Long time, no see

crazywalkingpaulsens — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:41:31 +0000

It has been quite a while since we blogged about our adventures on foot. The adventure of parenthood kept us busier – and off the trails – more often than expected. We continued to explore with our little one, camping and hiking, but her needs kept us away from the cold of winter hikes, out of the hot summer sun and generally on shorter jaunts closer to home.

She’s now rounded the 18 month mark, is more mobile and more interested in all things outdoors. We’ve hit the trails near home for the past three weekends with great success. So far, an urban nature center within the city limits and two of the Forest Preserve’s nature centers have provided some great outdoor time: family-friendly hikes, great kids activities and scenery.

Updates, more gear reviews and hopefully more forays with nature are on the horizon.

National Trails Day 2010

crazywalkingpaulsens — Sun, 09 May 2010 14:38:17 +0000

Here’s a great reminder to get out for a hike this Summer: Saturday, June 5 is National Trails Day. The American Hiking Society organizes this day each year, providing educational resources about hiking and promoting awareness and useage of hiking trails throughout the country. We’ll have guests in town, but I hope we’ll be able to get out. Maybe we’ll try one of the local trails maintained by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

Summer is in the Air

crazywalkingpaulsens — Sun, 09 May 2010 14:13:50 +0000

We’ve made our camping reservations for this summer. With a new little one in tow this summer, we picked a few places close to home. We’ve never camped or hiked at either, so it should be a lot of fun. Since we’re bringing the baby along, we’re going to wait until it is a bit warmer overnight before heading out. We don’t want any repeats of last October’s 30 degree nights. In late June, we head over to Utica, IL to camp at Starved Rock State Park. This park is super popular with campers and hikers from the Chicago area since it is one of the closest state parks. I’ve also heard it has great hiking, too. Later in the Summer, we’re off to Indiana Dunes. Though we’re camping at the state park, we’ll make sure Abby gets a visit to her first national park while we’re there. We may head out on a few other impromptu trips if our June weekend goes well, and we’ll definitely camp for a weekend with the family again this summer, too. Our summer schedule is pretty full with camping, concerts, festivals and baseball games, so it may be a summer full of day hikes. (I know I’m hoping to hit up the I&M Canal Trail, for one.)

Winnemac Park Loop

crazywalkingpaulsens — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:22:27 +0000

Babies have a way of keeping new and inexperienced parents cooped up in the house. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Abby to hit the trails with us, but we haven’t had many adventures (other than her arrival) since she joined us on March 16th. Lately, the nice Spring weather has us itching to hit the trails. Since then, we’ve all been feeling better and become more confident. Abby has joined us for several short strolls through our neighborhood.

Now that she’s hit the ripe old age of four weeks, Abby and I were ready for something bigger. It was a great day for a walk – mid-fifties and sunny – so I strapped Abby in the Ergo and hit the road. We walked from home to Winnemac Park, wound through the park (scoping out the playground for future use) and walked down Damen Ave. and back home.There were loads of Spring flowers – tons of daffodils, tulips, crocuses and more – gracing well kept gardens. The park maintenance crew was out mowing the grass and prepping the baseball diamonds for the season.

We walked through some great neighborhoods, through one of my favorite city parks, and passed loads of people going about their day. Sure, we sometimes miss the easy access to state parks and other great hikes we had when living downstate, but today’s walk reminded me why we love the city so much.

Distance: About 1.5 miles

Path: Giddings to Oakley to Argyle, through Winnemac Park, then Damen to Giddings.

Weather: 54 and Sunny. A bit blustery from time to time.

Wildlife: Mostly city birds – crows, pigeons, robins. A few friendly dogs too.

Time: About 45 minutes or so. Not too bad when carrying a 10 pound baby on your chest!

Gearing Up for Baby Paulsen

crazywalkingpaulsens — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:54:47 +0000

Last weekend, we spent the most we ever have on one single item of camping or hiking gear and it isn’t really even for us. In anticipation of our new trail-mate, we took a trip over to REI to check out hiking backpacks. After several trial runs involving a ten pound bag of beans, we came home with a well-rated and comfy baby carrier hiking pack so we’re ready to hit the trails with the little one this summer. All the online reviews and baby books couldn’t say enough good things about the Kelty FC 3.0 pack. After trying several models, we agree. Looks like Baby Paulsen will have some of the nicest gear in the house! We’ve also picked up a versatile Pack ‘n Play for the tent, which I’m sure beats a leaky air mattress on the ground. We’re still making plans, but we plan to head out at least three times this summer, hitting some popular campgrounds and trails in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana this summer.

Better Late Than Never

crazywalkingpaulsens — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:36:58 +0000

It was quite some time ago when we hit the road last October to Ohio to camp for the weekend with the family. We drove from Chicago to West Branch State Park in Ravenna, OH for a weekend of late fall camping. It was pretty darn cold, getting down into the low- to mid-30s overnight. It was mostly a weekend spent sitting around the fire and catching up with the family, and I don’t even remember if we got in much hiking. To make up for the lack of detail and total lack of timeliness on this hyped post, here’s one of my favorite shots from the weekend, taken from the lake access path that originated at our site. More photos are on the way!

The next big adventure

crazywalkingpaulsens — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:45:08 +0000

Baby's first t-shirt

It’s been too long since our last update, but rest assured we have not vanished into the woods never to be heard from again. We’ve just been preparing for our next adventure, which has limited our hiking excursions for the time being. Stay tuned for more news and family-style hiking and camping later this Spring.

Ohio or Bust

crazywalkingpaulsens — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:43:35 +0000

We are packing up to hit the road to Ohio for a weekend of camping with the family. It will be the first time my siblings and I have all been camping together in about 10 years. We’ll be staying until Monday at West Branch State Park in Ravenna, OH. Stay tuned for more on our trip and any hikes!

Chicago Botanic Gardens

crazywalkingpaulsens — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:01:39 +0000

Prairie and Heron by Erica

The family visited this weekend, so we took the chance to enjoy our membership at the Chicago Botanic Gardens to show them around one of our favorite places in Chicago. We’ve been meaning to try the hike suggested in one of our hiking books and it turns out our casual hike covered most of the same ground. The Visitor Guide indicated that the Prairie was in peak form this time of year, so we circled the park to check out the selection of restored native Prairie. We also made a detour to visit the new Plant Science Center and one of our favorite gardens, the Fruit and Vegetable Garden.

The Prairie is a great view into the true landscape of Illinois, especially for us city dwellers. It was much less busy than other areas of the Gardens, relatively secluded and teeming with wildlife (all things considered). By following the outer perimeter path, we were also able to visit several gardens that we had never visited before. We even discovered a section of woodland, the Mary Mix McDonald Woods, with a brief trail we plan to hit up next time we visit the Gardens. The only thing missing was the camera – hopefully we’ll be able to get some guest photos soon (thanks, Erica!).

Distance: About 3 miles

Path: We followed the outer perimeter path and part of the bike path to circle the park and visit the Prairie. We also make some detours to other gardens.

Weather: 55 degrees and crisp

Wildlife: Some small birds, turtle, heron, swans

Time: We walked at a leisurely pace and stopped often to view things along the way. Not sure how long we spent at the Gardens.

Busse Woods at Ned Brown Forest Preserve

crazywalkingpaulsens — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:18:21 +0000

A few weeks ago we hit up the Cook County Forest Preserve District for another hike. It was a quick walk on a busy day, but we’d been wanting to check out the Busse Woods Preserve. It’s the largest in the Cook County system. Not only is it huge, but there is even a lake and an elk preserve. We’ll head back again to enjoy more of the trails. Since it was labor day weekend, the place was swamped and the portions of the trail shared with the North Branch Bike Trail were totally packed. Lots of bikers seem to lack etiquette when passing slower trail users, so it gets frustrating. The hikes are much busier and louder than the hikes we prefer, but the are a great quick escape to nature when living in the city.

Distance: 1.4 miles

Path: Half of the hike was on the Busse Woods Bike Trail and the other half was on a secluded trail through the preserve. Route taken from 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Chicago

Weather: 74 and sunny

Wildlife: Geese, frogs, lots of bugs and people

Time: About 45 minutes