(no subject)
Aug. 23rd, 2009 01:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogYesterday, I'd just posted from the visitor center parking lot of Starved Rock State Park. I got back to hiking around eight o' clock I think after that brief respite. The visitor center was still closed, so I had to go without a bottle full of water. Oh well.
So I walked from the visitor center along the river-facing trail that went up to Lover's Leap, the Beehive Overlook, and out to Sandstone Point, investigating side paths into canyons along the way. From there, I looped back on the bluff trail that goes along the top of the river-facing ridges back west toward the visitor center, again wandering through side trails and points of interest. I think I probably walked about three or four miles all told, so not all much of a hike. There were some pretty impressive sets of stairs that I navigated though!
Even though the park is named for Starved Rock, the most impressive things there to me are the eighteen sandstone canyons scattered around. Though I only saw a handful of them, I was really awed. I'm planning on a few return trips to the area. Probably in fall to see the colors, and possibly in January to see bald eagles, which winter on Plum Island, just a short way out into the Illinois River. My two favorite places are Aurora Canyon (just a five minute hike from the visitor center!) and Wildcat Canyon, which is a little further, but not a difficult walk at all.
French Canyon was really beautiful too, though I didn't really get a chance to see it the way I would have liked to. It was a side trip from the main path, and as I got into the mouth, I got a call from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
moiracoon who I chatted with a bit about what she and her Phooki had been up to. For my part, I said that, somehow, the point I was at had just become the single busiest spot on the train system! The park hadn't seemed too busy at first, but as I stood on the path at the canyon mouth, dozens of other visitors, dogs and children in tow, were passing me by.
But I still got a few good shots of French, some with people, some without. I can't wait to go back again! And for getting nice nature pictures, being there early is a must. At seven-thirty or eight in the morning, my car was one of perhaps four that sat isolated in the parking lot. When I got back to the lot about one o' clock, it was packed full. And it's not a smalll lot!
From there I drove back to Utica. I stopped at the base of the large steelwork bridge that spans the Illinois River between the town and the park, and walked back up it to get pictures of the bridge itself. I just love pretty metalwork; it's in my blood.
From there, I drove over to the north side of the lock and dam structure I'd been seeing along my hiking path. As it turns out, there's a visitor center there with displays on area natural resources and about the lock and dam. There's even a second floor balcony where you can stand and watch ships and boats and barges being moved through the lock! I stayed and watched a couple of small pleasure boats get locked through, and that was pretty neat! I love seeing things like that for the first time. The staff there said that on days like yesterday, it can be pretty busy with lots of pleasure boats going through. I was hoping for a barge, but I didn't stay long enough to see anything like that, and that's ok.
I was originally thinking of seeing more of Starved Rock by driving over to another parking lot and hiking trails from there, but I decided to leave that for another visit. Instead, I decided to drive up to Lockport. Seeing the lock and dam from the trails reminded of the episode of Life after People I'd watched withserinthia and todd_riverden that mentioned flooding in Chicago and what would happen to cities downstream.
I drove east along I-80, passing where I'd merged on from I-55 and continuing out to Joliet. Though the Joliet area turned out to be the most frustrating part of the trip due to navigational difficulties (I really have to get the stand for my GPS back again), It was still worthwhile overall. I got to meet another of Rapp and Rapp's harem of grand ladies; the Rialto Theatre. This building is knowsn as 'The Jewel of Joliet', and it's not hard to see why. I was in love at first sight.
From there I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get to the actual lock and dam, until I finally realized that it's just not publicly accessible. The closest I got was a disused bridge on the west side of the river. Oh well.
And from there, it was to Chinese Buffet, then home. It was a great day!
So I walked from the visitor center along the river-facing trail that went up to Lover's Leap, the Beehive Overlook, and out to Sandstone Point, investigating side paths into canyons along the way. From there, I looped back on the bluff trail that goes along the top of the river-facing ridges back west toward the visitor center, again wandering through side trails and points of interest. I think I probably walked about three or four miles all told, so not all much of a hike. There were some pretty impressive sets of stairs that I navigated though!
Even though the park is named for Starved Rock, the most impressive things there to me are the eighteen sandstone canyons scattered around. Though I only saw a handful of them, I was really awed. I'm planning on a few return trips to the area. Probably in fall to see the colors, and possibly in January to see bald eagles, which winter on Plum Island, just a short way out into the Illinois River. My two favorite places are Aurora Canyon (just a five minute hike from the visitor center!) and Wildcat Canyon, which is a little further, but not a difficult walk at all.
French Canyon was really beautiful too, though I didn't really get a chance to see it the way I would have liked to. It was a side trip from the main path, and as I got into the mouth, I got a call from
moiracoon who I chatted with a bit about what she and her Phooki had been up to. For my part, I said that, somehow, the point I was at had just become the single busiest spot on the train system! The park hadn't seemed too busy at first, but as I stood on the path at the canyon mouth, dozens of other visitors, dogs and children in tow, were passing me by.But I still got a few good shots of French, some with people, some without. I can't wait to go back again! And for getting nice nature pictures, being there early is a must. At seven-thirty or eight in the morning, my car was one of perhaps four that sat isolated in the parking lot. When I got back to the lot about one o' clock, it was packed full. And it's not a smalll lot!
From there I drove back to Utica. I stopped at the base of the large steelwork bridge that spans the Illinois River between the town and the park, and walked back up it to get pictures of the bridge itself. I just love pretty metalwork; it's in my blood.
From there, I drove over to the north side of the lock and dam structure I'd been seeing along my hiking path. As it turns out, there's a visitor center there with displays on area natural resources and about the lock and dam. There's even a second floor balcony where you can stand and watch ships and boats and barges being moved through the lock! I stayed and watched a couple of small pleasure boats get locked through, and that was pretty neat! I love seeing things like that for the first time. The staff there said that on days like yesterday, it can be pretty busy with lots of pleasure boats going through. I was hoping for a barge, but I didn't stay long enough to see anything like that, and that's ok.
I was originally thinking of seeing more of Starved Rock by driving over to another parking lot and hiking trails from there, but I decided to leave that for another visit. Instead, I decided to drive up to Lockport. Seeing the lock and dam from the trails reminded of the episode of Life after People I'd watched with
serinthia and todd_riverden that mentioned flooding in Chicago and what would happen to cities downstream. I drove east along I-80, passing where I'd merged on from I-55 and continuing out to Joliet. Though the Joliet area turned out to be the most frustrating part of the trip due to navigational difficulties (I really have to get the stand for my GPS back again), It was still worthwhile overall. I got to meet another of Rapp and Rapp's harem of grand ladies; the Rialto Theatre. This building is knowsn as 'The Jewel of Joliet', and it's not hard to see why. I was in love at first sight.
From there I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get to the actual lock and dam, until I finally realized that it's just not publicly accessible. The closest I got was a disused bridge on the west side of the river. Oh well.
And from there, it was to Chinese Buffet, then home. It was a great day!
