Starved Rock State Park

Top row, left to right:
Matt (my sisters son) Chris (my sister's daughter) Ronna (my girlfriend), Andy and Angie (Angie is Chris's daughter, Andy is her boyfriend)
Bottom row, left to right:
My sister Nancy, Kim (Matts wife) and their son Colin, myself.

Right now Ronna and I are in the middle of getting ready to attend our first truck camper rally in Amana IA this weekend. But it’s been awhile since I last posted an update  soI thought I would take a moment and write a bit before we leave in the morning.

My 2 weeks at Starved Rock State Park near Ottawa IL were wonderful, although the weather for the first several days was extremely hot. On some days the heat index hit 104 and kept me off the trails.  On other days the heavy rains kept me around the campsite.

During my second weekend my sister and her clan spent 4 days and 3 nights camped next to me. It was great to see them all and the weather for these tent campers was just perfect; cool nights, comfortable days and no rain to speak of (photo above). I can tell you that these tent campers sure now how to put on the feed bag!

Starved Rock is a hikers and photographers paradise. There are many miles of well-marked trails and 18 canyons to explore. The park boasts a beautiful, log lodge built by the CCC as well as a restaurant that serves breakfast lunch and dinner. The original lodge has been added to over the years and now has hotel rooms, an indoor pool, hot tub and steam baths. There are log cabins for rent as well.

The lodge hosts many weddings and has events year around. This includes Eagle Watch in January. Many Bald Eagles migrate down from the northern states as the lakes freeze over and stay near the park, were the dams on the Illinois River provide them with open water and good fishing.

One could write volumes about this place and its history but I’ll supply a link here and you can do your own reading.

http://www.starvedrockstatepark.org/

The campground is divided into 2 loops and all sites are reservable. There is a variety of wooded, open and partially wooded sites. All have electric and there are shower houses as well as portable toilets in various locations. A camp store has all the necessities and fire wood. The campground is not in the park proper but just south of it. You will need your vehicle to get to the park (about 1.5 miles away) and to get to any of the remote parking lots which serve the canyon hikes that are a further distance from the lodge.

Every summer weekend sees the campground full and the park itself crowded.  But come on a week day and hit he trail early and you may just have a canyon or two all to yourself.

I left Starved Rock on Monday and have spent the last 2 nights back at Paul Wolff campground in Elgin IL. Dropped off the camper and took the truck to Ronna’s house for a good cleaning. Loaded back up this morning and spent all day today washing and cleaning the camper. After 3 months in the woods it really needed a bath.

Well, its getting late and there are still things to do before Ronna and I head for Iowa in the morning. It’s our first truck camper rally and I’m looking forward to it. I believe there are 21 or 22 rigs that will be attending. The Amana Colonies and a tour of a Frank Lloyd Wright house will fill our 4 days stay. I’ll tell you all about it on my next post.

Here are some photos from Starved Rock:

 

 

Camp Paul Wolff

Thought I would write a bit about Paul Wolff Campground where I spent the last week. This is for the benefit of anyone considering a trip to northern Illinois.

The campground is owned and operated by Kane County and, not being a state or federal park, a bit obscure. While it seems very popular with the locals and some out-of-towners, I think it tends to be overlooked by most visitors to the region.

There are 89 sites all with water and 50 amp electrical service. Also 10 walk-in tent only sites but tents are welcome to stay on most any site. The sites are divided into an older section and a newer section. All have asphalt pads and most are fairly level.

The older section has mature trees and picnic tables / fire rings set in the grassy area of the site. There is a set of railroad tracks just east of the older section (where I was camped) but I didn’t find this disturbing at all. Only 1 or 2 trains a day pass through and I was never awoken during the night.

The newer section has slightly wider pads and the fire rings are set in an area of crushed stone. The trees in the newer area are quite immature and offer little, if any shade.

There are both vault toilets and flush toilets available, but no shower or laundry facilities. The facilities are very well maintained and the park workers friendly and helpful. Fire wood is available on site and there are 2 dump stations (free when staying in the park, otherwise $15).

No reservations are accepted but I arrived the Wednesday before the 4^th of July and had no problem finding a suitable site. When I left the following Wednesday the place was quite empty. However it was about 2/3 full over the holiday weekend. You can take a site for 7 days at a time with a maximum stay of 14 days in any 21 day period. Non-residents pay $25 per night.

There are miles of hiking trails and a small fishing pond but what really makes this campground is its location to many area attractions and easy transportation into Chicago. It’s also very close to many restaurants and shopping on Randall Road.

Here are just a few of the attractions that are less than an hour away. The Metra will take you into downtown Chicago but the Big Timber Station only operates on the weekdays. On weekends you would have to drive to the Elgin Station

 

Big Timber Metra station 2.6 miles / Elgin Metra station 4.2 miles
http://metrarail.com/content/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/metra_system_map.html

 

Chicago Botanic Gardens 38 miles
http://www.chicagobotanic.org/

 

The Morton Arboretum 38 miles
http://www.mortonarb.org/

 

Cantigny First Division Museum / McCormick Estate Museum 28 miles
http://www.firstdivisionmuseum.org/
http://www.cantigny.org/museums/mccormick/default.aspx

 

Naper Settlement 31 miles
http://www.napersettlement.org/

 

Volo Auto Museum 28 miles
http://volocars.com/#sthash.DSzjmIV1.dpbs

 

Here is a link to the campground:

http://kaneforest.com/ForestPreserveView.aspx?ID=11

 

And a few photos. As you can see, the pond was our favorite subject.

 

 

 

 

Lake Shabbona X2

 

It’s now Tuesday, July 2^nd, about 4:15 in the afternoon and I thought I would get this post done before grilling up a steak for dinner. I will be leaving tomorrow morning and heading for Paul Wolff campgrounds in Elgin, IL where I will spend 9 days or so

 It rained almost every day for the first 8 days of my 11 day stay here at Shabbona Lake. It got so humid in the evening hours I had to put on the AC, even though it was in the low 70’s. But Sunday, Monday and today were just beautiful, cool temps, nice breeze and no humidity.

 Last Friday I dumped the tanks and filled the fresh water (have to do that about every 7 or 8 days.). Either someone had an accident or it was deliberate but a black tank had been emptied out along the curb gutter next to the dump cap. On my way back I stopped and told the camp host that unless it was raining toilet paper and feces, someone had left him a present at the dump station. He said he would take care of it (another reason not to be a camp host).

 Had some interesting neighbors during my stay. There were 2 old Polish guys who arrived early one evening at the spot to my right. They never set up camp, just slept in their car and it looked like the beers were popping at 0700 the following morning (hair of the dog?). I saw a bunch of fishing stuff around their car, along with a lot of paper shopping bags. Who knows what was up with them? They were gone by 1000 hours the next day.

 On my left side was a couple from Georgia. Early one morning I saw the male getting out of his vehicle with a pillow and blankets. I thought perhaps there was trouble in paradise, but wrong, wrong, wrong. Seems they were out fishing till 0100 and when they returned they found the camp raided by the raccoons. All the eggs in the cooler were eaten and a full tub of butter was licked clean (animals after my own heart). One of the critters had ripped a hole in the side of the tent and made off with a loaf of bread. They decided to sleep in their car rather than in the tent which had been ventilated nicely by the bandits. First time I heard of raccoons tearing into a tent, but keeping any kind of food inside a tent isn't the best habit.

Ronna came out for a visit on Saturday and Sunday. It rained heavily most of the day Saturday so we sat in the camper and discussed photography. Sunday was much nicer and we managed to get out and practice with the cameras a bit.

Now that the rain has subsided and my leg is at 100% I’m able to get out and about, hunting for some good pictures; spent most of Monday and all of Tuesday morning doing that. On one of the trails I came across a bridge that almost got wiped out by the swollen Indian Creek. Huge trees had been washed down and slammed into the footbridge (picture below).

Other than that it’s been a quiet week here, just as I like it. The campground is about empty but I’m sure that’s due to change with the upcoming holiday.

 Oh, by the way, the restaurant (picture below) is named after Shabbona’s wife.