Exploring the World with Pokémon Go: Des Plaines River Trail 3
Its been some time since I visited Illinois. But here I was which meant it was time to explore Des Plaines River Trail 3. I hiked a good 8 miles for these photos.
A year ago I explored up to mile marker 5. I didn’t quite remember how far away from the last park I would be starting. But it wasn’t a big deal, because Des Plaines River Trail 3 is a section that I have traveled down before. Mostly in my youth. Especially when I was running cross country in High School. For that reason this section holds a special and positive place in my memories.
So what did I find here? Specifically things I probably would have ignored as a kid. Marshes and open swampland interested me at a base level. But more so in fantasy fiction than in reality. But then I moved to Florida and learned all about these vital ecosystems. Returning to Illinois and seeing this temperate marshes is a wonderful experience. Especially now that I can see the differences between them and the subtropical ones in Florida.
Something you will notice in the pictures above and below is that many of the trees don’t have leaves. That isn’t because an entire is dead. Far from it. Winter just ended recently here and the trees have not fully regrown their leaves yet. It created a surreal place where there was no snow on the ground but you wouldn’t be faulted for thinking it was winter.
Mile Marker 6
The segment of Des Plaines River Trail 3, specifically the part that took me past Mile Marker 6 was defined by a railroad following the trail very closely. So close in fact that signs on each end of this segment warn about close proximity to the tracks. And there are many more signs along those tracks warning against stepping onto them.
I was surprised by the lack of a barrier between the trail and tracks. Now that I have worked for the railroad and know the rules of right of way, its clear that the trail is within that right of way. Yet one could casually walk on the tracks if they were foolish enough to want to. I assume its easier for workers to reach a more isolated section of the tracks from the trail rather than travel down the tracks themselves.
Other than the tracks, it was mostly the same here as the first section. There were a lot of sunken logs in the swamp and some sections where the water was completely missing. And of course there were parts of the swamp where both were true at the same time. I wondered and still do what sorts of animals and fauna live around these fallen logs. Death leads to life. Especially in bogs.
Mile Marker 7
The third section of Des Plaines River Trail 3 took me beyond Mile Marker 7 and through what I considered my favorite part of the day’s hike. These trees that look dead but are not dominated the entire landscape here. Its truly a surreal place to be and the pictures don’t really do it justice.
Another limitation of photos rather than video is that readers will miss out on all the unique sounds. There tons of birds and insects flying around me. And countless other critters on the ground. Some more welcome than others consider a snake crossed in front of me at one point. I don’t think it was a venomous one, but only a fool takes that risk when snakes are involved.
The tracks follow the trail here too. Though not as closely as they did in the other segment. Here instead, greenery keeps the two paths separate from one another. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a prime train watching spot though. One very long freight train going by in the opposite direction took more than 3 minutes to pass. It even had an engine in the middle of all the cars which is how I knew it was gonna be a long one.
Mile Marker 8
I felt nostalgic for my childhood as I passed through the final part of Des Plaines River Trail 3. Its rare that I think back to those days given I was a mess emotionally and still ashamed of the person I was back then. Also I didn’t peak in high school taking another reason away from me liking that part of my life.
What I did enjoy though were the times I would walk around downtown Gurnee after school and eat ice cream at Dairy Queen. Then again I might miss those days cause I didn’t get a stomach ache after eating ice crream.
Oh right. You are here for the trail, not me info dumping about my childhood. Let’s talk about this section of the trail. Specifically about the unique feature here. There is a large bridge that crosses over US Route 41. That same route is also in Florida and marks one of the few roads I have never lived far from. The bridge itself is a landmark that I have featured in this blog before in fact. But this time around I made sure to explore the whole trail too.
Pokémon Go
Well, I talked quite a bit about Des Plaines River Trail 3 and my personal connection especially to this section of it. So how does a major part of my childhood compare to other places I have explored in Pokémon Go? Well if you might assume that similar to lots of other trails that I have explored that it would have few spawns and even fewer Pokestops. You would also be wrong.
The above image is not near a park. Its around the center of the trail away from many major streets. The Pokestops are not endless but there is one at every single mile marker including the smaller and inconsistent ones. Many of the signs are Pokestops or Gyms as well.
But where this trail excels is the spawns. Look at the above image. It was like that almost the entire walk. Nonstop spawns many of them very rare Pokémon in the wild like the Primeape. I saw a wild Claydol too.
Eggs
I walked 8 miles for this blog post and there was an egg hatching event in Pokemon Go making everything cut in half distance wise. So its obvious that I hatched lots of eggs. Most of the walk was clearing out older eggs to increase my chances at hatching Tinkatink which was just added to the game during this adventure. I didn’t hatch any during the walk, but when I got home two popped out of eggs that I started during the walk.
I did like the Hattena though. Never will say no to Hatterine Candy.
I walked one Kilometer of Des Plaines River Trail 3 with a blue incense active. And mostly caught event Pokémon. But I did a Lampent. That made me happy.
Here I am smiling cause I got to experience nostalgia in a weird way at a place that seems insignificant to lots of people but means a lot to me. The next time I hike down the Des Plaines River Trail I’ll really be taking a walk down memory lane cause it passes right by my highschool and then under several of the streets I grew up driving around. It might be a while till I continue this adventure though. Hopefully less than a year this time around.