At the beginning of the year, I set a personal goal of 500 miles. Through longer trips and mishaps, I found myself at 468 miles going into the last weekend of October, so I pulled off 32 miles on the Kishwaukee and Rock rivers to get to 500 exact. It was my second attempt at this exact trip, after the labor day disaster.

This trip begins at Hickory's Bills Island. You cannot park there overnight, so we stash a car at the nearby VFW. It ends at the downtown Byron boat launch. You can leave a car there overnight. The trip is 32 miles, no portaging

The first 6 miles of the Kish are the toughest. Lots of turns and deadfall. Plenty of islands too, so sometimes you need to choose your route carefully. I spilled about 3 miles in when I pinned a log, broke free and didn't see the next log coming. Fortunately it was right bya  shore so I could get the water out efficiently.  The current is super strong for the initial stretch.

From there, it evens out. The current slows and there are less obstacles. We would camp by the lithuanian park, as there's a good shoreline and plenty of islands to choose from.

The next day, We'd go under the rt 39 highway bridge (probably the most scenic bridge pass in the area) at mile marker 15. The river splits at 20-22. I thought left was the safer route, but it was blocked this time. Right has all kinds of turns, but eventually merges back at mile marker 22. Then it's 10 on the rock to the end. You go under a bridge, and the rock's current almost sweeps you away. It's a bit intimidating, but once you settle up it's not too bad.

The rock river has a few cliff walls and is generally scenic. The fall colors were popping this time. The current was going too. We finished the second half of the trip in about 6 hours (18 miles).

​And that's that. 500 miles for the year, GOAL REACHED

The leaves begin to change, fall is here. Montgomery to silver springs is a nice 20 mile paddle. 10 miles, portage in yorkville, then 10 more miles. Put in point is The Montgomery Dam (shortly thereafter). The Take out is Shuh Shuh canoe launch. The portage at yorkville is pretty easy, paved path around the whitewater course. You could go through the whitewater, but I've not chanced it. Yet.

The first half 10 miles is one of my favorite exercise routes. It's local and fun and scenic.
But the second half really has some spectacular sights. Wall to wall with trees, and only slight road noise, you get a wilderness feeling very quickly. There's only one road bridge the entire trip, right by silver springs state park. If I live closer, that would be my exercise route.