| Paddlers drift lazily down the upper stretch of the Des Plaines River. |
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Paddling the Upper Des Plaines River
Conservation efforts have improved this stretch of river
By Bob McCray
Herodotus said, "No man can enter the same river twice, because the second time it is not the same river and he is not the same man."
Growing up near the Des Plaines River I have mixed memories: as a kid, sledding down its banks in winter; as a Cub Scout, skinny dipping in a backwater one spring (only to find a troop of Brownies was peeking
through the trees); as an eighth grader floating the river on a log, with two friends and their black lab. In college, one time, we were canoeing under a bridge, and a black limousine drove over and tossed a leather valise into the river full of empty shells and a pistol (we gave it to police). I can't forget the foggy night watching firemen drag for the bodies of two fishermen near the dam.
My wife and I have biked and hiked its beautiful riverside trails, and I've sea kayaked the Des Plaines; however, I don't remember a crystal clear, bubbly stream like the Bois Brule or the Wolf. Though picturesque, the Des Plaines has always been muddy, and one of those rivers where the smell is in your car a few days after you've paddled it. As my daughter used to say, "It smells like I got a turtle crawling on me."
I'd heard about the Upper Des Plaines and wanted to canoe it with the Prairie State Canoe Club (because trip leaders are experienced with the water levels, routes, deadfall, and problems such as dams on that section), but I never made it. Then I discovered that the Des Plaines River Watershed Alliance sponsors an annual Canoe Expedition (mid-June) – a 3-day, 80-mile trip from Kenosha County, Wis., down to
Romeoville, Ill., with "Ecology-education" stops along the way to spread the word about restoring the river to health.
I joined the expedition near Prairie Springs Park, Wis. It began with a reading from writer/naturalist Phil Sander, a 94-year-old Kenosha County resident known as the voice of the river.
"The wetlands and the river have a personality all their own. The climate, geography, and wildlife differ, but the calmness and order run through each one."
Below the route 165 bridge, the Southwest Voyageur Canoe Brigade paddlers launched their canoe with guest passen-gers from local government and the press, and after singing "Allouette" to set the 7-mile-per-hour pace, disappeared down river.
I launched my sea kayak downstream at the Russell Road Canoe Launch, to paddle upstream for some photos. It was a good decision. Paddling alone I met a beautiful, winding river, narrow in spots, with some
riffles, and a shoreline alternating between oak, elm and willow – and bright, sunny marshland, with occasional clusters of water lilies. It was exciting to find this wilderness-like setting 45 minutes from home, very different from middle sections of the river I'd paddled.
After a quite hour on the river, I connected with the Voyageurs, who had portaged around some deadfall. We paddled together and put ashore at Russell Road (in Illinois), where we heard about proposed solutions
for Lake County flooding, including a deep tunnel to divert storm water into Lake Michigan, and a comprehensive watershed program involving work on Des Plaines tributaries.
The next stop down river for the paddlers was the Wadsworth Road Canoe Launch, where we heard the good news about the 450-acre wetlands restoration project. Begun in 1980 on forest preserve property, the objective was to recreate a wetlands that could improve water quality and storm water management.
Some earth moving was required. Pumps and outlet pipes raise the water into the wetlands and control water levels for research. The results: when the river runs through it, the wetland's vegetation "slurps up" the nitrogen and phosphorus. Previously muddy river water runs clear. It doesn't take 1,000 years to recreate a wetland – only a few. Soil characteristics of a wetlands begin to occur in weeks! (The Wadsworth
restoration may help set the standards for recreated wetlands.) Even better, the wildlife – beaver, muskrat, the endangered yellow-winged blackbird, egrets, and herons – have increased dramatically.
I joined the paddlers again, heading south from Wadsworth for a short but photogenic stretch of river, twisting through wetlands, forest and a reedy shoreline. At the first of two cable dams (which required portaging) I paddled back to the canoe launch.
From Wadsworth, I "cartopped" to Gurnee, Ill., where I intended to launch and paddle upstream for photos, but, because of the beer cans and litter along the riverbanks that day, I left my kayak on the car. The pollution underscored the presentation by the Wisconsin-Illinois Upper Des Plaines Eco System Partnership. Like the computer acronym, GIGO (garbage in, garbage out), what goes in the
1,460-square-mile Des Plaines watershed comes out in the Kankakee River, the Illinois, the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately global waters.
Still, there's hope. The network of organizations (such as the Alliance, The Kenosha Racine Land Trust, Sierra Club and Illinois Eco watch), the river clean-ups, and the canoe marathon all focus public attention on bringing the river back to health. For a threatened organism, the will to live is important. Phil Sander wrote,
"The marshland has been disrupted by environmental changes. Though the balance of nature is delicate, the force itself is strong, creative and determined, and though it changes it survives."
Overall I had a great paddling adventure. Most people agree (Herodotus said it first) that the Des Plaines will never be the same river it was 150 years ago. Illinois agencies, however, are sponsoring a program of
increased access to northeastern Illinois rivers and, experience shows, more paddlers will inevitably improve conservation. I'm hoping the river will be even better for my next Watershed Alliance expedition [For information contact www.desplaineswatershed.org].
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