This Friday’s adventure was truncated. Here in the midwest, we had a little over 24 hours of poor air quality due to wildfires up in Canada. I did my 12,000 steps outside on Thursday morning and it wasn’t too bad except for the smell. By the afternoon, the air was thicker and probably too unpleasant for heavy exercise. In an effort to allow the smoke to dissipate, I left later than usual on Friday. It was probably the right decision–the air quality was much better when I arrived in Kankakee. But it meant that the humidity had kicked in by the time I started. With a heat index of 105F/40.5C, I struggled to keep up the pace after only a couple of hours.
I walked the paved trail behind Rock Creek. That may have been a mistake. I figured there would be a path through the woods and down to the creek. Every paths into the woods was rough, rocky terrain, and the few that looked promising were covered in spider webs with lots of free-floating, alien-looking insects all around them. I am not Indiana Jones. I am not that brave.
I walked the trail for an hour and 40 minutes in hopes that a clear path to the canyon would present itself. It never did. I went back to my car. After a short drive, I found another trail called the riverwalk which might have been a better option. I walked on it for a little bit, but I was dead tired by that time.
Anyway, the park is lovely. I’m sure I only saw a tiny fraction of it. As I was driving out, I saw an entrance for a north loop. That might be more of what I was hoping for in terms of trails. I don’t know. The Kankakee River area is huge.
This is one I’ll come back to next year with a better plan. It might be a little above my amateur hiking level–like a place for true outdoorsmen who know that they’re doing. There were lots of people fishing.
After that, I stopped in the lovely town of Bourbonnais. They have the coolest little park/museum called Perry’s Farm.
And of course, I had to stop and get a picture of this:
It’s Abe Lincoln, bitch!
Overall, not the best trip, but I made do with the circumstances. For a moment on Friday morning, I was thinking of skipping this week. The conditions weren’t great and my usual schedule (leaving early and getting started before the bad heat arrives) was off. But who cares. I had fun. I got some exercise. And when I eventually return, I’ll have a good game plan.
Next week, the temperature is going to drop into the 80s (the high 20s). I’ll be ready for a full day.
James Scott Byrnside 