Reader discretion advised: The following anecdote may be disturbing to food snobs with weak stomachs.
For a few years, the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Soup-er Chili Hike asked participants to bring their favorite can of soup or chili to enjoy after a late fall walk. There were only two pots. All of the soup went into a single pot, and the chili went into the other, to simmer over an open flame tended by a volunteer as others hiked on a chilly afternoon.
Angie Trobaugh, a program coordinator with the district, said the results were surprisingly palatable.
“It was good,” Trobaugh said with a laugh. “It’s fun. You never know what you’re going to get at the end.”
The blend of canned soup was put on hold last year with safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving participants to their own food. But the late fall and winter walks offered throughout the forest preserves remain popular — and with good reason, according to Trobaugh.
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“Who doesn’t like to have some comfort food after going on a brisk hike?” she said.
But it is not just food that draws people to these programs. In fact, when Hickory Creek Junction on the border of Mokena and New Lenox hosted this year’s Soup-er Chili walk Dec. 4, only supplies for s’mores and a batch of vegetarian chili made by volunteer Phyllis Schulte were served. Schulte has been volunteering with the forest preserve district for roughly three decades.
“Hickory Creek is pretty much Phyllis’ because she almost single-handedly did restoration here, continues to do restoration here,” Trobaugh said. “It’s so evident.”
Most came out to the free event because they have formed a bond with Trobaugh and fellow hikers — and share similar interests. That is part of what makes the guided hikes special, according to Trobaugh.
“It adds a social aspect,” she said. “Everyone here are my friends, and I enjoy what I do. We’re having fun; we’re out getting exercise.”
Christopher Cruz, of Mokena, attended the program with his girlfriend and his father. He said they “stumbled” into a couple of events with the forest preserve district and just started doing more.
“It’s nice,” Cruz said. “We talk to people and get to know people.”
Cruz also recently hiked in the Orland Grassland and had a good time. He tries to take as many hikes as possible, especially this time of year.
“I try to get out here in the fall,” Cruz said. “It’s not winter yet. There’s no snow. It’s above 40 degrees. I want to be outside as much as I can because for the next few months I’m not going to be able to.”
Mary Vaccarezza, of Chicago’s Mayfair neighborhood, came out to Hickory Creek Junction Dec. 4 with her friend Joanne Saleme, of Naperville. Vaccarezza said she considers the cold weather hikes ideal.
“When it’s hot in the summer, we don’t really hike,” Vaccarezza said. “It’s just too hot. Winter hiking is the best. It’s just so fresh.”
Trobaugh said it is a great time to see animals that are active in cold weather, such as coyotes, deer, owls and beavers. When the animals themselves are not spotted by visitors, snow and ice can help preserve tracks that people often take for granted, including preserved predator-prey interactions, Trobaugh said. It also allows people to scope nests, among other things up high you can’t see when the full tree cover is there.
“When all of the trees lose their leaves, you almost get this whole different perspective of the forest, because now you can see past the foliage,” she said.
Vaccarezza and Saleme both do hikes with Trobaugh regularly, despite the travel times for them to get out to Will County.
“I just know if we’re going to do something like this I have to get in the car and drive, but it’s well worth it,” Vaccarezza said.
In addition to the camaraderie and winter sights, Vaccarezza said the hikes are good exercise, especially for her. She works from home and does not end up moving around as much as she knows she should.
“It’s good to get out,” Vaccarezza said. “It’s a good way to spend the weekend.”
Trobaugh said an added benefit for her is that she gets to explain how imperative everything in the forest preserves is.
“We’re recreating and, unbeknownst to you, you’re going to learn something along the way,” she said. “Without this stuff being this way, we don’t exist. You don’t have to like it … but you do have to respect it and appreciate it.”
Trobaugh said the guided hikes also help people who may be timid about heading into the unknown of the preserves. Naturalists can put wildlife into perspective for folks who are unfamiliar with it, she said.
“Some people are afraid to go out by themselves,” Trobaugh said. “People have questions about things they see out here. I think there are a lot of people that are intimidated by natural areas and appreciate that liaison. I’ve always considered myself like a liaison between people, society and these natural areas.”
Trobaugh tries to hold programs at least once a month during the cold months to get people off their comfy couches and out into the woods, discussing winter animals, identifying trees, discovering wildlife tracks and playing games such as counting birds’ nests. She likes to showcase different sites and attractions within the district
On the Hickory Creek walk, people spotted a great horned owl, the holes left by a pileated woodpecker, a hawk in flight, a dead vole (unrelated to the hawk), areas that went through controlled burns and, of course, squirrels. The large preserve includes a variety of habitats, from upland to wet forests, prairies, ponds, wetlands and creeks.
“When you have all of that together, it brings in a lot of species,” Trobaugh said.
The Soup-er Chili program, in particular, caught on over the years mostly because people love hikes, bonfires and comfort food, in addition to the camaraderie, according to Trobaugh.
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“It’s just a really nice time,” she said. “Everyone gets a bit of exercise under the canopy of the forest. Everyone leaves a little bit better.”
The Forest Preserve District of Will County has a number of other Southland hikes still to come during the cold months. A Holiday Owl Prowls program is slated for Dec. 26 at the Plum Creek Nature Center in Crete Township. The Pliking: Mini Hike scheduled for Jan. 8 at the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve asks those ages 18 and older to pick up litter as they take a 2-mile hike to help improve the environment while enjoying the outdoors.
An Excursion Hike is planned for Jan. 22 at the Hadley Valley Preserve in New Lenox Township. That 18 and older event is to embrace “friluftsliv,” a Norwegian philosophy of outdoor living, during a 7-mile hike with sack lunches. A Zoom program about friluftsliv is to precede the walk on Jan. 13.
Trobaugh said these themes help draw people to the preserves.
“It adds another level of attraction, because people are caught by particular things,” she said.
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.