The Cicadas

We drove to Devon and Caldwell where the North Branch trail begins in Chicago. The trail leads north through Skokie and ends at the botanical gardens north of the city. It's about a 17 mile ride up there (34 miles round trip!), so we were quite sore afterwards, but saw some cool things. It's a beautiful ride through the forest preserve and was nicely shaded by the tall trees.












One of the most interesting parts of the trip was the cicadas. Every 17 years they dig their way out of the ground and mate. While we had both seen the various annual cicadas that arrive each summer, we were't prepared for the massive quantities that hatched this cycle. They were everywhere, and soooo loud! The sound is absolutely deafening and as we left the louder areas, I felt as though I had just left a rock concert. My ears are still recovering! It's as though a million little bugs got together and every one is screaming at the top of it's lungs. Click HERE for an interesting article on the levels of noise these tiny creatures can make.

First they molt and leave their skins all over the trees, grass, ground, everywhere. You'll see one and then realize that everywhere you look there are more and more and more.

Here are some of the molted skins in a tree.

The often landed on us as we rode.

Barely hanging on.

Yannie pulling one out of a tree

After miles of riding and numerous stops to check out the cicadas, we made it to the Chicago botanical gardens.

On the ride home, we treated ourselves to some slurpy's to cool off after the long bike trip.