2008 CHICAGO NORTH SIDE CIRCUMNAVIGATION TRIP REPORT

This year I waited patiently for several weeks for that perfect fall day for the second annual circumnavigation of Chicago's north side.  (Last year's trip report here.)  The day finally came on Halloween.

I left home in darkness, zipped up the Edens Expressway and got somewhat lost once I exited.  I somehow found my way to Central Street and from there to Sheridan Road.  Along the way I crossed a couple of bridges.  There below me was the North Shore Channel, black as the night.

My launch site was on the northwest side of the Sheridan Road bridge over the Channel, right across from the Bahai Temple.  The whole area was a construction site so I had to dodge a bulldozer or two and bump my way through torn up pavement to get down close to the water. 

It was still dark when I dropped off my boat. 

Launch site

The guerrilla launch site is down a steep, wooded bank, so the best that can be said of it is that you have gravity helping you out.   By the time I had changed into my wetsuit and packed my boat, the sun was starting to rise.  On one side of me was the locks separating Lake Michigan from the North Shore Channel. 

North Shore Channel Locks

On the other side of me was a typical view down the Channel.  This is a truly lovely stretch of "river," a nice complement to the industrialized stretches encountered further south.

North Shore Channel

I put in about 7:15 a.m. and paddled solo for the first 2.5 hours.   Along the way I picked off the burrs that had gotten attached to me at the launch site.  The weak, late October sun seemed to take forever to rise over the east bank.

 Rising sun

One of the benefits of the slow rising sun was the opportunity to see trees in full color backlit quite nicely.

Backlit Trees

I took a short break at a nice spot near Foster Avenue, where the North Shore Channel ends and you pick up the real Chicago River.  From here you leave the ditch-like Channel to begin a somewhat winding course to downtown.

Tom Heineman joined me at Clark Park at about 9:45 a.m., a bit less than a third of the way into the circumnavigation.  Tom had claimed that he wasn't in sufficient paddling shape to do the full circumnavigation.  I took this claim with a bit of skepticism, given that Tom had circumnavigated Lake Michigan just two years ago, and suspected that he just wanted to sleep in a bit. 

The character of the river changes south of  Diversey, becoming more industrial.  At about Armitage Avenue we encountered our first barge and passed a steel mill and associated scrap businesses.  As some pessimist once said, the Chicago River is "good for crap and scrap."  Let's hope the river will someday be good enough for eskimo rolls.

Scrap pile

We stopped at the world headquarters of Kayak Chicago just south of North Avenue for a short break.  We pushed off about 11 a.m. and were soon in the Loop.  By now the sun was fully up and there was a slight haze.

Tom H. and haze

After missing shots all morning of Metra and CTA trains passing over bridges that span the North Shore Channel and the Chicago River, I finally got a shot of a CTA train going over the Lake Street Bridge.

CTA money shot

The view to the east was spectacular.

  East view

There was work being done on several bridges downtown from barges moored in the river, which added to the excitement of dodging the water taxis and tour boats. 

We made it through the locks near Navy Pier without incident and were soon on the open lake.  By now the air temperature was in the low 60s.  There was a nice breeze from the south and slight waves running at about our speed.  We had planned to stop at North Avenue beach for lunch, but in light of our good fortune we aimed straight for Montrose and arrived a little before 2 p.m.  I realized that Tom's Nordkapp was pumpkin colored, which was most appropriate for the day.  (At least I think so, as I am partially color blind.)

Tom H. and Nordkapp

Tom made contact with Tim Flentye, who promised to meet us in Evanston.  Tim paddles a boat that looks like a rocket turned on its side and goes just about as fast relative to the fuddy-duddy British touring kayaks Tom and I were paddling.  Tom and I felt great when we hit 6 miles an hour on occasion in the following seas.  Tim can probably do 6 miles an hour in his boat using a set of wooden spoons for paddles.  Clearly, Tim would have been miserable doing the entire circumnavigation at our pace, and vice-versa.

Tom and I were paddling on a straight line from Montrose to the point at Evanston University, well out from shore.  We saw Tim much closer to shore as we passed Loyola University.  We were about parallel to each other.  Soon we lost sight of Tim.

This is where I began to fear for Tom's sanity.  We pondered what might have accounted for Tim's disappearance and feared the effects of the 50 degree water if he had tipped over.  Tom ventured the opinion that because we were on a straight line and Tim was following the shore, then maybe we were beating Tim to Evanston.  I knew that the thought we were going faster than Tim to be objectively insane and worried for Tom's mental state.

Fortunately, we soon spied a speck off of the Northwestern University point and after some hard paddling we saw that it was indeed Tim Flentye, literally cooling his heels astride his rocket.

Tim Flentye cools his heels

We landed at Gilson Park in Wilmette, in sight of the Bahai Temple, at about 4:45 p.m.  The setting sun illuminated the trees just like the rising sun had done 9 hours before.

Tree at Gilson Park

Both Tom and I felt good about the paddle.  The forecasted wind shift from the south to the northwest had held off until after we landed.  The full circumnavigation had taken about a half hour less time to complete than last year’s circumnavigation and we hadn’t really been racing.  We felt ready for more paddling.  Tim Flentye promised us dinner at his home 20 miles up the lake if we wanted to keep paddling.  With a big grin Tim even offered to spot us a hour's head start, an invitation that we wisely declined no matter how good we felt.

Tom & Tom

Tim did model his CASKA logo tattoo, a remarkable mark of dedication to paddling.  I think we had better line up some tattoo parlors as CASKA sponsors.  If my arms weren't too skinny to hold the full logo I'd be first in line.

Tim's CASKA logo tattoo

Kristen Flentye, Tim's photogenic but photo averse wife, pulled up in a pickup to haul Tim and his boat home.  She teased us about having to do all the work while we were out playing, a charge to which we happily pleaded guilty.

Tom and I loaded our boats on my car.  The sun had set and a nice chill was descending.  I caught one last glimpse of the lake, the haze and the water merging into a lovely backdrop for the beach vegetation.

Last glimpse of lake

We drove back to Clark Park down McCormick, which parallels the North Shore Channel.  As the weariness started to settle in, I reflected back on what I saw of the same scenes from the water.  I also realized that in rush hour traffic we were going only about three times as fast by car as I had in a kayak earlier in the day.  I dropped Tom and his boat off at Clark Park and headed home for a shower and dinner, which always tastes so much better after a long paddle.

I'm already looking forward to next year's circumnavigation. 

Tom Bamonte