Trip Report Detail
Trip ID: 77 Back to list of trip reports. Trip reports from 2004-5. This trip report has been viewed
358 times. | River or Event: | | Salt Creek |
| Location: | | Oak Brook (Graue Mill) IL |
| Start Date: | | October 7, 2006 |
| End Date: | | October 7, 2006 |
| Trip Leader's Name: | | Glenn Jensen |
| Trip Level: | | Intermediate |
| Water Level: | | high |
| Gauge Name: | | 4 Feet |
| Trip Distance (miles): | | 11 |
| Number of Watercraft: | | 11 |
| Number of People: | | 13 |
| Put in Location: | | Graue Mill, York Rd two mile north of Ogden Avenue. |
| Take out Location: | | Take Odgen east to Plank Road Forest Preserve. |
| Round trip carshift time (min): | | 30 mn |
| Report: | | A blissful day on the Salt. Recent rains raised the Salt up six feet over its normal level just three days prior to this event. The Salt dropped most of its extra water in two days. However, the gauges were reading about eighteen inches higher than what is usually expected for this time of year. The current moved swifty throughout the trip and what was exposed gravel bars turned into pleasant riffles.
Prior to the trip I warned paddlers that because of flooding, the Salt pulls in wood from the forest floor and log jams are likely. We encountered a major jam at the foot bridge in Bemis Woods. High banks made portaging here a cumbersome task. The river remained open the next seven miles. We experienced two jams at Brookfield Zoo which will probably disappear during the next hard rainfall. We pulled over the jams without great difficulty and finished the trip about an hour sooner than planned.
Few animals were seen, but fall colors made up for the dearth of wildlife. Our lunch stop at Brezina Woods was ideal. At the end of the trip, we agreed that this was a wonderful paddle. Adding to the pleasurable trip was that most members had less than a twenty minute drive home. |
| Report Author: | | Glenn Jensen |
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