jillianduch
So, I heard a rumor that the Camelback Glacial Kame in Glacial Park offers the best view in the Chicago area. I have always walked around, rather than up, the kame, figuring the 2-mile trail I like there has quite enough hills anyway. But, today, I figured I might as well see the site myself.

Here are some pics from the park. (Sorry, this may require extensive scrolling...)


Quoting directly from a sign near the kame: These steep hills ahead were built here over several summers' time. 14,000 years ago the ice edge of a glacier stood, melting, about where you are now. A noisy waterfall gushed off the glacier's edge each summer into the valley beyond the hills. Sand and gravel flowed with the water and piled up to create the hundred-foot-high hills that geologists call "kames."

Here, BlackJack leads me up the narrow path on the first hill.


Two pics from the top:





Also from that sign: After the kames were deposited, the ice edge melted back toward Lake Michigan and left large ice blocks in the sand and gravel here. These blocks melted to become kettle shaped ponds and later, the bog and marsh wetlands of Glacial Park today. Climb the trail up onto the kames, known locally as "camelbacks," and take in the view that Native Americans, too, must have enjoyed.



Above: Two trees touch along the path after the kames.
Below: Looking up.



Below: BlackJack's tongue flapped and flopped when we were done.








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