Starved Rock Marina – Henry, IL – Lock Wall Oct 15, 2021
We are up early and contact the lock. We are hoping that getting going early will help with the locking. Calling Starved Rock Lock before 7 AM the lockmaster tells us he currently has a double in the chamber. That means that the tugs push barges into the locks without a tug, locks are filled or emptied depending on direction. They then winch the barges through to stay on the long wall outside the lock and wait for the next batch of barges usually having a tug to push them all down river. This process takes hours to complete. The lockmaster says that if we are there in time he will put us into the chamber on the down, between the two batches. We quickly get set and push off.
At Starved Lock we are asked to wait on the north side of the massive cement pilings so that the first batch of barges can be winched forward. We only wait about 20 minutes and then again we end up going through a squeeze between the barge end and the lock wall. Captain is used to this and does it with ease. Again another morning with no wind.
Cruising south on the Illinois River the trees are all still green. Fall has not made an appearance yet except for the cool nights. This section of the river is more wilderness than it is industrial. There is so much bird life here. Herons, Egrets, ducks that we have no idea which kind they are, just sitting enjoying the peace. We spot some large white birds. I mean very large. We thought they were storks but they have short legs and duck feet. We research them and come to find out that they are migrating white pelicans that are native to the Illinois River. Who knew? We have been told that there are lots of bald eagles around these parts but have not seen any. We start to talk about them and without the words out of mouths there one is. Standing so silently on a dead branch watching the waters for his next prey. Statuesque and very large even on this barren branch.
Continuing down the river there are pockets of industry and barges at the ready to be filled or emptied. We have counted 15 barges on a tow as the largest one so far. Since Chicago the tow have become larger so they can push more, hence the double locking we have encountered. With the rains we have had there is a lot of debris that Scott dodges with ease. We only travel at 8 knts or so which makes it very easy to spot.
Pulling into Henry, IL we find the old lock wall that we stayed on in 2015. The water is about 6 feet less than then. We could only see the trees popping out of the water on the one side of the old historic lock wall and now we have a full island. Where we stayed in the past was at the high wall and we had to step down. Very little wind and the sun has come out for a bit here and there. The water is becoming the ick brown that I remember. This fish are jumping again.
