A damp hike at Ellis Island

Planning events in February is always a gamble, because we never know what the weather will be like. For this weekend we decided to keep it simple by planning a short hike near Alton.

We went to Ellis Island Trail in West Alton. It is inside of the Riverland Migratory Bird Sanctuary. This isn’t a difficult or lengthy hike. However, being inside the bird sanctuary makes it a popular location due to the number of eagles that can be seen in the area. It was a warm day for February, especially given that just over a week ago the temps barely reached the double-digits and there was snow covering the ground! We had to hike through a few light rain showers, but luckily there was nothing severe in our area.

A foggy start

We had to drive through some rain on our way to the trail. That, combined with the temperature (which was much warmer than normal for this time of the year) created some intense fog over the river. It definitely made for an interesting (and somewhat eerie) hike! The breeze picked up towards the end and cleared out most of the fog.

Eagle watching

In addition to hiking, we also hoped to find a few eagles. We didn’t schedule this in the prime eagle-watching time of the year, so we weren’t sure if we’d actually see any. We were especially less-than-optimistic given the weather. Even if they were there, would we see them through the fog? Despite the challenges, we still saw several. Most were off in the distance, but they were still there, and we were able to see a few fly by, which is always impressive.

We have another hike planned in March. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with us again for that event!