Cap Sauers and Swallow Cliff Loop

Christmas this year was pretty special because it was marked by me moving back to Chicago from Arizona. After 2 years I finally completed my masters in environmental engineering and graduated at the beginning of December. Last week I moved back home to find a job and be with my family and although I will miss all of the hiking adventures and great friends I've made in Arizona, I can't wait to start exploring the midwest the same way. Christmas was also special because of some sweet outdoors gifts: a new pair of hiking boots (switching it up from Merrells to Vasques this time) from my folks, a Wisconsin State Parks pass from my girlfriend, some hiking clothing from my sister, and "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Chicago" a book by Ted Villaire from my girlfriend's sister. I couldn't wait to get outdoors as it's been 3 weeks since my last hike so we picked out one the hikes from the book, laced up the new boots, and headed down to hike the Cap Sauers and Swallow Cliff Loop in Palos Park.

Located in southwest Cook County, the Palos/Sag Valley Forest Preserve is home to the Cap Sauers and Swallow Cliff Loop. The trail is a 3.8 mile loop through a giant grove of Oak trees, known as an "Oak Savanna". Oak Savannas feature grasses and prairie plants growing among forests dominated by Oak trees. The trail is named for Charles "Cap" Sauers, the first Superintendent of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, as well as for the Swallow Cliff, a 100 foot tall bluff carved by glaciers (like much of the terrain in the Chicago area).

The trail begins at Teason's Woods, a nice picnic area located near Route 83 and 104th Avenue. The parking lot connects to the Yellow Trail, which moves through a valley of trees at the base of a large hill. Within the first quarter mile of the hike we saw a family of whitetail deer and we had a few additional sightings of deer along the trail.

The trail then reaches the Swallow Cliffs Stairs, which were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1930. The 125 stairs climb almost 100 feet and at this point in the trail we saw a bunch of people climbing up and down the stairs for exercise. The stairs once led to the top of a toboggan run which was removed in 2004.

After reaching the top of the stairs the trail continues through the forest on the cream trail before joining the brown trail and then linking back up to the yellow trail. The trails are extremely well marked with posts and each trail either paved with crushed stone or well maintained dirt. The recent rain made the trail a bit slushy in some parts. After passing Horsetail Lake and crossing 104th Avenue we entered the Cap Sauers Holdings Nature Preserve for the second half of the trail. Hiking among the leafless Oak trees on a cloudy, gloomy day made for an almost eery feeling that was pretty cool. After passing Swallow Cliffs we hardly saw any other people. After 2 years of sunshine and cactus it was something different to be out on a gloomy day among tall hardwood trees.

The Hike: Cap Sauers and Swallow Cliff Loop, 3.8 miles, 120 ft. elevation gain

Check out 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Chicago here
As always Leave No Trace!

Moving my roots

When I was in 3rd grade the company that my dad works for offered him a big promotion and a lot of opportunity if he was willing to relocate to Las Vegas. When I first found out I was devastated at the prospect of leaving our friends and family in Illinois. My grandma still laughs to this day because when I first talked to her after finding out we might have to move my biggest concern was a little rose of sharon tree that she gave me when I was 4 years old. I asked her if we could dig it up and put it back in her yard so that she could look after it when we moved.

My dad made a big sacrifice for his family and ultimately didn't take the promotion because he was putting his family ahead of his career ambition, something I look up to him for so much especially since starting my own career. Things have worked out even better for him by staying in the office in Illinois so it wound up paying off in the long run. My tree has remained in my parents back yard since then and has grown up along with me (although it's a few feet taller than me now).

3 weeks ago my parents excitedly told me that they finally bought their dream house. After 22 years in the house that I grew up in, my parents are going to be moving out and living somewhere new. While it tugs at some nostalgia a bit, I couldn't be more excited for them and for what the future holds for our family. We have had an awesome time in the house I grew up in but with my sister and I grown up and on our way towards having our own careers and houses, my parents needed a change. The new house is beautiful and situated on an acre and a half of land. There are beautiful big maple trees (that I can't wait to tap for syrup this winter), friendly neighbors, and a huge lawn for the dogs to run around on.

While it might be the most ridiculous thing in the world to some people, the prospect of leaving my tree was right up there at the top of things I was most sad about in leaving our home. There's no way in hell I could leave it, so this weekend while I returned home to attend a wedding I put aside a few hours to transplant it. I spent Saturday morning digging the tree out of the ground and wrapping the root ball in burlap. I've never transplanted a tree by myself so I had to do a bit of research.

American Robin

When you transplant a tree you generally want to do it at a time that will be least stressful for the tree. It was a cool overcast October day so it was absolutely ideal. High temperatures and lots of sunshine can cause the tree to wilt as it is already stressed by having its roots moved. The root ball should be 10 inches to a foot in diameter for each inch of the thickness of the tree's trunk. Since my tree is only about 8 ft. tall with a 2-3 inch trunk I was able to dig it out within an hour no problem. I wrapped the tree up in burlap and watered it well before putting it back into the ground where it would stay overnight.

Project supervisor

On Sunday morning I went back to the house and with the help of my dad loaded it up and drove it to it's new home at my parent's new yard. My parents have been so busy with the new house and work but still found time to help me with something that they knew was important to me. I'm beyond lucky.  Arriving at my parent's new house to plant the tree was the first time I was able to see the house in person and I was so impressed with how beautiful it was. The previous owner had several birdfeeders up so there were lots of birds around and some of the leaves were starting to change for the fall. We got my tree into the ground pretty quickly and it will be in my mom's care until I get home but so far looks like it's handled the move pretty well. I'm really glad that I get to keep something so special to me!

5 years of digging experience

My tree in it's new home

House Finch

Black Capped Chickadee