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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Frozen Waterfalls of Starved Rock State Park (14) | |
I usually post mostly over in nature and wildlife. But I thought this topic belonged over here in landscape also.
I had been seeing a few photos of the frozen waterfalls at Starved Rock State Park popping up on some groups and forums I follow. The forecast for Friday (3/7/14) was high of 40. I made a snap decision if I was going to capture them it had to be Friday before they started melting and the trails got so bad you could get there or they closed the trails altogether.
1) Front of St. Louis Canyon Falls
My good friend Jacki Pienta is the main photographer for Starved Rock Lodge gave me a few pointers and tips and I was off. She told me lots of stairs and lots of ice and that Yak Traxs were required. I was able to find a pair at Wild Country, I went with the Pro model. The pro model was $10 more but have a velcro strap to help hold them on. I can’t tell you how many times they saved me and my gear! Best $30 I have spent in a long time!
I decided that I was going to hike into St. Louis Canyon and Wlidcat Canyon. I wasn’t sure how much a overweight 53 year old could handle with a new 17 month old knee replacement. I had been to Starved Rock several times to watch and photograph eagles, but had never been on the trail system so was sure what I was in for. St. Louis was the closest and shortest hike. Jacki stated 40 minutes from the lodge parking lot since the parking lot was closed. I went against her directions and parked off of Route 178 at the entrance to the St. Louis Canyon exit. There was room for 6 or 8 cars to park there since the road to the parking lot was closed and had not been plowed all season. I headed down the gradual slope of the road, it was peaceful and reminded me of the bunny slope at Devil’s Head, with a long winding curve to the left. I lacked a little confidence to how to find the falls, no map, just followed the footsteps in the snow. I was pleasantly surprised once I hit the normal parking lot and found really nice signs and trail markers!
2) Right side of St. Louis Canyon Falls
3) Behind St. Louis Canyon Falls
4) St. Louis Canon
Hiked out back to the car and drove to the lodge for a bio break, map and reset for the longer hike to Wildcat Canyon. Heading out or the main parking lot you go down what hast to be 500 stairs. The stairs are steel with very aggressive industrial tread! My Yak Traxs kept getting snagged in the stairs. By the time I reached the bottom I knew I wasn’t going back out that way. Found out later you can park at the visitor center on the bottom and avoid these stairs. I was already pot committed since I left my car in the upper parking lot. Once again clear signage and several sets of up and down stairs as pictured earlier. 35 minutes to Wildcat Canyon. Once there I found 6 or 7 ice climbers there, and a Chicago TV station doing a story on them. Wildcat is the tallest standing in at 75 feet! Took a few photos, but wasn’t really interested in landscapes with the climbers in them.
5) Climber on Wildcat Falls
Like what you just read and the photos? Free feel to follow my adventures through my lens on my
Blog.
Thanks for stopping by, and as always C&C welcomed!
Kent
Edited by JimFox on Mar 09, 2014 at 12:26 PM · View previous versions
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