July 30, 2015 - Hennepin, Hidden, Owl and LaSalle Canyons

Today's hike we went out to Hennepin Canyon parking lot and 30+ walkers walked in from there to LaSalle Canyon.  I heard there was a MOUND of garbage there.  I mentioned it to the Walker's Club, if they wanted to grab a garbage bag from the front desk and help pick up the trash along the way it would be appreciated.  (I'll tell you later how much we picked up and carried back).

Theme photo of the hike

I took this photo earlier this week in the prairie area south of the Lodge.

Doll's Eyes

Rt. 71 is under construction. You have to wait for the pilot vehicle to come back, to lead you through.

Queen Anne's Lace

We have lots of these on the trails.  Some sort of a sunflower

Fern Leaf False Foxglove

Fern Leaf False Foxglove

Some sort of lichen near Hennepin Canyon Overlook

Enjoying the view with a breeze at Hennepin Overlook.  Some were reading the informational boards there.

Hennepin Canyon

This "thing" caught my eye

Hidden Canyon

Odd shaped tree near Owl Canyon

Walking along the river, headed to LaSalle Canyon, we saw this freshly fallen tree.

Walking Stick

Very delicate leaves, look close, they look like a fern. Partridge Pea

Red Admiral?

How many do you see?  There are 4

LaSalle Canyon

What's wrong with this photo?  Such a beautiful canyon!  It is sad that so much trash was found here.  Photo shows 2 bags with more trash on the ground.  We picked up trash on the way in and out.  All total we pick up 5, YES 5 garbage bags full of trash.  You name it.... diapers, bottles (glass, plastic and aluminum), socks, towels, wrappers, straws, beer cans, etc.  Whats going on??????

I will leave you with this: How ever you want to say it - "Leave footprints, take only memories", "Leave NO Trace" "Carry out what you carry in"

July 26th Thornton Reservoir Tour

Not really a hike, but an adventure... and learning experience.

Today was the day I finally got to go into the quarry on Interstate 80.  I have driven over it many times and marveled at its size.  A friend from work (Joe), mentioned he was going to take the tour before they flooded it.  I have always wanted to take the tour.  Now was the time.  They have been working on this reservoir project since 1975.  This quarry has been operational since the 1830's. The capacity for this reservoir is 7.9 billion gallons.

Once we arrived and got checked in, they had posters showing us various  projects. 

The poster on the left is the "drill bit"  that bore out the hole to the tunnel

This is an Aeriel view of the Thornton Reservoir and Quarry

Once checked in, we could take whatever pamphlets we wanted.  They also had bottled water, bananas and cookies. 

Picked up a few postcards for Kayla

All of us getting a staged photo

We boarded the mini bus and we were off

The road we went down on was twice as long as the length of the reservoir.  Once we went the length we turned a corner and went the rest of the way down.

Can you see Rt. 80 on the other side?  The concrete wall is a dam between the reservoir and the quarry. The capacity is about 1/2 way up the dam wall.

Making the turn

30 foot tunnel opening

There is a concrete splash pad deflector.  When the water comes through the tunnel, it will come with force.  They want it to be deflected as to not damage the floor of the reservoir.  Every thing that goes into the storm drain will come in here.

300 feet deep

Can you see the road we came down?

Going back

I can't remember the name of these items, but they are the things that will operate the doors for the tunnel.  They were made in Austria and tested in Pennsylvania.

When they open the tunnel, the water drainage will help the following communities: Blue Island,, Burnham, Calumet City, Calumet Park, Chicago, Dixmoor, Dolton, Harvey, Lansing, Markham, Phoenix, Posen, Riverdale, South Holland.  The water will come in and then be pumped in to the water reclamation plant in Calumet and then clean water will be released into the river system.


I tried to pay attention to the details that the guide gave us.  Hope all my information is correct.  It was a very informative day.  

I will leave you with this: Try to learn something new every day!

07-23-2015 Aurora, St. Louis Canyon

Theme photo of the day!

Today for Walker's Club, we were scheduled to go into St. Louis Canyon and Aurora Canyon, passing Sac and Kickapoo Canyons. We generally go to St. Louis first and drop down into Aurora Canyon on they way back.  I thought we would switch it up this time.  Jack from the club says "Going to Aurora Canyon is like having dessert first"  Well said!!  My favorite Canyon is Aurora!

On my way to work yesterday I stopped to take this photo by the Illinois Community College.  The cloud was just hanging there over the field.  Couldn't resist

New carving near the pool patio "Illinois Symbols"

An early "touch me not"

Going into Aurora Canyon

Only so many people fit in Aurora Canyon

The rest of the Walker's Club.  No water in Aurora Canyon

Top of Sac Canyon

Blue Cohosh - the berries are almost blue

Turkey Vulture sunning himself.  We saw him on the West Bluff trail on the way to St. Louis Canyon

Indian Pipe - or the Corpse Plant.  This wildflower does not make any chlorophyll

Coming down the steps heading to St. Louis Canyon

St. Louis Canyon

Everyone loves the Waterfall in St. Louis Canyon

Wild Hydrangea - We have many of these in the park

Ten Petal Sunflower

On the way back to the Lodge, we spotted this pretty big Snapping Turtle. This turtle was about 9 inches wide by 14 inches long.  The top portion of the shell is called the Carapace.  The Scutes are the big squares on the shell.  Most turtles have 13 of these.

When we came upon this turtle, he was on top of this log.  We thought he was stuck or dead.  Turns out he was just hanging out.  When we came upon him, he went off the log and rolled onto his back.  He eventually turned over and was on his way.

He wanted us to leave....

We had 30 hikers today for the walk.  The weather was great for a hike, about 83.  


I will leave you with this: I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.