Spears Woods Friday December 26 & Saturday December 27, 2025
Back-to-back workdays in an area we spent a lot of time maybe five-six years ago. working along Old Country Lane near the trail that runs east to Boomerang Slough. There are numerous maples thriving in this area and the plan is to selectively thin trees to restore better ecological balance.
Matt Hokanson and a couple crew members from Woods to Wetlands, a terrific contract restoration firm that often works at local sites, provided chain-saw power on Friday and got a lot of trees on the ground. Several fires were lit Friday, some reused on Saturday when we had a big group of at least 16 burning all that was already cut and plenty more, including first-time Palos volunteers Chris and Nick.
The fires were going early and this was the first real log-tossing opportunity of the season, which our volunteers took on eagerly. We'll do it again January 2 & 3 in the same location, as long as the weather treats us kindly again.
Swallow Cliff Sunday December 28
Had to cancel this one Sunday morning when the rain came early and continued throughout much of the morning. I went to the site in case anyone who didn't see the cancellation email showed up, taking advantage of a lull in the rain to spend over an walking the site. First stop was the Swallow Cliff stairs - I was one of three or four climbing, a far cry from the average weekend which sees hundreds over the course of a day. Lower sections of trail were puddled over in multiple places along the way.
On a clear day you see the downtown skyline from the top of the stairs. Sunday, visibility was perhaps a quarter-mile - I couldn't see Route 83 to the north clearly. After a couple laps I left the stairs and walked west to Horsetail Lake, again with only minimal rain falling. Questioning if canceling was the right move - I had trusted the radar which showed rain until at least noon.
My concern was assuaged upon hearing the rumble of distant thunder as I reached the lake; time to reverse course to the picnic grove and car. Looping south past the Muskrat Swamps (Shïshko Mbishke in the original Potowatomi), I got within a hundred yards when the sky emptied.
It was a walk I should do more often - all but the thunder and lightning part. So great to see water rushing across trails and down slopes, to feel the force of a winter thunderstorm, and to have a normally crowded preserve almost all to myself. Three or four people at the stairs, and in a nearly four-mile walk I saw just one person on the trail.
Blessed solitude, what drew me to the preserves, and nature, in the first place.
Back-to-back workdays in an area we spent a lot of time maybe five-six years ago. working along Old Country Lane near the trail that runs east to Boomerang Slough. There are numerous maples thriving in this area and the plan is to selectively thin trees to restore better ecological balance.
Matt Hokanson and a couple crew members from Woods to Wetlands, a terrific contract restoration firm that often works at local sites, provided chain-saw power on Friday and got a lot of trees on the ground. Several fires were lit Friday, some reused on Saturday when we had a big group of at least 16 burning all that was already cut and plenty more, including first-time Palos volunteers Chris and Nick.
The fires were going early and this was the first real log-tossing opportunity of the season, which our volunteers took on eagerly. We'll do it again January 2 & 3 in the same location, as long as the weather treats us kindly again.
Swallow Cliff Sunday December 28
Had to cancel this one Sunday morning when the rain came early and continued throughout much of the morning. I went to the site in case anyone who didn't see the cancellation email showed up, taking advantage of a lull in the rain to spend over an walking the site. First stop was the Swallow Cliff stairs - I was one of three or four climbing, a far cry from the average weekend which sees hundreds over the course of a day. Lower sections of trail were puddled over in multiple places along the way.
On a clear day you see the downtown skyline from the top of the stairs. Sunday, visibility was perhaps a quarter-mile - I couldn't see Route 83 to the north clearly. After a couple laps I left the stairs and walked west to Horsetail Lake, again with only minimal rain falling. Questioning if canceling was the right move - I had trusted the radar which showed rain until at least noon.
My concern was assuaged upon hearing the rumble of distant thunder as I reached the lake; time to reverse course to the picnic grove and car. Looping south past the Muskrat Swamps (Shïshko Mbishke in the original Potowatomi), I got within a hundred yards when the sky emptied.
It was a walk I should do more often - all but the thunder and lightning part. So great to see water rushing across trails and down slopes, to feel the force of a winter thunderstorm, and to have a normally crowded preserve almost all to myself. Three or four people at the stairs, and in a nearly four-mile walk I saw just one person on the trail.
Blessed solitude, what drew me to the preserves, and nature, in the first place.
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