On the Hennepin Pt. 2

Cement fence posts were made on site with steel rod reinforcements.  Still standing!

Bridge over the Hennepin.

This one's easier to explain than show. There are several aqueducts along the Hennepin in which the Hennepin crosses over a natural creek.  The Hennepin is its own water system and is not a part of the surrounding water basin. Because the bed of the canal is lined with clay, the system is predominantly above the surrounding grade. In other words,my he water of the Hennepin is above the cornfields as well as the marshland that tends to run alongside the canal.

Normally the aqueduct consists of a cement bridge that carries the canal, along with any barges.  However, instead of repairing aged aqueducts, it has been easier to channel the water coming from the central feeder canal through large pipes under any creeks or rivers and then back up to where the canal continues. 

The actual water flow of the canal is minimal compared to a natural river that handles the fluctuating water runoff of a region. The canal is currently adjusted to allow enough flow to keep the water from stagnating.  

If you look carefully in the last picture, you will see that there is a double wall that holds back the canal and that there is water swirling up from below.

To Savanna

Great Western Trail - Western Portion

Found, on the way out of town in LeRoy Oakes Park.

Onward, onward, onward...

Next to Route 64...

Afternoon shadows...

Fields and sky...

Leaving Lake Michigan!

Illinois Wanderlust? With my summer break winding down, filled with earnest home improvement, I took a moment to put my head above water and reflect.  What would be the most important thing I could accomplish before I returned to another busy year of teaching?

Though I had accomplished much on my list in the way of home improvement and car maintenance, my list also seemed to be getting longer.  But there was another list; a list of dreams. I realized the most important thing I could do before my free time was limited to occasional evenings and weekends was to make one of my "wanderlust" dreams come true.

Aside from riding to the store or a few five to ten mile rides per week that combined an appointment or other errand, I was not in particularly good shape. I remembered reading a few weeks ago some good advice from a late-in-life bicycle tourist - "just go. Take it easy, and you will get in shape." I decided at that moment I would try to ride from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.

I had plotted out a route in my mind many times before, often scribbled down on random pieces of paper. My worst-case-scenario was I could take the train back from Geneva. I also realized that while it was important for me to experience the breadth of Illinois, my home state, it was also important for me to just be "out there." 

I yearned to be out under the open sky, to see the clouds, to stretch my eyesight and to smell the fields and forests of my youth. And so after an early morning bike ride to the lakefront, I was off!