Fall Camping – LOST

We went on our annual fall camping trip this weekend.

My wife and Kai picked me up after work on Friday and we drove about two hours southwest of the city. We had been to the area the past two autumns, and it is our favorite place to go camping.

This was the first time that we arrived after dark. It was a bit of a challenge getting the tent up in the dark with only our lanterns to light up the area, but we were able to get everything set up, start our campfire, cook dinner, and roast marshmallows.

Kai had been excited with anticipation over our trip all last week, and when my wife picked him up after school on Friday, his teachers at school reported that he was particularly happy.

And though he was quite excited at the campground, he actually slept pretty well that night. I think he just always is more relaxed when he is in the same tent with Mom and Dad, and that helps him to sleep. My wife and I, on the other hand, had trouble adjusting to sleeping in a tent.

But, the next morning, we got up as soon as it started to get light out and Kai helped me start the campfire and get breakfast ready. He was bothered by the smoke, but was happy after he put on his swimming goggles (that we brought for use in the shower as he mostly takes baths at home and does not like to get water in his eyes).

After breakfast, it was time to go hiking.

On our past visits to the area, we have always gone hiking at Starved Rock State Park. It is beautiful there, but we have covered most of the trails there so we wanted to try a new spot. So, we drove over to nearby Mathiessen State Park, which is only a few miles away from Starved Rock.

Many people in the Chicago area are familiar with Starved Rock, and it is a very popular weekend destination. In fact, the worst part of going there are the crowds on the roads, in the parking lot, and on the trails. By contrast, there was hardly anyone at Mathiessen as we started hiking that Saturday morning.

We enjoyed our walk through the serene woods.

The trail we took that led to the Vermilion River. The water level was much lower than it would be in the spring, so we were able to walk along the riverbed.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that some trees were already turning colors.

But our most pleasant surprise was that Kai willingly and eagerly walked with us without complaining. In the past, we found that he often would vociferously complain about how tired he was after just a short distance, taking the fun out of our hikes. This time he actually seemed to enjoy the hike as much as we did.

He enthusiastically commented on how far he thought we had walked. “We’ve gone 3.7 miles!”

Everything was going so well.

Until we got lost.

We were trying to make our way back to the parking lot. On our way to the river, we had not paid close enough attention to landmarks. Now, trying to get back to the parking lot, we found several spots where there are forks in the trail, and we were often unsure of which way to go. On one of the forks, we had gone in the wrong direction.

When we did not return to the parking lot in the amount of time it should have taken, we knew we had gone the wrong way. But rather than turn back, I was confident that we would circle back to the parking lot a different way if we kept going.

Kai kept counting the distance. “That’s 5 miles!” Except now his voice wasn’t so chipper.

At one spot, we found a trail map. But the colors on the map had faded and all the markings looked the same. It was difficult to discern which way we needed to go. We picked a direction and kept walking.

After an additional hour of walking, Kai started to panic.

“We’re never getting out of here! Call the police RIGHT NOW!”

My wife and I tried to talk to him calmly. We will find our way out, we told him. There is no need to call the police until it gets dark, and it is still only 11 AM.

The park is really not that big. I figured that it would only be a matter of time before we found our way. But as we kept walking, I was getting more tired and started wondering just how long it would take.

After awhile longer, we finally ran into some other people on the trail. They had just started their hike so we asked them if they could point us in the direction of the parking lot. Unfortunately, one person said to go one way, while the other said she thought we needed to go a different way.

Hearing their confusion, Kai started yelling. “THIS IS THE WORST HIKE EVER! I’M NEVER GOING HIKING HERE AGAIN!!!”

Eventually we came back to a spot we knew we had been to before, and then we took a different fork and finally came back to the parking lot. It had been about two hours of walking from the time we realized we had taken the wrong turn. Kai estimated that we had walked 10 miles altogether. I think that is probably pretty close.

My wife and I were relieved to finally get back to the car. Kai was still angry.

I was disappointed with myself that we had spoiled Kai’s great attitude by getting lost. We would have to try to undo the damage so he would not be turned off from hiking again.

The first step – getting a cold, refreshing treat!

Kai’s mood improved as he enjoyed his blue raspberry sorbet.

But, he still grumbled that he did not want to go back to Mathiessen ever again. We were planning to go back there the next day to explore a different area. I could see that was going to be a challenge.

Tomorrow: More hiking? And, the rest of our camping trip

Our Starved Rock Camping Trip

“My wife is not the camping type. Before I came along, she had never gone camping in her life. Nor did she ever intend to…”

That’s how this week’s column in the Patch begins. To read the entire story, click here.

Take a Hike!

It looked to be the perfect weekend for camping. The weather was great, the fall colors were nearing their peak, and my son had a three-day weekend with the Columbus Day holiday. What could go wrong?

We returned to Starved Rock State Park, where we went a year ago. Starved Rock is the exception to the drab landscape of most of our state.

This year, we hiked to a few places we did not see last year, including Council Overhang, a large “amphitheater” carved naturally out of the rocks over time.

The waterfall at the end of Ottawa Canyon was mostly dry, but it must be spectacular in the spring.

Kai’s grandfather came with us. He kept up on all the hikes.

But Kai wasn’t much for hiking, at least on the trails that I wanted to go on, and that frustrated me a lot. He seemed fine about walking all around our campground where he could look at the numbers of every campsite.

But, when I wanted to expose him to more of the canyons and bluffs and beauty of the area, he loudly protested. His whining reminded me of the similar time we had this summer when we tried to hike in the Smoky Mountains.

It wasn’t until we went to an apple orchard/pumpkin farm later in the weekend that Kai really smiled a lot. Here you see him enjoy the corn barn where he could meet all of his sensory needs by rolling around in a big pile or corn kernels.

I’m exhausted, more mentally than physically. And when I think of going on another vacation with Kai, the foremost thought in my head is “take a hike!” to that.

I’m sure that will change over time. But, for now, I’m happy to be back in our boring home where we have some peace.

Perfect Getaway for Fall Camping

Outstanding weather.  Gorgeous fall colors.  All the elements of a nice, weekend camping trip were in place.

With our son being off from school for Columbus Day yesterday, we took advantage of the three-day weekend to get away for another camping trip.  Our destination this time: Starved Rock State Park in northern Illinois.

In a state where the predominant landscape is flat cornfields, the beauty of Starved Rock stands out like an ear of Indian corn in a bushel full of feed corn.  Starved Rock has breathtaking bluffs, colorful forests, and impressive canyons.  Located just two hours from downtown Chicago, it is a popular getaway destination for the urban and suburban crowd.

The crowds this weekend were even greater as the nearby town of Utica had their 41^st annual Burgoo Festival.  The name Burgoo, I later learned, refers to the stew served at the festival.  According to Kai’s grandfather, possum is the key ingredient. 

We had no interest in trying the stew or attending the festival.  Or rather, we knew that Kai would have no tolerance for the crowds there.  And what a crowd it was.  According to the sign entering Utica, it has a population of 1,000.  But, this weekend, I would not be exaggerating to say that there were more than 100,000 people at this giant craft fair/flea market/outdoor party that encompassed the entire little town.  As a veteran of many Taste of Chicago festivals, the crowds at the Chicago affairs have nothing on this shindig in Utica.

Our problem was that the only way to get to Starved Rock is to travel through Utica, which basically only has one primary road that goes through it.  As we waited in incredible traffic in a town that has no light signal, Kai got increasingly agitated.  Somehow we managed to get through the town and reach the State Park while we still had some semblance of tolerance for each other.

Once at Starved Rock, our weekend was wonderful.  My wife and I most enjoyed the spectacular scenery while Kai loved camping in a tent.  It was the perfect time of year for camping.  In our area, the leaves are at their peak of vibrancy, and the weather this weekend warmed to 80 degrees.    

Starved Rock is now my wife’s favorite spot for camping.  The trails, besides taking you to and through amazing sights, are well-marked, with plenty of trails being easy to walk for novice outdoors-people like ourselves.  Fall is also a great time to camp because there are virtually no bugs and the humidity is low.

In addition to the camping and hiking, we took a break and went to an orchard about a half hour away to do some apple picking.  It is the tail end of apple season, but Boggio’s Orchard & Produce had enough for us to fill up one bag with Red Delicious apples.  We also picked out a giant pumpkin to bring home.  Plus, they had some fun play areas for kids, with Kai’s favorite being a large “sandbox” that was filled with kernels of corn instead of sand.  My wife and I liked that it wasn’t as messy as sand, and Kai loved the sensation of the corn against his body.

When we returned home yesterday, we were tired but also feeling relaxed.  It was great to have weekend that was fun for all of us.  We will definitely be going back. However, unless we develop a taste for possum stew, I think we will try to avoid the Burgoo weekend next time.

To see more photos, visit Hanabi Boy on Facebook.

Starved Rock State Park has a nice website.  For planning where to hike, I particularly like the detailed information they give on all of their various trails.

To learn more about Boggio’s Orchard & Produce, visit their website.