Wander at Will: A short hike on a cold winter day

Editor’s note: This story is part of our Wander at Will series, which is designed to inspire you to enjoy the many recreation opportunities in your Will County preserves in whatever ways you are able to. Whether you’re a well-traveled explorer or just starting your outdoor adventures, digital marketing coordinator Meghan McMahon hopes her first-person adventures will help you’ll find new ideas, tips and hidden gems to help you connect with the outdoors all year.

Winter is not my favorite season, and it’s mostly because of the cold. The earlier sunsets don’t bother me that much, and I enjoy a nice blanket of snow. I don’t even mind shoveling the snow. But I don’t like being cold.

I’m always skeptical of those people who say they would rather be cold than hot. This is flawed logic to me because I have never — not once — been in pain because of the heat. The same can’t be said of the cold. Sign me up for an outing on a sweltering summer day any time, but when temperatures dip into the single digits, I’m content to stay home.

But in the spirit of trying new things and pushing my usual boring boundaries, I found myself at Rock Run Rookery Preserve in Joliet on a morning when the temperature was just 3 degrees — and the feels like temperature was 9 degrees below zero. For me, that’s definitely too cold to be voluntarily spending time outside. But that’s what I did.

I was as prepared as I could be for the cold. I layered up under my warm coat, wore insulated pants, my warmest socks and boots, a hat, a neck warmer and gloves. I was glad I wore my sunglasses, too, because in addition to the glare of the bright sun on the snow they also protected my eyes against the cold winter wind.

I chose Rock Run Rookery for a few reasons. First, the trail there is short — a little less than a mile from the trailhead to the turnaround point and back — and I wasn’t sure if I could tolerate more than that. (Spoiler alert: I could have, but not much more.) My other reasoning was that even in winter there’s usually wildlife activity here because of the water.

It turns out, though, that the preserve was a lot more quiet than I am used to, and not just because I had the place to myself as far as human visitors. The lakes here were mostly frozen over, which limits the bird activity at the preserve quite a bit.

Rock Run Rookery is often a good place to see bald eagles in winter. You can see them soaring overhead and hanging out in the trees surrounding the lake. But when the water freezes over, they usually leave for open water nearby so they can hunt for fish. On this day, there were no eagles to be seen, although the preserve wasn’t entirely devoid of wildlife.

As I walked along the trail, I heard and then saw a few robins and sparrows, and a couple of bright red cardinals popped against the snowy white backdrop. As I got closer to the trail end, where there’s a boardwalk over the water, things were busier. Here the water remained unfrozen, and it was full of birds, mostly mergansers and geese but also a few seagulls and a few other species I couldn’t quite identify at a distance. It was one of those winter days when the water is steaming because the air above is so cold, but the birds didn’t seem fazed by it.

I, on the other hand, was a little fazed, but not inordinately so. The cold itself wasn’t so bad; I was properly prepared for that. But any bit of exposed skin got cold fast, so choices had to be made. If I covered my mouth and nose with my neck warmer, my sunglasses would fog up. And if I took my sunglasses off, the wind made my eyes water. So, I did what any reasonable person would do and alternated back and forth.

As I walked, I tried to take in some of the details. Drifts in the snow made for some interesting patterns, and it was cool to see ice formations along the shoreline where the water had frozen while it was windy. And because the trail was snowy, even the crunch, crunch, crunch of my boots made the walk more enjoyable. The only real drawback was that I wasn’t able to take as many photos as I usually do because it was too cold to have my gloves off for more than a few seconds at a time.

By the time I got back to the parking lot, I was ready to jump back into my warm car, but I could have walked farther, a little at least. And maybe next time I will. As long as it isn’t much colder than this morning was. While I did push myself outside of my usual comfort zone, I think I was pretty much at my limit as far as temperature is concerned. Any colder than that and I’ll opt for indoor activities.

So, look for me as you explore the preserves this winter. We may just run into each other yet this season. I’ll probably stick to warmer winter days for the most part, but don’t be surprised if you see me on the trail on those single-digit days too.

If you’re looking for someplace to explore on those extra cold winter days, consider any of the forest preserves with a year-round visitor center. Each has short trails for winter explorations with the added benefit of somewhere to warm up for awhile if need be. Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, Hidden Oaks Nature Center, Isle a la Cache Museum and Plum Creek Nature Center are each open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays. Sugar Creek Administration Center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.