Showing posts with label forest preserve. Show all posts

Friday, October 6, 2017

WATERFALL GLENN TRAIL

On Thursday I headed home from southern Illinois in order to visit a new custom in the Chicago area on Friday. On the way home, I stopped at the Waterfall Glenn Forest Preserve to hike along its ten mile trail. I had been here once before. The high point of the hike is stopping to enjoy the small waterfall towards the end of the trail, before it loops back to the parking area. It was approaching sundown by the time I got to the waterfall, but I was successful in squeezing in a ten mile hike.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Oatmeal	300	48	6	9	0	0
Granola	250	39	9	5	135	9
	550	87	15	14	135	9
L U N C H
Pineapple	100	26	0	1	2	20
Hy-Vee Salad Bar: Roast Beef, crab, ham, etc	401	0	0	0	0	0
Hy-vee Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup	250	33	10	12	1,574	4
	751	59	10	13	1,576	24
D I N N E R
Popeyes - Chicken Strips	500	26	24	45	2,001	0
Macaroni Salad	300	29	18	4	566	9
	800	55	42	49	2,567	9
S N A C K S
Nature Valley - Oats 'n Honey	190	29	7	3	180	11
	190	29	7	3	180	11

Totals	2,291	230	74	79	4,458	53
Your Daily Goal	3,352	419	111	168	2,300	125
Remaining	1,061	189	37	89	-2,158	72
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,422 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today... You'd weigh 226.5 lbs in 5 weeks

Sunday, November 6, 2016

RIGHT TRIANGLE TRAIL

Lately I have been naming my pathways. I have dubbed yesterday's route, the Right Triangle Trail, in honor of the geometry that I have recently been diving into while helping (and attempting to help) my daughter with her homework. About 40 years ago I was a geometry 'genius.' Forty years can make anyone rusty. I have found it challenging to try to assist my daughter in a subject matter that I was highly proficient in about a half century ago. Nevertheless, the definition of a right triangle is fairly straightforward. It is a triangle that has one right angle (90° angle, two perpendicular sides) and this was the basic shape of my hike on Saturday morning. The 'hypotenuse' of this 'triangle' was spent mostly traveling the paved trails through multiple adjacent forest preserves in the suburbs. My responsibility yesterday was to pick up my daughter and her friend from cheerleading practice at 11:30AM. They had been dropped off by the parent of the other child at 10:00AM. I basically drove to the area where they were to be picked up at 8:30AM, so that I could take a long 2.5 hour hike. By the time I had finished, I had logged twelve miles.

This photo attempted to capture the changing colors of the leaves on the trees in the forest preserve.

The section of the trail that led to this area indicated that the trail was closed. Naturally I needed to check out why. In the background is the remnants of a bridge that used to cross the river. The bridge is no longer there. Now I know why this part of the trail is closed.

Once I emerged from the forest preserves, I hiked along Touhy Avenue and passed the iconic YMCA known for its 'Leaning Tower of Pisa' There was scaffolding at the bottom. What are they trying to do, straighten out the building?

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	320	66	4	8	400	24
	320	66	4	8	400	24
L U N C H
Orecchiette pasta, 1 cup	200	41	10	7	0	1
Teriyaki - Salmon	300	3	9	52	0	0
Seafood Pasta Salad	300	10	1	10	175	0
General Tso Chicken	300	23	18	13	713	13
	1,100	77	38	82	888	14
D I N N E R
Read - 3 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Chocolate Birthday Cake	600	87	27	15	0	99
Special K - Vanilla Almond, 174 grams	660	150	9	12	1,020	54
	1,560	302	36	32	2,520	193
S N A C K S
Nestle - Dark Chocolate Bar	500	52	30	6	0	0
	500	52	30	6	0	0

Totals	3,480	497	108	128	3,808	231
Your Daily Goal	4,299	537	143	215	2,300	161
Remaining	819	40	35	87	-1,508	-70
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,369 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today... You'd weigh 202.9 lbs in 5 weeks.

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
TWELVE MILE HIKE	157	2,369


Daily Total / Goal	157 / 30	2,369 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	835 / 210	13,754 / 4,130

Saturday, November 5, 2016

CHANNAHON PARKWAY STATE PARK

Friday morning began with an early morning fabric appointment in Mt Zion, Illinois. From there I traveled to Bloomington to sell buttons at a yarn shop. Once I finished my second appointment I headed home. I stopped in Channahon to visit Channahon Parkway State Park. My hike in Channahon included a couple of miles along the I & M Canal Trail and when I finished right around sunset, I had logged eleven miles.

A trail map of the trails at the riverbed. It is always slightly shocking to hike up and down any hill in Illinois.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker Instant Oatmeal Apples Cinnamon	640	132	8	16	800	48
Biscuits and Gravy	400	21	29	12	0	0
Scrambled Egg	200	2	15	18	202	1
	1,240	155	52	46	1,002	49
L U N C H
Powerbar Protein Plus Bar Vanilla	210	27	5	20	130	14
Kelloggs - Raisin Bran Cereal	400	97	2	11	442	38
	610	124	7	31	572	52
D I N N E R
Caseys - Turkey Club Wrap	400	43	15	22	1,343	0
	400	43	15	22	1,343	0
S N A C K S
Nestle - Dark Chocolate Bar	500	52	30	6	0	0
	500	52	30	6	0	0

Totals	2,750	374	104	105	2,917	101
Your Daily Goal	3,932	491	131	197	2,300	147
Remaining	1,182	117	27	92	-617	46
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,002 extra calories from exercise today

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
ELEVEN MILE HIKE	147	2,120


Daily Total / Goal	147 / 30	2,120 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	677 / 210	11,389 / 4,130

SATURDAY IS WEIGH DAY...

I am aware that in general, I am eating (a lot) and I am aware that I am especially eating (a lot) of chocolate and (a lot) of other less than healthy choices. Fortunately I am also active (a lot) as I walk and/or hike (a lot). Therefore I admit that I am rather joyful to post my weight today which is 221.7 lbs. My weight has been fairly steady for the past few weeks. Still, I would like to lose more weight. But what's the hurry? I do think that I look good now. People tell me that I look good now. And is the collective wisdom of people ever wrong? Oh, yeah....you're right.... Some of the wisdom of the collective masses are moving them to vote for the most corrupt, dishonest, crooked, lying thief that ever ran for any public office probably including town dogcatcher.... So, on second thought, I might not be quite as fit or trim as I have been lead to believe. Nah, I am sure that it was the intelligent, wise, thoughtful Trump voters who have been telling me that I am looking fit and trim.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

SAUGANASH TRAIL

It was exactly two weeks ago when I had the 'privilege' and responsibility of driving my daughter to her 'tumbling' class which she takes in conjunction with her cheerleading. During that initial visit, I set out on an urban hike with the idea of finding the Sauganash Trail. I succeeded in finding a Nature Preserve and hiking seven miles in the 90 minutes between drop-off and pick-up. Still, during that initial attempt, I failed to actually find the Sauganash Trail. Yesterday, I tried again. This time I was successful.

closeup of the plaque announcing that one is on the Sauganash Trail

There is the plaque atop a two foot tall concrete pedestal in the lower left hand side of this photo.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original, 6 packet	600	132	0	12	1,860	0
Post - Great Grains (Raisins, Dates & Pecans)	500	98	10	10	321	31
	1,100	230	10	22	2,181	31
L U N C H
Cracker Barrel - Asiago Cheese, 4 slice	280	0	24	16	500	0
Archer Farms - Sourdough Loaf, 3 Slice	300	72	2	12	870	0
Oscar Mayer - Deli Fresh Honey Ham	120	2	3	20	1,120	4
	700	74	29	48	2,490	4
D I N N E R
Fire Roasted Corn	100	22	1	3	0	2
Roasted Cauliflower	100	3	10	1	497	1
Pot Roast, Beef	500	0	32	50	79	0
	700	25	43	54	576	3
S N A C K S
Hersheys Dark Chocolate Bar	500	28	38	9	100	11
Banana Chips	500	57	33	3	0	33
	1,000	85	71	12	100	44

Totals	3,500	414	153	136	5,347	82
Your Daily Goal	3,553	444	118	178	2,300	133
Remaining	53	30	-35	42	-3,047	51
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,623 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today... You'd weigh 208.3 lbs in 5 weeks

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
7 MILE URBAN HIKE	86	1,508


Daily Total / Goal	86 / 30	1,508 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	615 / 210	9,133 / 4,130

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from the Chicago Park District website...

The Sauganash Trail officially opened June 21, 2008 in the Sauganash community on Chicago’s Northwest Side. It’s one mile long, running from Bryn Mawr to Devon near Kostner. It’s a wonderful little path that is used regularly by locals.

History

In the mid-2000s, the Chicago Department of Transportation built a new multi-use recreational trail adjacent to Sauganash Park. The 2.1 million project was funded by Federal and State grants. Construction required the demolition and replacement of two unsafe railroad bridges over Peterson and Rogers Park avenues. The trail was built to Chicago Park District standards with a 12-foot wide paved surface flanked by soft-surface running/walking surfaces that are each 3-feet wide. There are two access ramps—one at Sauganash Park and one at Thome Street, and the trail is accessible at Bryn Mawr and Devon avenues. It is lined on both sides with lawn and trees. The Chicago Park District leases the linear park from the City of Chicago. Since its completion in 2008, the site has been called Sauganash Trail Park, and it is well known to the community by that name.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

WHO IS JOHN GALT?

Yesterday I was a soccer Mom - with two obvious differences.
I am a Dad.
I was driving my daughter and her friend to Cheerleading Practice - not soccer.
Other than that, I was a soccer Mom.

Had I had this same responsibility two years ago and needed to find something to do in the 90 minutes that I had to myself, perhaps I would have driven to a nearby McDonalds and had a hearty (that is, heart-killing) breakfast of two bacon egg cheese bagels. Nowadays, it is so much easier for me to find something to do with 90 minutes. In fact, since I dropped my daughter and her friend at Cheerleading practice ten minutes early - I had precisely 100 minutes to myself. This gave me enough time to squeeze in a 7 mile hike in places I had never seen before. My hike took me to LaBagh Woods Forest Preserve where I found a trail that was a converted railway line. I timed my hike perfectly so that I knew almost precisely when to turn back and head back to the place where the car was parked and my two passengers would be waiting for me. The weather was great, I was prepared with my backpack filled with ice-cold water. It was another great hike.

WHO IS JOHN GALT?
As a person who has read Ayn Rand's 1957, 1000+ page opus, Atlas Shrugged, I vaguely remember this reference. I needed to refresh my memory from wikipedia...

John Galt (/ɡɔːlt/) is a character in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged (1957). Although he is not identified by name until the last third of the novel, he is the object of its often-repeated question "Who is John Galt?" and of the quest to discover the answer.

As the plot unfolds, Galt is acknowledged to be a philosopher and inventor; he believes in the power and glory of the human mind, and the right of the individual to use their mind solely for themself. He serves as a highly individualist counterpoint to the collectivist social and economic structure depicted in the novel, in which society is based on oppressive bureaucratic functionaries and a culture that embraces mediocrity in the name of egalitarianism, which the novel posits is the end result of Collectivist philosophy.

Here is my question? Who put up this billboard? And how long has it been there? The sign was extremely weather-beaten. I live in Illinois, a place where the collectivist mindset is prevalent. What other state could have politically birthed Barack Obama? (other than, Hawaii, Vermont, Massachussetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington or California?) President Obama is not exactly a person who has professed rugged individualism as an ideal. The current nominee for president from the Democrats thinks it takes a village to raise a child. Clearly this sign was erected by someone who is not a person who drinks the Democrat Party Kool-Aid.

The squared area is LaBagh Woods, and the GRAVEL EMBANKMENT was the old railroad line converted into a straight trail that I took north to Devon Avenue before I turned back to pick up my two passengers.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Trader Joe's - Multigrain O's	660	144	6	12	810	36
Quaker - Chewy Granola 90 Calories, 1 bar	90	19	2	1	80	7
	750	163	8	13	890	43
L U N C H
Trader Joe's - Cereal High Fiber, 210 g	560	161	4	21	490	35
	560	161	4	21	490	35
D I N N E R
Turkey Pot Roast	260	6	14	28	1,060	2
Shaved Brussel Sprouts	70	16	0	6	0	0
Asparagus - Steamed Fresh	60	6	0	7	0	0
Chef Salad	501	13	39	31	1,001	8
Bai Antioxidant Cocofusion - Maui Coconut	10	18	0	0	70	2
	901	59	53	72	2,131	12
S N A C K S
Nestle - Dark Chocolate Chips	500	57	36	0	0	43
	500	57	36	0	0	43

Totals	2,711	440	101	106	3,511	133
Your Daily Goal	3,354	419	111	168	2,300	125
Remaining	643	-21	10	62	-1,211	-8
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,424 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today... You'd weigh 202.8 lbs in 5 weeks

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
SEVEN MILE HIKE	94	1,338


Daily Total / Goal	94 / 30	1,338 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	954 / 210	14,171 / 4,130

Atlas Shrugged official movie poster