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Rock Springs Center Trail Report |
| 7/14/02
The recent lack of rain and baking hot temps have caused the dried mud to crack into a puzzle like pattern on the paths that had been previously flooded. Most of the female deer flies were done with their blood meals by 6 pm, and only a few aggressive warning buzzings by the deer fly security patrol marred an otherwise peaceful evening walk on the River and Big Oak Trails. R326 (Di-n-propyl Isocinchomernate) added to DEET (diethyl phthalate, diethyl carbate, N, N-Diethyl-3-Methylbenzamide) reportedly makes the most effective repellent for deer flies. A small percentage of R326 added to the DEET causes each chemical to work more effectively together than either one used individually. The Miller's Mill Overlook structure, which had been crushed some time ago by a falling tree, was removed sometime in the last week or so. I hope that a similar structure will be built to replace it. |
| 6/29/02
River Trail Deer Flies begin the attack. During the hottest part of the day, these "B52s" operate in several teams of 6 - 12 or more and will buzz you aggressively, some landing on you while the others distract you. These vicious biting flies are only slightly distracted by DEET, and although it may prevent them from biting as often, they will continue to fly around you waiting for an opportunity for one or more to silently land on you. The sheer size and weight of these deer flies give them away and they can generally be brushed away before they bite if you don't hesitate. After finally escaping the massive River Trail deer fly attack and exiting near the Turtle Ponds on the service lane, the two visitors from California that were walking with me noticed that one of the flies had somehow ended up in a water bottle holster. Shaken out onto the bicycle path, the picture of the captured attacker was taken next to a standard size Bic lighter to show its relative size. This isn't necessarily the biggest one that was seen, but it was average. (And since it was injured while shaking it out of the holster, it was also the only one that would sit still long enough to get a picture of) More info about these biting flies can be found
at the OSU website. |
| 6/10/02
The prairie is quickly recovering and thickly growing back in. A large number of dragonflies have emerged and were drying their wings in the wind while hanging onto blades of prairie grass. With the thunderstorms that came later in the afternoon, dumping about an inch of rain, they may have to go through this drying process again. |
| 6/05/02
The Big Oak Trail was a bit muddy after today's rain, and the flying insect population is increasing, although not yet much of a nuisance. The Illinois Conservation Corp bridge on the southwest corner of the River Trail has recently been re-relocated to its pre-flood location. North of the Rock Springs Bottling Plant, a very large brown bird, perhaps a wild turkey, sat very high in one of trees, perhaps 50 feet or more above the ground. It decided to fly from its perch as I walked by. It was not at all graceful. The huge bird jumped, flapping wings mightily, lost about 6 feet of altitude while moving forward about 6 feet, and then re-launched, springing from another branch, noisily taking flight over the Sangamon River. Since it was above the canopy of leaves after springing from the second branch, I could not see it, nor photograph it as it flew, but the massive amount of work its wings were doing was made apparent by the noise they generated. Picture watching a video of a helicopter taking off in slow motion, and the sound in the slow motion video would be much like this flight. |
| 6/01/02
Today's temp was in the mid 90s, but if you could find shade, the breeze kept it reasonably comfortable. Overall, the Lookout Trail has dried nicely. The north half, which was soggy a couple of weeks ago, is mostly dry now. On the south half of the trail, only a fifteen foot stretch of mud puddle in the section just east of the Trobaugh-Good Farmstead is soggy. My 4 and 7 year old nieces, who were hiking the Lookout Trail for the first time today, enjoyed the panoramic view from the Lookout Tower. The Trobaugh-Good House was open today, the first day of the 2002 season. My nieces and I were treated to a very interesting tour and some demonstrations of the chores of the 1860 period by the "Young Homesteaders" and by Mr. Dan Pipe, Historic Sites Intern for the Conservation District. All of the "homesteaders" wore period clothing and were a hit with my nieces, who especially enjoyed the demonstration of how the young ladies carried water with a yoke and buckets. "Independence Day 1860" is scheduled for Saturday, June 29, 2002 at the Trobaugh-Good Homestead, from Noon to 4:30pm - Enjoy house tours, a picnic, patriotic music, a flag raising and gun salute. A free ice cream social at 2pm is followed by vintage baseball at Trobaugh field More info may be available from the Macon County Conservation District. |
| 5/29/02
The River Trail and Big Oak Trail are completely passable
now, since even the rain we had early this week, as reported by WAND
meteorologists, Joe Bauer and Lee
Davis, didn't keep the river level from going down and
draining off some of the flooded river bottom areas. WAND's forecast for the rest of the week shows that we may have some
thunderstorms on Thursday, and some sunshine on Friday and Saturday. Mosquito populations don't seem to have become a problem yet, I've only seen a very few, but the flooding conditions we've had recently and the standing water over pretty large areas would lead one to suspect that we could be in for some serious buzzing soon. With the added threat of some mosquitoes possibly carrying the West Nile Virus, I suggest stocking up on repellent with DEET (diethyl phthalate, diethyl carbate, N, N-Diethyl-3-Methylbenzamide) for the remainder of the summer months. |
| 5/22/02 What a difference a few dry days have made! Bike path is open again. The flooding near where Stevens Creek flows into the Sangamon River has gone down and maintenance crews have cleared the path of a lot of trees, debris, silt and mud washed up by the flooding. For comparison purposes, here is a picture of the end of Stevens Creek flowing into the Sangamon River about a year ago, on May 27, 2001. River Trail is still partly under water north of the Turtle Ponds. However, the water is way down now, and still receding. Areas that have been under water for a while are still thick with soft mud and silt but are starting to dry out nicely. The Turtle Ponds have receded and drained part of their overload into the river bottoms, opening up the River Trail passage between the two ponds. The Woodland and Discovery Trails are now reasonably dry and free from mud, allowing much easier travel. The Blue Stem Trail prairie, just west of the Pine Forest, is growing back in very quickly, after the prairie management controlled burn about a month ago. Same with the section of prairie west of the RSC maintenance shop. |
| 5/18/02 All trails: Expect muddy conditions Bike path is still closed due to flooding in the low areas near the Sangamon River. Lookout Trail is open. North half, between the Lookout Tower and the playground/pavilions is very soggy, as is the section nearest to the Trobaugh-Good Farmstead. One side-effect of the wet trails was the opportunity to see the tracks in the mud from the wild turkeys, deer and other animals that live in and travel through this area. Today, I saw a turkey crossing the trail that stood about 24 inches tall. River Trail is not passable north of Turtle Ponds. The south half is about the same as it was on 5/15, but the river has gone down some, and the valleys that were full of water between the Bottling Plant and Miller's Mill Overlook are down to a trickle and can now be traversed without wading or detouring through the rough. The section of the Big Oak and River Trail that run together along the river is still under water. |
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5/15/02 Bike path is closed due to flooding in low areas near the Sangamon River. River Trail is not passable on the north end past the Turtle Ponds and service lane. The Turtle Ponds have merged over the path that separated them, blocking passage there also. The south half of the River Trail, and the Big Oak Trail are extremely soggy, but mostly passable except near the Sangamon which has devoured the lower areas of the trail. If you're willing, you can go through the rough, about 50-100 feet up the hill and get around the low spots where the Big Oak and River Trail meet. Two more small valleys between the Bottling Plant and Miller's Mill Overlook also will cause some hiking through the rough to get around high water. The Conservation Corps bridge on the SSW section of the River Trail has been washed downstream a bit but is still standing and is more solid than it looks. Dry weather forecasted for the next couple of days should help dry out things. Stay tuned for the next Trail Report. If you'd like to contribute to, or comment about the RSC Trail Report, email to: Editor@IllinoisTrails.com For information on pavilion fees or to make
reservations for your group, call or write: |
