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  #21  
Old Posted Aug 19, 2009, 6:58 PM
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How did your Kayak handle on the lake?
fantastically well. i got over my fear of taking my kayak out on rough open water when i was up on mackinac island several weeks ago. the waves in the straits were in the 2 foot range with howling winds and fierce white caps and my little boat was extremely stable. i now have no fear for taking it out onto the lake here in chicago, it's just a matter of finding the time.



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Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen View Post
Which river will Dan take on next?
as i mentioned at the end of my post, i hope to get up to the lakes of madison sometime in september.
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  #22  
Old Posted Aug 19, 2009, 7:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
fantastically well. i got over my fear of taking my kayak out on rough open water when i was up on mackinac island several weeks ago. the waves in the straits were in the 2 foot range with howling winds and fierce white caps and my little boat was extremely stable. i now have no fear for taking it out onto the lake here in chicago, it's just a matter of finding the time.




as i mentioned at the end of my post, i hope to get up to the lakes of madison sometime in september.
Does Megabus go to Madison? If not you can take Van Galder (also run by coach USA). They have departures from Union Station and Midway Airport. I took one from Midway to Rockford and it was a really nice bus, no conventional seating but rather full size couches, tables and reclining chairs. It was like mobile living room.


Good to know that your folding kayak is stable even in rough waters. I do want to get one of these, but it will have to wait until at least next year. I was considering this year, but a new computer and a trip to Europe in two weeks took care of the budget for that.


Also, that art-deco bridge tower with the glass block is wicked! I wish we had one of those on the Chicago River.

Last edited by Chicago Shawn; Aug 19, 2009 at 7:51 PM.
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  #23  
Old Posted Aug 19, 2009, 7:18 PM
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Great thread!! Milwaukee and other Great Lake cities are so lucky to have an awesome waterfront and rivers going through downtown. I am back in a landlocked Southern city and I really miss water!
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  #24  
Old Posted Aug 19, 2009, 8:14 PM
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^Yeah, I couldn't live in a place without decent access to water. I have become spoiled by having Lake Michigan and the Chicago River to enjoy. There are also numerous other small and mid-size rivers in the region offering many interesting settings.

BTW, Dan, have you considered doing any of the other Rivers in the Chicago area such as the Des Plaines, Salt Creek, DuPage, Chain-o-Lakes and the Fox?
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  #25  
Old Posted Aug 19, 2009, 8:47 PM
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Fun thread. The vantage point provided by the kayak gets first prize.
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  #26  
Old Posted Aug 19, 2009, 9:07 PM
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BTW, Dan, have you considered doing any of the other Rivers in the Chicago area such as the Des Plaines, Salt Creek, DuPage, Chain-o-Lakes and the Fox?
i've paddled a good stretch of the des plaines river up in lake county, but it runs exclusively through forest preserve land up there, so there's nothing urban to photograph, though it is beautiful if you're into all of that nature, birds, and trees crap.

i've also paddled a chunk of the fox river between south elgin and st. charles, but the big problem with doing long epic paddles on the fox is the presence of all of those damn dams. the dams themselves aren't the problem (they can be easily portaged around) but downriver from many of the dams the fox tends to get very very shallow, sometimes for long distances, which can be really annoying when you draggin you're boat through ankle-deep water for half a mile until you can find a channel deep enough to paddle in. those dams aren't even necessary anymore, i wish they just get rid of them already.

though i do frequently ride the fox river bike trail from crystal lake down to aurora, taking my folding bike on metra to get to and from downtown. i did a big picture thread of one of my rides out there from last fall. the link is in my sig below, but i'm pretty sure you've already seen it.

chain-o-lakes would be a lot of fun, but it can get pretty overcrowded with power boat idiots. i also don't know if there are any public access put-ins on the lakes within walking distance of a metra stop.
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  #27  
Old Posted Aug 20, 2009, 12:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
i've paddled a good stretch of the des plaines river up in lake county, but it runs exclusively through forest preserve land up there, so there's nothing urban to photograph, though it is beautiful if you're into all of that nature, birds, and trees crap.

i've also paddled a chunk of the fox river between south elgin and st. charles, but the big problem with doing long epic paddles on the fox is the presence of all of those damn dams. the dams themselves aren't the problem (they can be easily portaged around) but downriver from many of the dams the fox tends to get very very shallow, sometimes for long distances, which can be really annoying when you draggin you're boat through ankle-deep water for half a mile until you can find a channel deep enough to paddle in. those dams aren't even necessary anymore, i wish they just get rid of them already.

though i do frequently ride the fox river bike trail from crystal lake down to aurora, taking my folding bike on metra to get to and from downtown. i did a big picture thread of one of my rides out there from last fall. the link is in my sig below, but i'm pretty sure you've already seen it.

chain-o-lakes would be a lot of fun, but it can get pretty overcrowded with power boat idiots. i also don't know if there are any public access put-ins on the lakes within walking distance of a metra stop.
Yeah, I've seen the bike tour thread, which was pretty cool.. The Chain is not bad if you do it off-season (i.e. post labor day) or not on a weekend, if you happen to have a spontaneous day off during the week. Drunken power boat idiocy reaches a force maximum level on holiday weekends, so avoid those; because you don't need a license to drive a boat, just a checkbook and it shows on those weekends. There is a public boat launch ~1/2 mile north of the Fox Lake Metra Station on Route 12. Its at a Marina, which does charge for power boats; but there is also a Lakefront Park on Nippersink Blvd, that should be no problem.
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  #28  
Old Posted Aug 24, 2009, 5:31 PM
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so now that i've conquered the chicago and milwaukee river systems with my urban kayaking kick, i'm curious to know if there other cities elsewhere in the nation that have relatively narrow rivers that flow directly through the downtown areas creating urban skyscraper canyons ala chicago and milwaukee? lot's of cities have rivers flowing through them, but the set-up in these two cities seems to be somewhat unique with the river going right through the heart of the skyscraper district, as opposed to flowing alongside the downtown area, as is the case with countless river cities.

i'm really just trying to put together a list of places i need to check out with my boat for unique and interesting urban kayaking experiences. madison's lakes and cleveland's cuyahoga river are already on my list, but i wanna start thinking ahead and making some plans for next year. where else can one paddle down canyons of steel, concrete, and glass?
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  #29  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2009, 4:12 AM
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^ San Antonio maybe?

Great shots and informative information (redundant), man that one bridge looked looooow. Milwaukee's river has more of a European charm to it, with how close the buildings are to water.
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  #30  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2009, 10:19 AM
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Great pics. Loving the river tours!

So are the thousand footer ships "trapped" on the Great Lakes? I read that ships over about 730 feet long can't navigate through the locks and out to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. I also read that the Stewart J. Cort in your photo was originally built in Mississippi and sailed to the Great Lakes where it was cut in half and had 800 feet of length added to it!

From Wikipedia:

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The Stewart J. Cort, which is not only the first 1000-footer to be put into service on the Lakes, but also the only one built in the traditional wheelhouse-forward Great Lakes style (although all accommodations are forward, and the stern deckhouse is occupied by self unloading equipment and the engines), is another notable vessel. The Cort started life in Mississippi, and was sailed as a much smaller vessel consisting of only the bow and stern sections (appropriately nicknamed "Stubby"), to Erie, Pennsylvania , where she was cut in half and an additional 800+ feet of hull were added. Another interesting 1000-footer is the Presque Isle, an integrated tug and barge combination. The Presque Isle is the largest tug / barge composite in the world. All of the 1000-footers are United States vessels. The Canadian fleet needs to travel to and from its major cities along the St. Lawrence Seaway so the standard length for the Canadian vessels is around 730 feet (Seawaymax-size). The reason for this standard length, is the Welland Canal which bypasses Niagara Falls. The locks here are only about 800 feet (240 m) long, and for safety reasons, the vessels must be at most 730 feet (220 m).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_fr...itoulin_Island
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  #31  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2009, 10:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Segun
^ San Antonio maybe?
Definitely, but you'd get some strange stares. Other than tour boats, it doesn't really get any other traffic.

The Colorado River in Austin is fun though. The portion through downtown formerly known as Town Lake, now Lady Bird Lake, completely wraps around the southern end of downtown for several miles. It curves east and west of downtown as well, and there are some nice views, both skyscraper and more natural. Just type in "Austin skyline from Town Lake" to get some ideas. Also search for "Lady Bird Lake" (same as Town Lake) and Lake Austin. You can also go up Barton Springs a ways which branches off of the river just west of downtown. The river is off limits to powered boats, except for the tour boats which are larger, but other than that, it's all canoes, kayaks and small personal boats.

The river is dammed a few miles east and west of downtown. You could also go out on Lake Austin, which is just the continuation of the Colorado River west of the Tom Miller Dam. You would most likely need a cab to get over there. Over there you would find more natural scenery with 300 foot cliffs and hills surrounding the river. Ask Tom in Chicago, he'll tell you what Lake Austin is like. Remember Hula Hut, Tom? It was 55F in February.

Don't come to Austin now though, it's too damned hot! It won't cool off here into the 80s until October probably.
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  #32  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2009, 5:03 PM
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So are the thousand footer ships "trapped" on the Great Lakes?
yes. the locks of the welland canal and st. lawrence seaway can only accommodate ships up to about 740' long, which leaves the roughly 2 dozen lake freighters that are over that size trapped in the upper lakes of erie, huron, michigan, and superior. there are locks at sault ste. marie between lakes superior and huron, but they are 1,200 ft. long and can thus accommodate any of the larger ships trapped in the upper lakes.


thanks for the texas suggestions, i've never really been to texas (except for layovers in dallas), so that's intriguing to think about.
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  #33  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2009, 9:39 PM
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Minneapolis-St. Paul? But that's a little too much boat traffic?
The Charles (and associated harborfront slips) in Boston would be interesting.
Can you get all the way to the Ship Channel from the Buffalo Bayou in Houston?
Nashville?
Columbus?

What a creative way to experience a city. Too bad the LA River is so screwed up...

One of my old bosses went on a kayaking trip through the Panama Canal. Since you pay by weight to go through the locks, it was extremely inexpensive!
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  #34  
Old Posted Aug 27, 2009, 7:50 PM
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^ boston would be very cool. i'll have to look closely at that one.

and of course there's always the big one out there, a circumnavigation of manhattan by kayak. it's roughly 30 miles around, but all the busy harbor traffic is concerning, but that would be the ultimate urban kayak trip.
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  #35  
Old Posted Aug 27, 2009, 9:22 PM
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Nevermind all that. Portland and Seattle are your ultimate kayaking experience. EVERYONE is out doing it on a nice day, and about half of us do it on the not so nice days!
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  #36  
Old Posted Aug 27, 2009, 11:17 PM
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Glad I waited until I was home and could take the time this deserved - great tour.
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  #37  
Old Posted Aug 29, 2009, 7:40 AM
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Wow, great thread. You really see a different view of the city from these angles, plus you got some great shots. And some of those riverfront loft condos are amazing.
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  #38  
Old Posted Aug 29, 2009, 8:14 AM
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Amazing perspectives of a cool city. I've never seen Milwaukee like this before.
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  #39  
Old Posted Aug 31, 2009, 6:45 PM
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Almost as nice as the Chicago one even though Milwaulkee looks cleaner and more natural.

very cool
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  #40  
Old Posted Sep 1, 2009, 2:31 PM
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Almost as nice as the Chicago one even though Milwaulkee looks cleaner and more natural.
well, as far as cleanliness, the two cities' rivers actually seemed to be about the same. both chicago and milwuakee have combined sewers that will overflow into their rivers during very heavy rainfalls, so they're both kinda dirty. oddly enough, the main branch of the chicago river is probably the cleanest stretch of any of them because it's essentially just lake water due to the fact that the main and south branches now flow backwards.

on the nature front, i saw that you looked through the chicago river south branch thread, and it is indeed very heavily industrialized and channelized. you should also check out the chicgao river north branch thread because once you get north of diversy, the chicago river takes on a much more natural feel as well.

chicago river north branch thread: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=159531
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