Exploring the World with Pokémon Go: Des Plaines River Trail 7
Back on the trail and eager for another hike, I returned to continue hiking the Des Plaines River Trail. Des Plaines River Trail 7 was not part of any forest preserve, and only passed alongside another state park. This section also had a lot less mosquitoes as it moved away from the Des Plaines River. There was a lot to see as the trail made its way between a couple towns and under a few bridges too. Let’s see what I found and what previews for my next adventure one might spot.
Mile Marker 19
Des Plaines River Trail 7 started me right where I left off before. Right under the Illinois Route 176 Bridge. Beyond that bridge I found myself in deep forest and unfortunately plenty of standing water. Despite my best efforts, I once again forgot bug spray. And the insects that make this place their home were just as happy to see (smell) me as the ones last time.
But the swarms here were nowhere near as horrible. And you can tell that since I took far more pictures than before. Photos such as the nice houses that you can just barely see through the tree line. Pictures of nice looking benches that each have dedications giving credit to who I assume donated money for that resting place to exist.
As I made my way towards Mile Marker 19 and beyond another street, I said goodbye to the Des Plaines River. I wouldn’t be seeing much of it for the rest of the hike since the trail moves almost half a mile away from it. In fact, I won’t be seeing the river again on this blog till the end of the next adventure.
Mile Marker 19.25
The road down Des Plaines River Trail 7 took me towards Mile Marker 19.25 and peace that didn’t have a side order of insects. At least not the blood sucking variety. Those seemed much happier by the water. I’m happy for their preferences as it let me continue my adventure without them joining the fun.
I didn’t think much of it while hiking, but after living in Florida for so long, the idea of the ground being covered in leaves should have been a bigger deal to me. It isn’t fall yet in Illinois when I’m writing this, but it will be by the end of this month. And then I can’t wait to get pictures of the changing seasons. Something that never would have happened in Florida.
For this post at least, everything continued to be lively and green. The leaves on the ground only were making way for new ones to sprout. Life can be wonderful sometimes. Even if nature can be just as terrifying. Remember, bloodsucking insects were not too far away.
Mile Marker 19.5
Mile Marker 19.5 was where Des Plaines River Trail 7 really opened up to one of my favorite land forms on this series of hikes. I keep loving the fields of marsh flowers that appear whenever the woods vanishes. These sections of the trail feel like something out of a fairy tale. No sign of human life aside from the trail itself. Instead birds singing provide a proper backdrop of music.
I even got a few pictures of those birds. Don’t know the species of most of them. It isn’t one of my areas of expertise. But they were certainly birds. There were birdhouses for them too just off the trail. Far enough away from the human visitors for the animals to live in their preferred habitats.
Mile Marker 20
The next section of Des Plaines River 7 took me all the way to Mile Marker 20 and past the park I’ll be exploring next time. I got to go through a little tunnel under St. Mary’s Road which has a local county number of W19. I don’t know those designations off the top of my head like I do for the state and us highways but I’ll mention them when I remember to.
That would only be the first time the trail would go under St Mary’s Road, but you will need to keep reading this post to see the second bridge and tunnel. Instead I want to draw your attention to two different signs that told two different important stories. The first warned people away by stating that pesticides had been sprayed recently. I’m not sure what was used, but I would like to think that the people that allow this stuff to be used in a forest preserve would care about nature.
As for the second sign, its a far more positive message. Something must have happened to this place that caused quite a bit of damage to the environment. I inferred this from said sign that thanked volunteers for helping restore the place. That sounds like a wonderful undertaking. Though I’m left wondering what happened that required restoration efforts in the first place. I might never know.
Mile Marker 20.25
Des Plaines River Trail 7 took in all the features I mentioned earlier and combined them all in this section. All the way up to Mile Marker 20.25 that is. It was quite a feat that everything I loved about this section of the trail was all filled in this small segment between mile markers.
I considered sitting at one of the benches as I was in no real rush. But I feared that once I sat down, I wouldn’t want to keep hiking. So I kept the temptation away and ignored any chances for rest. I suppose wanting to rest and smell the flowers is part of a fairy tale too. A good thing this isn’t one of my horror novels or sitting down would have been a serious mistake.
Mile Marker 20.75
The section of Des Plaines River Trial 7 that took me to Mile Marker 20.75 ran alongside a trail that would have taken me into the nearby park. I’ll be exploring that place next time, but I wanted to offer an explanation on why there appear to be gaps in my pictures here. The odd jump in mile markers was not my mistake though. They can be inconsistent on this trail.
I have not mentioned it yet, but this hike was in perfect weather. Not too hot or cold and with the sun behind clouds I was protected from any harmful UV Radiation that my hat couldn’t already block. Should I be so lucky moving forward. Alas I doubt this will continue. Florida taught me to prepare for hikes in the rain. And I’ll do the same in Illinois if I have to.
I have to commend the Des Plaines River Trail for its accurate and frequent signage. This entire series of hikes has never had a moment where I wasn’t sure if I was going the right way or not. I don’t think any other trail I have ever hiked at least one of comparable length can have the same claim. I’ll see how I feel about this trail when I finish the entire Lake County portion, but I’m feeling good so far.
Mile Marker 21
Heading towards Mile Marker 21, Des Plaines River Trail splits off from that other trail as well as the park that it travels through. Instead I emerged from the forest and found one of my favorite features in the world. And one that is quite common in the Chicagoland area. Train tracks of course.
This one wasn’t a Metra track. Instead as clearly marked on the crossing sign, this track was owned by Canadian National Railway, or CN for short. A little fact I’ll drop since I already brought it up is what to do if you get stuck at a railroad crossing. Those signs near every crossing don’t just tell you who owns a track, it also has a number to call in case you get stuck by a malfunctioning gate. I saw this plenty working for the railroad and I don’t think enough people know that this is something you can do.
Mile Marker 21.25
For the second to last section of Des Plaines River Trail 7 and the last one with a Mile Marker, I followed alongside those railroad tracks. Unfortunately the tree line kept the tracks out of sight. And no train came by while I was here. I’m guessing this specific track isn’t used that much and exists as a connector line to the more important routes. But I would have to ask someone more versed on infrastructure to know for sure.
The entire time I could hear cars driving by. And that was how I knew my adventure would soon be coming to an end. That street I had gone under earlier, St Mary’s Road was the clear marker that designated where my next hike down this trail would begin. But that is for the next section.
I’m not sure how many more miles remain on the trail before I cross into Cook County, which is where Chicago actually is, but I think its less than 30. That means I’m approaching a major milestone soon. 21.25 is not far from that at all.
The Final Stretch
The final segment of Des Plaines River Trail 7 was really just one final walk to the end. You can see the second of two bridges right there at the end. I think this might be nearing the most bridges and tunnels in one post. Is it cheating if two of those are because of the same street? No. I didn’t decide the trail should zigzag past the street and back under it.
Next time I’ll be exploring a park. But the time after that, I intend to return to the other side of that bridge and continue the adventure. The next section of the trail will take me past a place I visited a lot when I was a teenager and I’ll soon get to see it from a completely different angle.
Pokémon Go
Well, the trail was long and lots of scenic spots. How about Pokemon Go? How did Des Plaines River Trail 7 do compared to other sections of this same trail? I give it a passing grade. The spawns were plentiful. Maybe a little too plentiful in fact. I ran out of Pokeballs which points to the big problem this section has. While there are a few pokestops and gyms which puts it above several other parts, they are mostly concentrated near the park.
The southern half of the hike was almost completely void of ways to replenish items. So maybe if you want to catch everything, make sure to stock up before you leave the park that I’ll be exploring in the next blog post.
I hatched four eggs on this walk and a few of them have good stats. Not sure if they are PvP viable, but they are likely enough to be that I held onto them and intend to check online when I am willing to go a large list of Pokémon marked for the same purpose. So maybe a few of these hatches are great. But its also possible that everything pictured above is a dud.
What wasn’t a dud was this walk. While I am a little itchy as I write this because of all the bugs that attacked me, I can’t help but smile after completing this hike. I have gone on several hikes so far this week, and intend to go on one more before I start a new job. Look forward to that next adventure soon.