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  #21  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 3:48 AM
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Totally awesome. I used to walk over the Wilson and Lawrence Ave bridges all the time. It's a neat little bucholic enclave along the river. There are some okay parks on the east bank north of Lawrence (East River Park is my favorite in greater Ravenswood), but none of them really involve the river much. It's kind of fenced off and overgrown.
Great pics, and I admire your ambition/sense of adventure.
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  #22  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 4:09 AM
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Awesome! I'm a geek for urban rivers and how they interact with their respective cities, so this tour was a treat.

Parts of the river remind me of a larger Rouge River that flows through Metro Detroit, especially the part that flows from Dearborn to Zug Island in the Detroit River. Is it the south branch of this river that was engineered to flow 'backwards'?
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  #23  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 4:14 AM
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Originally Posted by LMich View Post
Awesome! I'm a geek for urban rivers and how they interact with their respective cities, so this tour was a treat.

Parts of the river remind me of a larger Rouge River that flows through Metro Detroit, especially the part that flows from Dearborn to Zug Island in the Detroit River. Is it the south branch of this river that was engineered to flow 'backwards'?
it flows backward from the lake (pretty unique, i think). When the north branch waters reach wolf point, they can't head into lake michigan like they want to, so they go down the south branch instead, which is forced to run backwards all the way to new orleans
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  #24  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 4:17 AM
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Meh, if you paddle the Calumet, then I'll be impressed.

Very cool Steely. If I might hijack your thread for a second... that round building you photographed (it's at North Park University). I used to go past there and think, "Oh, strange little Goldberg rip-off building." But then, I found a reference to the fact that Goldberg actually had done some work for North Park... not sure if it was built. So, the question is, could this acutally be the Goldberg or some bastardized version of it?

I never had a chance to look into it further. If anyone wants to do some digging or knows the answer, please PM me or let me know you replied here!
I used to own north park! haha
That cylinder building is Anderson Hall, an all girls freshman/sophomore hall. I spent more time in there than any other building on campus. Didn't look into the architecture much, though... just complained about how terrible it is inside. It's a nice idea, but the rooms are SMALL

Steely, I simply can't believe you made it from downtown all the way past north park. I've gone over the little pedestrian bridge so many times, and even though I know in my head it is the mighty chicago river I'm crossing, I never really think about the fact that it is connected. You performed a mighty feat. I'm doing it, too, someday!
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  #25  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 5:00 AM
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BTW, I was just reading up on something called the Chicago Portage, but can't figure out where it was given the current engineering of the river. Where did the current south branch of the river originally begin? Any old maps showing the divide and such?
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  #26  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 5:21 AM
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Great idea for a photo tour, Steely.
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  #27  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 5:45 AM
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JSTush, any contacts out there who might tell us who the architect was, from the old plans (maintenance people)?
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  #28  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 5:54 AM
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This was awesome. Thanks for doing it just for our sake.
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  #29  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 5:57 AM
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Now THAT'S a tour!
Word.

and I'm jealous of all those new condos Chicago has...
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  #30  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 6:09 AM
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Son of a bitch, that river rules.
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  #31  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 7:24 AM
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Dan, that was a fan freaken 'tastick tour, one of the best posted here. How much do those foldable kayaks cost?


Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
BTW, I was just reading up on something called the Chicago Portage, but can't figure out where it was given the current engineering of the river. Where did the current south branch of the river originally begin? Any old maps showing the divide and such?
The South Branch had used to split into two separate forks, The South Fork and the West Fork. The South Fork still exists, although it used to be longer. It is locally known as "bubbly creek" because the stock yards threw away all of the leftover carcasses, blood and urine into the creek and methane gas rose to the surface causing the creek to bubble like champagne, and it still does to this day. The southernmost reaches of the South Fork were filled in after the stocks yards closed in 1971. It was determined that this portion of the creek was just far too polluted beyond any hope. The south fork splits from the south branch just east of Ashland Avenue.

The west fork then went west from the split into a prairie marsh (most of the land was marsh back then) and reached an area known locally as mud lake, where in times of ample rain the swampy lake drained into both the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers. Other times of the year required a short physical portage. The actually portage is along Harlem Avenue, just north of the Sanitary and Ship Canal which reversed the river's flow in January 1900. After the canal opened the west fork was filled in over time. The west fork ran just north of where the canal is now, and it split from the canal route just west of Damen Avenue; where today you see a large turning basin and the point where the West Fork had joined the canal years ago.
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  #32  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 7:56 AM
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Wow, this was an awesome little tour. Just when I thought I had seen it all, it seems as though I have missed quite a bit of the river scene. I guess the way to truly get it all is to throw yourself in there. Thanks for the photos, maybe I'll truck my parent's kayak down from Wisconsin and try it out for myself...it looks like a good time.
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  #33  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 7:58 AM
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Nice. Great to see some upriver stuff.
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  #34  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 9:16 AM
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Excellent thread. Thanks for posting these. I would love to do that. Great angles.
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  #35  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 10:40 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn View Post
Dan, that was a fan freaken 'tastick tour, one of the best posted here. How much do those foldable kayaks cost?

The South Branch had used to split into two separate forks, The South Fork and the West Fork. The South Fork still exists, although it used to be longer. It is locally known as "bubbly creek" because the stock yards threw away all of the leftover carcasses, blood and urine into the creek and methane gas rose to the surface causing the creek to bubble like champagne, and it still does to this day. The southernmost reaches of the South Fork were filled in after the stocks yards closed in 1971. It was determined that this portion of the creek was just far too polluted beyond any hope. The south fork splits from the south branch just east of Ashland Avenue.

The west fork then went west from the split into a prairie marsh (most of the land was marsh back then) and reached an area known locally as mud lake, where in times of ample rain the swampy lake drained into both the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers. Other times of the year required a short physical portage. The actually portage is along Harlem Avenue, just north of the Sanitary and Ship Canal which reversed the river's flow in January 1900. After the canal opened the west fork was filled in over time. The west fork ran just north of where the canal is now, and it split from the canal route just west of Damen Avenue; where today you see a large turning basin and the point where the West Fork had joined the canal years ago.
Thanks, that really helped. So, the West Fork originated in Mud Lake? Do you happen to know at what modern location it would have entered Mud Lake (i.e. how far west of where it split off from the original river)?
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  #36  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 11:53 AM
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Great tour, it's not everyday the you see such an extensive tour from this mode of transportation.
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  #37  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 12:49 PM
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Excellent trip man!! Kayaking is very addicting as I just started 2 years ago and go all the time! Would have loved to paddled with ya!
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  #38  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 1:31 PM
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Amazing shots SD. It's rare you get a truely unique perspective in these photos threads but you managed to do so. It sounds like one hell of a workout taboot.
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  #39  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 1:58 PM
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Great pics and thanks for the tour, Steely
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  #40  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 2:42 PM
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Nice pictures Steely. It would be nice to be able to paddle through the center of a city. We can sort of do it here between cities, but it's not necessarily a casual nor peaceful trip.
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