North Shore Channel Trail

I went for a bike ride last weekend on the North Shore Channel Trail. It's a paved trail that runs north-south through the city and a couple suburbs, running alongside it's namesake, the North Shore Channel. I leisurely pedaled the length of it, which is about a 25 mile round trip starting from home. It's nothing amazing, but still a nice local ride.


There's a lot of random stuff along the way, including the occasional view of the the channel, which is technically a drainage canal. Now I'm not jumping in anytime soon, but it's basically a small river lined by trees and inhabited by your standard local wildlife. The best part though was that the autumn weather was perfect (for me at least); thermoregulation was not an issue.


The path runs through a sculpture park for a bit in the suburbs. Most of it was relatively underwhelming, but this one caught my attention: Directing Traffic by Victoria Fuller. Humorous.


A juvenile Cooper's Hawk, a common bird of prey to see around here. I was taking a banana break when this guy swooped down and landed on a sign right next to me. Good looking bird. They used to be an endangered species in Illinois but made a great comeback since the DDT ban. I also vaguely remember a National Geographic article stating that the DDT ban is also a big reason the Bald Eagle is not extinct, or at least nearly extinct, in the states.

Alright, that's it for now. We're flying out tomorrow, so I should probably start packing.