It started out as a simple canoe outing and slowly morphed into camping out and then into a challenge to finish the ill fated, and only, Hensley family camping trip from 30 something years ago in the very same park. That attempt ended in a mother terrified of men wielding axes in the dark and a bone chilling frigid night temperature that saw us not lasting a full night, packing up and leaving in the wee hours. With that in mind, we set out to prove that we could last two nights in the wilderness and conquer Moraine View State Park once and for all.
But first, a brief lesson on how moraines are created. According to the Moraine View website, when the glaciers of the last Ice Age moved through central Illinois 15,000 years ago, they pushed massive amounts of rock and earth before them, leaving in their wake long and expansive ridges that ripple across the landscape. These irregular crests are called moraines. Below is an illustration of how glacier ice forms these ridges.
One of the four largest of these moraines in Illinois -- the Bloomington Moraine -- stretches across the state from Elgin to the Illinois River at Peoria east to Saybrook. Moraine View State Park sits in the middle of this moraine and is roughly 20 miles southeast of Bloomington/Normal.
And now, to the photos of the trip! Thanks to Brad and Steve for letting us borrow most of the camping equipment we used!
Friday, August 7
It was a tight fit but we finally got all of our equipment into mom's SUV. Next years goal, beyond having most of our own equipment, is to travel even lighter and be a bit more organized on how we pack.
At this point we weren't quite sure what we were getting ourselves into. The forecast for the day was heavy rain and we were hoping to get our tent up before that hit.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. We ended up setting up the tent in driving rain which, as you might imagine, was not too fun. Having never set up a tent it was pretty humorous as the three of us struggled with the instructions (thank god they were sown to the tent case!) as the ground got muddier and muddier. This image here is shortly after camp was set up. You can see how wet the tent and the ground is. We collectively got the brilliant idea to set up a tarp over an area behind the tent to keep our stuff dry and hang out while the rain passed.
This was the view from our camp looking out onto Dawson Lake.
Dad takes a break after setting up camp...
And Chris takes a leak in the woods.
The rain finally passed around 6:30 that evening and we settled down to some hot food.
One interesting thing about the area is that a huge wind farm has sprouted from the landscape in recent years. The Twin Groves Wind Farm has a total of 240 wind turbines and is estimated to provide power for 120,000 homes. Check out this article for more info. It was really nice to see clean, renewable energy being produced in central Illinois. Perhaps the make up of the moraine makes for good wind areas? More research is required.
Anyway, we took a trip out just before sun down to check them out. Approaching part of the wind farm from a distance was an awesome sight. As far as you could see there were turbines fading into the distance.
Up close and personal. Yes we trespassed but it was well worth the possible night in jail to experience the enormity and power of the turbine! This picture doesn't do it justice though. It was huge and the swishing sound it made was awesome!
As we were leaving I snapped this nice shot of some of the turbines set against a setting sun.
Shot this pic of a deer while we were out.
After we got back from the wind farm, we settled in with a nice fire. There's nothing like a fire to make your camping experience feel great!
Things were going smoothly and it looked as if we would be successful in our camping adventure. Of course the forecast for Saturday was one of the hottest weekends in recent times - hot and humid with a high of 93! Mother nature was doing her damnedest to drive the Hensley's out once again.
Saturday, August 8
After the worst night of sleep that I can remember, we woke to an already warm morning and feasted on a breakfast of eggs and bacon (we forgot the hash browns dammit!). As the day progressed it got hotter and hotter and eventually the heat index rose up to 99 degrees! So faced with the heat what do we do? We rent a row boat and head out into Dawson Lake at the height of the heat.
A short rest for the rower...
Yes, I was there too...
Quite proud of our boat outing, we came back to camp in high spirits. At this point the heat was so stifling that all we could do was sit around and do nothing and pray for a breeze. I look pretty happy here considering the heat index was 99!
Shut up, Jon. It's hot!
No amount of heat could stop dad from dozing off!
Another visit to the woods for Chris...
After what seemed like an eternity melting in the heat, we decided to hit some of the long and beautiful trails that Moraine View has to offer.
Some twisted fallen trees...
Cool empty river bed...
Chris' favorite tree...
A spiders home on a bridge...
What's this? A ray of hope? Could Mother Nature finally be showing some mercy? Would she allow the Hensley's to complete their camping adventure and erase the painful embarrassment of the first camping trip so many years ago?
Success!
Epilogue - Sunday, August 9
Despite the heat, we all slept much better the second night despite some knobs in the camp next to us hooting like Owls half the night (we think there was some wacky forest plants involved). We woke early Sunday morning and broke down camp, happy with the experience of the past two days and a new appreciation for Mother Nature. Yes, she had had mercy on us Hensley's afterall. But lest she thinks this is the end, we have already begun to plan our next camping adventure! Til next year, you beautiful bitch!
