Day 26 - ending near Warren, IL - Downstate Illinois

August 1, 2025

Day 26 - ending near Warren, IL

I got up at 4:40am. I think the trains did wake me up a few times overnight, but it wasn't a big deal, I fell right back to sleep. I packed up part-way then stopped to eat breakfast out of my lunch bag. On my way at 6:50am.

I still wasn't set on where I would be tonight. My latest thoughts were a campground or motel near Woodbine. I still planned to go to Galena so I could ride the Galena River Trail. Then I figured after that getting on US-20 would be the way to go. But first, get to Galena.

I headed north from Blanding Landing on River Road. All my maps indicated that River Road has a gap in it and I would need to get on Diggin Hill Road. When I got to that intersection I noticed the road signs and what is probably a dead end sign we're all missing. Though, there was a cute little shack at the intersection set up to sell honey. Diggin Hill Road wasn't bad at first, then it was uphill and more uphill. I had to walk a lot. I was at the top of the hill when a car passed heading down. The driver, who appeared to be a construction foreman, asked me if I had seen any construction vehicles. I said no. He went on down the hill. A little later three construction trucks with trailers went down the hill. I'm betting they wished they'd started a little earlier.

I made it to Blanding Road at 8:00am and Blackjack Road at 8:12am. Blackjack Road is infamous for its hills. Fortunately the hill for me was going down. I got off Blackjack Road to get on Sand Hill Road. This had me back on my at-home plan for getting to Galena.

At 8:51am I was at the trailhead for Galena River Trail. I figured it would be one long uphill all the way, but it wasn't. Of course I stopped to take pictures of all the information boards as I passed them. The most interesting site is near the end of the trail close to town. There's an artesian well that puts out 40 gallons a minute. There were bubbles and ripples at the pool from time to time.

I arrived at Galena's Depot Park at 9:58m. I'd done a quick search of restaurants and decided that I would eat another breakfast at Otto's place if they weren't too busy. When I parked the bike outside the cafe, I noticed a pin-bolt was coming loose on my front derailleur. Something to address after breakfast. The cafe was busy, but the hostess pointed out it is first come first serve for sitting at the counter. She suggested I go outside and sit on the bench and she would let me know when there was a space available. I sat for maybe 15 minutes, using that time to re-figure today. Maybe it would be better to go to Apple River Canyon State Park.

I really enjoyed my breakfast and the service I received, including getting my thermos filled with ice. Back outside I moved the bike to a nearby park. I knew I had spare screws, and one of them would probably work, but they were packed at the bottom of my rear basket, which would require a partial unload of the bike. Amongst the tools in my front basket bag were some small tie wraps. I tried two of those and it looks like that will fix it for now, maybe even until I get home.

I went into Galena's Visitor Center just to see if there was anything interesting. They did have a detailed map of the general area, which was better than the state map and even the bicycling map I have for figuring out how to get to Apple River Canyon State Park. The worker there gave me a copy of the map.

So it looked like I would be getting on Stagecoach Trail Road to get out of town. That would work well because there's a trail to that road from where I was at. It's on the east side of the Galena River, which is not the side all the businesses are at. When I got to Stagecoach Road, I parked the bike and walked two blocks to get a picture of downtown Galena. It certainly is full of tourists!

Noon arrived when I was on my way back to the bike. 13.0 miles of riding and walking this morning. 26 more to go.

Stagecoach Road wasn't quite the challenge Diggin Hill Road was this morning, but there were a lot more hills, several I had to walk. At 2:37pm I passed the road to Scales Mound. Their sign said, "At the Top in Illinois." Now I had 12 miles left to go.

Referring to my Galena area map, I turned off Stagecoach Road at 3:45pm. There were three roads south and three roads east, set up like stairs to get me to the campground. I was amazed on the south-going roads. With the wind behind me instead of at me it was easy riding. I almost fell asleep on one of the south roads, Also, these south-going roads were flat, the east-going roads weren't. In fact one of them went right over one of the mounds in this area.

As I coasted down into the state park from the west, I was surprised on how pretty it is here. Canyon walls are next to the river. A short turn north and I was at Canyon Ridge Campground. I checked in with the campground host, who had me go select a site in the walk-in area, then come back and settle up. That worked well. I have a site that I'm very pleased with (site #3). When I went back to pay I also purchased a bundle of firewood.

I set up the tent, started my campfire, then ate supper. I was going to do some Google Maps searching about where to stay tomorrow when I discovered I have no cell signal. I wrote up a shorter than normal evening report, then walked back to the campground entrance to see if I could get a signal there. There was barely one, but it was enough to let everyone know I was here.

More enjoying the campfire as the sun sets (behind so many trees; there's no sunset picture from here). I know picture selection for today is going to take a lot of time. And I need wifi to get them uploaded. I hate to waste beautiful camping weather on a motel night or two, but that's what I may do for tomorrow night. We'll see.

Jeff

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 1,050 miles (1,690 km)

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