The adventures of MR5 as she cruises America's Great Loop
Illinois River: Joliet, Ottawa, and Hennepin
September 23 through September 25, 2026
The next chapter of our wild adventure takes us down the inland rivers! Our first day began with a 15–20 minute ride in Lake Michigan, navigating 3–6 foot waves. Quite the send-off from the lake! Perhaps she was sad to see us go and decided to give us one last wild ride.
From there, we entered the Calumet River, which eventually merges into the Illinois River. And let me tell you, the wild continues! We’ve got everything from beautiful wild birds to towboats pushing massive barges, plus low bridges that need to open to let us through. And yes, my friends, we’re back to locking! Just when we thought we had our fill of locks, here we go again. Fortunately, our new friend, Captain Jenna on Timeless, led the way making that initial foray a little less tense and somewhat enjoyable.
Yes, this is the look of fright as we battled 3-6 foot waves on our way to the Calumet River. Fortunately, it was only 15-20 minutes and the skillful captain was most adept at maneuvering the boat.There were a total of 39 (!) bridges that first day on the rivers.This photo of the Rambler is courtesy of our friends on Timeless, the leader of our small flotilla of two.We spotted numerous Great Egrets along the river banks.An interesting configuration of cascading water fallsThe dreaded Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Bridge is fixed at 19 feet six inches. Chris measured the height of our boat several times to ensure that we would make it — and we did! Yay!!Great Blue Herons also call the rivers homeBarges being pushed by towboats (pushboats) will be a common sight.Our buddy boat and leader, TimelessWe met up with Catty Shack when we merged with the Illinois River. Their boat was low enough to travel through the heart of Chicago.At the end of our long first day, we spent an uneventful night on the Joliet Wall along with Timeless and Catty Shack.The park along the wall was quiet and had this strange man keeping watch.We spotted a few duck blinds in calmer sections of the river.An interesting and colorful rental optionThis was our first lock on the rivers. These locks are massive to accommodate barges. They are 100 feet wide and anywhere from 600-1200 feet long. Exposed tree roots might indicate that the water level is low.An American white pelican in flight. “Great shot, Chris!”Apparently, American white pelicans are a regular and growing sight in Illinois as they travel along their migration routes between northern breeding grounds and southern wintering areas.A shot of our second lockA bald eagle resting by the side. Most of the time, we spot them flying away…much faster than the boat.Hennepin is home to the world’s largest dry-grind ethanol facility. It grinds 360,000 bushels of corn daily, producing over 400 million gallons of renewable ethanol fuel per year, along with DDGS animal feed, distillers corn oil, carbon dioxide, and soybean crush operations.This charming fountain had a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi with birds all around him. The population of Hennepin is only 750 and yet there are at least three children’s playgrounds like this one throughout the town.Timeline hosted “decktales”.The population of Hennepin is 750.
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