats from the St. Charles Kayak Club, including one competitive racing boat. -There were a couple of speed boats out before the St. Charles dam. One didn't see us until they waked us. Let it serve as a reminder to take waves head on in a canoe, so you don't flip! I apologize that it's taken me a while to post a trip report on the Illinois river. Unfortunately it was a hard trip, marred by a thief and hard weather.
My blue Kayak was swiped from Stratton State park in the one hour we were setting up cars. I set it off under the bridge behind some rocks... but probably should have hidden it completely. I figured leaving my business card on it might help, but I was obviously wrong. I reported it to both Kayak Morris and the local police (both of whom were surprised that someone would do it, so hopefully it's rare for the area). So be warned, a public park is not a safe place to drop a boat for an hour unattended. It's a shame that people like that exist, but it is a part of the world we live in. My friend Steve fortunately did not leave his boat behind, as we met in Marseilles and drove back. His kayak was brand new, so I['m actually thankful our mid morning audible saved his boat. We would continue the trip after I purchased a replacement on the fly from Menards. It's a 10.5 footer, with a built in hatch. It is a big step up from what I had. Honestly, I w as going to replace the old kayak someday, I just wish i got more than one winter's use out of it. It was a $170 mistake, and I'll never make it again. After that whole debacle, time was short, so we went upstream from Seneca. Since the Illinois river has almost no flow, it wasn't a hard paddle. We stopped short of the 3 mile paddle to Johnson Island, and instead found a decent beach space to camp at. No traffic noise was nice. The weather held up overnight, although the temp did dip into the upper 20s. That froze all of our packed liquids. The next morning, we rolled out about 9:30. The rain started at 9:45. The freezing sleet rain started at 10. We hustled back to Seneca, and took a break. With the west to east wind, we were struggling. When we hit Seneca, it was about 11. We made the calculation of 7 miles to go, about 1.5 miles per hour means 4-5 more hours on the water, in the freezing rain. We wimped out and called it a trip. Which I am okay with, because paddling at full strength for 4 plus hours in freezing temperatures and hard rain is hypothermia waiting to happen. Especially when the river path would dictate that it would be Marseilles or bust. Overall, it was the worst trip I've been on, between the robbery and the weather cutting it short. What I learned: -Don't leave a boat by itself for longer than say 15 minutes in a high traffic area. -Pack waterproof gloves for colder paddling temperatures. -Seneca's boat launch has NO overnight parking. Fortunately Steve wasn't ticketed or towed. -The Illinois river has basically no downstream flow. A headwind on that river is a killer. -Marsielles's middle eastern conflict wall is a decent take out parking location. You have to go around the rapids from the dam, and have to portage over Bell Island to get to it though. It's not awful, but also not a great option. High walls on the Illini stat park side makes exit challenging on the other side. While it was a tough trip, we did have some fun camping overnight, and I learned some lessons, so it wasn't all for nothing. 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! |
James T.The Kayak Maniac Archives
October 2022
Categories |