The Valley of the Fox Group is one of 14 groups comprising the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club. Chartered in 1992, the group draws its membership from the Fox River Valley and the counties of Kane and Kendall. Also visit us at www.facebook.com/sierraclubvof.

Illinois Canyon Trails Spring Ephemeral Hike, Starved Rock State Park

Saturday April 20, 9:00am to 3:00pm

The Illinois Canyon Trail is a 0.9 mile moderately trafficked out-and-back trail located near Ottawa, Illinois that features a sea of Bluebells for a couple of weeks in late April. The second leg of the hike is about 5 miles round trip from the Illinois Canyon Parking lot, up and down moderate hills, to LaSalle Canyon and its locally famous waterfalls. In addition to trailside wildflowers, the LaSalle Canyon falls are some of the most photographed in the Midwest.

Led by Janie Bristow and co-leader Ray Wronkiewicz, this outing is suitable for school-aged children (or parents who want to carry their children) and persons who can walk flat unpaved trails. The entire hike will be about 5-6 hours, but the Illinois Canyon segment will last about 1.5 hours. Participants may sign out at the end of the Illinois Canyon segment if you don’t want to walk the additional 5 mile trip from Illinois Canyon to LaSalle Canyon and back.

Starved Rock State Park is home to a rich variety of common and rare spring ephemeral wildflowers. This hike is one of the most beautiful and unique that the park has to offer. We’re going to walk slow and look down often. We'll first walk up the Illinois Canyon trail, past the Virginia Blue Bell beds, to the head of the canyon to view the waterfall, and back to the parking lot. We'll then walk past Council Overhang in Ottawa Canyon and head along the river to LaSalle Canyon to see the waterfalls in that canyon system, and back to the Illinois Canyon parking lot. Typically at the end of the walks, participants meet in Utica to have a late lunch and socialize.

We’ll meet in the Illinois Canyon parking lot on IL Rt 71 in the east part of the Park. If you need directions or want to coordinate a carpool, contact Ray at wronk51@msn.com. GPS coordinates for the parking lot are 41.308825, -88.938815. (Google maps address is 1172 IL 71, Ottawa, IL)

Carpooling is strongly encouraged due to the limited number of parking spaces in the Illinois Canyon parking lot, this outing is limited to 10 drivers of vehicles.

There is no fee but a voluntary donation ($3 suggested) will be accepted to help defray the expenses of the Meetup site.

What to bring:

waterproof boots, or shoes that you don’t mind getting wet and muddy
rain gear (if raining)
water
trail snacks if desired
bag to carry trash out
camera/lenses if desired
pet waste bags (if bringing your dog)

The leaders will be taking pictures to post. Participants are encouraged to also share and post pictures.

Disclaimer: You should understand that during your participation in this Sierra Club Outing, you may be exposed to a variety of hazards and risks, foreseen or unforeseen, which are inherent to this Outing and cannot be eliminated without destroying the unique character of this Outing. These inherent risks include, but are not limited to, the dangers of serious personal injury, property damage, and death and the Sierra Club has not tried to contradict or minimize my understanding of these risks. You should know that Injuries and Damages can occur by natural causes or activities of other persons, animals, trip members, trip leaders and assistants or third parties, either as a result of negligence or because of other reasons. You should understand that risks of such Injuries and Damages are involved in all adventure travel such as Sierra Club Outings and you should appreciate that you may have to exercise extra care for your own person and for others around you in the face of such hazards.

Fox River Cleanup

Saturday, April 20, 8:00amm to 11:00am

The Kiwanis Club of Aurora is partnering with Fox Metro Water Reclamation District, City of Aurora, Aurora Township, Fox Valley Park District, and other local agencies in conducting what we hope will be another successful cleanup event.

They will meet at Veterans Memorial Island Park on the Illinois Avenue bridge, north side. Parking is available on the south side of the bridge, the Prisco Center, the Cole Center and Fox River Trail parking (west side of bridge).

For information, go to https://aurorakiwanis.org/page/kiwanis-one-day-2024.

Earth Day Presentation – Updated Legislation for Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Monday, April 22, 6:45pm to 8:00pm

Please join VOF's own Bill Koehl and Linda Gaska for a virtual 2024 Earth Day presentation on Updated Legislation for Carbon Capture and Sequestration. Both Linda and Bill are members of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, a group supported by the Illinois League of Women Voters and 12 environmental organizations including the Illinois Sierra Club.

Find out why so many environmental organizations support the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines. Learn about

the pitfalls and history of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS),
reasons for updated legislation soon to be voted on,
landowners/farmers concerns,
future CCS expansion,
resources for legislative advocacy,
and possible clean, renewable energy alternative solutions.

You will be given the support and tools you need to act, so register for this important Earth Day
event by clicking the link below. Have questions? Contact Linda Gaska at lindagaskavof@gmail.com.

To register and get the Zoom meeting link, go to https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000002Jvw6AAC&mapLinkHref=

Bill Koehl is a climate activist with several advocacy groups. Currently he is the League of Women Voters of Illinois team leader for Climate Advocacy. Bill is also a participant in the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition with Muni Co-op Working Group with a focus on the Prairie State coal plant. Plus, he is a member of the CO2 Plenary -- a nationwide coalition for education on all matters involving carbon capture -- and also serves on the Valley of the Fox Executive Committee.

Linda Gaska has been an active environmental advocate for the past 15 years and a member of the Valley of the Fox (VOF) Sierra Club for the last 10 years. She has served on the VOF Executive Committee since 2022 and has been their Political Chair since 2021. She has been the founder of a Green Business Referral Exchange and Creation Care Team at her church, and has given presentations on Cap and Trade, and co-led a Bioneer Symposium.

Request for Volunteers: Kane County Recycling Events

May 4th and beyond

Kane County Recycling's sign up for volunteers for 2024 events is open now! The first event, which will have shredding, paint & aerosol collection, and clothing & small homegoods collection is on Saturday, May 4th at the circuit clerk’s building at 540 S. Randall Rd., St. Charles. The time commitment for volunteers is ~7:15am – 12:30pm. Lunch and breakfast snacks will be provided. Our other event dates this year are July 20 (the Extravaganza) and September 28 (shredding & more).

For information, go to https://kanecountyconnects.com/article/recycling-volunteers-recyclingvolunteers-recyclingevent-kanecounty-environment, or email recycle@countyofkane.org