By: Tom Bamonte
On Saturday, Russ Johnson, Haris Subacius and I decided to paddle the tony suburban Chicago North Shore, from Gillson Park in Wilmette north to Waukegan, a trip of roughly 25 miles.
It was a warm, breezy day. Temperatures were in the 60s, the sun was out, and there was a stiff off-shore wind from the southwest. As the water temperature was around 50 degrees all of us opted for drysuits.
We put in about 8:15 a.m. and aimed for a large chimney a few miles ago. We were steadily pushed off shore by the near beam wind. It wasn't too long before we became uncomfortable with the strength of the wind and how far it was blowing us off course. None of us wanted this to be our day for a Lake Michigan crossing, so we angled closer to shore and stayed within a couple hundred yards of shore most of the rest of the way.
It was a good opportunity to dig in and work on forward paddling technique. Haris and I had watched the new Gordon Brown film at Geneva Kayak Center the night before. No doubt a heavy Scottish accent permeated our brains as we entered, pushed, pulled and released thousands of times.
After about two hours of paddling we stopped at Rosewood Park in Highland Park, one of a number of the pocket parks that are found along this stretch. We've heard that during the summer lifeguards and possibly irate locals would chase us hoi polloi paddlers off these beaches. In the off-season, however, we were able to land and pad around in full paddling regalia without getting the heave ho.
There aren't many spots for guerrilla stops along this stretch. For most of way there is a beach, a sizable bluff, and a string of big houses perched on top of the bluff. Landing and taking a whiz in front of these mansions is unlikely to engender good will for paddlers and is not recommended.
Here and there we would see water intake plants. These, plus the parks, were the only evidence of a public presence on the lakeshore. The North Shore provides a good example of what happens when private property rights predominate at water's edge. The homes are interesting, or at least large, and physically assert a commanding presence over the beach, the water and the view.
Big House
There are also plenty of private efforts to shape the shoreline, most noticeably a large number of small piers designed to catch the suspended sand and keep it on the beach, a kind of beggar thy neighbor approach to sand management.
Fortunately, we were in the mood for paddling and not on-land activities. We forged on to Forest Park in Lake Forest, where we stopped for lunch. Russ and Haris didn't take me up on my generous offer of pickles, but laid waste to my stores of breadsticks and cookies when I took a walk.
After miles and miles of big houses it was a welcome change of pace to come to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in North Chicago. We had to paddle around the harbor entrance and got a distant perspective on the large military complex. From there we had a straight course to the mouth of Waukegan harbor. The wind had died down a bit so we weren't as concerned about going well off shore this stretch.
Waukegan has a nice launch site right downtown. We landed about 3:15 p.m. and were able to load up easily. Russ shuttled Haris and I back to Gillson Park. It was dusk when Haris and I finished packing up. When we looked out into the lake we saw a double kayak tooling up the lake. Despite being somewhat tired, I think we both felt that we wanted to do more paddling.
Despite my fulminations here about triumphalist housing ("look, mine's bigger") and the baleful effects on waterfront access when private interests predominate at the lake's edge, I found the North Shore a nice stretch for paddling. There are bluffs, a long sweeping beach, and little boat traffic. If non-resident paddlers can establish several places where they can land during the summer, the Gillson Park to Waukegan paddle might become more popular.
I started the day feeling lousy and somewhat sick. It had been a long, nasty work week that wore me down physically and emotionally. After several hours of paddling, however, I felt so much better. This was yet another demonstration for me of how good paddling can be for your health assuming, of course, you don't drown.
Thanks Russ and Haris for a nice paddle. But I won't forget those missing cookies.