Moving Picture: Fox River canoeist finds joy in winter paddling
As JB Livengood slices the glassy surface of the Fox River with his canoe and paddle, his breath lingers in a trail behind him and his fingertips are numb from the cold.
And he can't stop smiling.
At 70 years old, he could be reading a good book and glancing out the window of his Lake in the Hills house at the approaching gray winter. But he has been squatting in a canoe for 50 years and knows the cold months provide joy on the river that most people will never experience.
“There's so many unique things you see that nature is creating by that rising and lowering of the water level,” he says of the winter months and the ice that forms on the river. “It's like an ice crystal season.”
He looks forward to each freezing day and the chance of seeing unusual ice formations.
“It's just one of the surprises and treats from paddling this time of year. It's like a kaleidoscope. You keep turning it and it's always making something new,” Livengood said.
Livengood captains his solo canoe at least weekly from his favorite spot, just minutes from his home. Sometimes he travels with his wife in a bigger canoe.
Buffalo Park, south of downtown Algonquin on the west bank of the Fox River, is a place he says not enough people know about. He speaks of its ample parking and restroom facilities but mostly about its natural gravel bar that keeps the ice from forming on the bank. That make it easy to launch.
The 3-mile stretch between the Algonquin dam and the Carpentersville dam has largely no motorized boat traffic, so wildlife is plentiful. He says he regularly sees deer, muskrats, beavers and coyotes as he paddles.
“One of the bonuses of fall and winter paddling is the water is crystal clear, and in most of it, it's possible to watch fish and anything else in the water,” Livengood said.
It's not unusual, he said, to see as many as two dozen species of birds on any given day, including bald eagles. He remembers watching a four-point buck swim across the Fox River in front of his canoe.
“That was quite an exciting passage. And when that buck got out on the other shore, instead of us watching him and he's the show, he turned around and watched us and we were the show,” he said.
“It's just a joy to feel the water against your paddle, just to feel the resilience of that paddle in your hand and that interconnect between you and the water,” he continued with his arms moving as if he is holding a paddle. “It's just so satisfying to feel your body transmitting that propulsion.”
On his “quickie trip” he paddles north from Buffalo Park, part of the Kane County Forest Preserve District, to the Algonquin dam and back. Thirty of the 40 minutes are spent going against the stronger uphill currents.
Livengood's 90-minute route takes him south to the Carpentersville dam and back to Buffalo Park. The trips require no portaging and no second vehicle. He starts and ends in the same location, an easier expedition in the winter because of the slower currents.
“I'm never disappointed. I'm out there just to be out there, just to be paddling,” he said with a content smile. “If it's a quiet day with nature that day, I got what I came for. I got out and paddled. That's good for me. It's good for my heart and soul.”
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