2023-07-02: Charles Mound

Charles Mound, Illinois highpoint. Elevation 1235'. South ascent via Charles Mound Road with Audrey. 2.57 mi, 272' gain, 1h02m RT. State highpoint 26/50 for me, 1/50 for Audrey.

I had long been planning to take a week off work sometime this summer to spend with Audrey in Indiana. Traditionally I take a week off in the summer for highpointing (Davis, Hoye-Crest, and Spruce Knob in 2021; Katahdin in 2022), but with no eastern state highpoints left, I figured that wasn't an option this year.

However, Charles Mound, the highest point in Illinois, is private property located basically in the backyard of the Wuebbels, and as such access is highly restricted. Public access for highpointers occurs only on a handful of days throughout the year, the first full weekend of each summer month. Because of this I had always assumed Illinois would be one of my last states to bag east of the Mississippi. But the mountain is less than four hours from Audrey's place and I floated the idea of planning our week to coincide with one of the open access dates. She's never been hiking before and the idea intrigued her so eventually we decided to do the highpoint together.

July 1st and 2nd was one of the open-access dates for 2023 and the weather looked more ideal for the 2nd so we went then, leaving around noon in the hopes of avoiding forecast afternoon rain. Traffic was rough in the rain on highways around Chicago but by the time we got to the little town of Scales Mound way up in the northwestern corner of Illinois, the weather was clear and the roads were empty.

There are two routes up Charles Mound but the shorter one is used by the Wuebbels as their driveway so they request that highpointers hike up from West Charles Mound Road, following farm trails that approach the summit almost directly from the south a little over a mile in length. A few other highpointers were parked along the side of the road so we knew where to park, and a hand-painted wooden sign gave instructions for parking and hiking. We readied our things for the short hike and soon we were on our way.

Looking west down West Charles Mound Road from the trailhead. We parked as close as possible to the trail.

The gated-off trailhead. The sign gives parking and hiking instructions and negates the NO TRESPASSING sign on open-access dates.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect for this hike given its location in the middle of a working corn farm. The first part of the trail was straight and shaded by lines of trees including oak, ash, and cottonwood. Grass and clover grew between the wheel ruts and the whole thing was a lot more beautiful than I had expected. Occasional gaps in the trees gave glimpses into surrounding fields where hills rose towards the highest point in the state.

One of the many clear hilly slopes of Charles Mound, covered in soybeans and backdropped by thunderheads.

A harlequin beetle (Harmonia axyridis) rests - or perhaps feasts - on a tall weed along the trail.

Looking down the flat, forested first section of trail.

A small tree stands out above a soybean field seen from a junction between the trail and another farm road.

After this the trail headed into more cleared-out areas, circling around fields and farm infrastructure. Circumnavigating steep corn and soybean fields allowed for some expansive views to the south which I wasn't quite expecting from this peak. We passed another couple on their way down and were almost cut off by one highpointer, evidently ignorant of the instructions and warnings, who drove all the way up to the top. At this point we began to notice another storm approaching and quickened our pace a bit, hoping to beat out the rain.

Looking up the hill over the cornfield. The barn and trees behind it are just below the summit.

The next thunderstorm rapidly approaches beyond the barn near the top of the mound.

Looking southwards along the trail to the summit. The hiking portion of the trail is remarkably well-maintained.

Looking south towards the town of Scales Mound in a fairly clear valley, a rarity in this region.

There's a red barn and two small ponds that mark the point where the Wuebbels' driveway and the hiking trail converge, and from here things steepen remarkably. The final summit approach is forested and circles around behind the barn until you come to a point where signage forbids further travel into the private yard. Here all the celebratory summit materials are located.

A side view of the great red barn with a fresh-rolled bale from a nearby hayfield.

Signage installed by the owners at the summit.

One of two USGS survey markers at the highest point. Mount Rogers also had two markers; I tend to choose the blue one as the proper summit (the other is gold).

The highpoint consists of signage installed by the Wuebbels, two USGS survey markers, a highpoint register in a metal box, and two lawn chairs at a north-facing overlook. I walked around taking pictures of the view for awhile, then we rested in the chairs to sign the register. The view isn't too expansive but that may have been weather-related; we could see the rain moving across the landscape and it made it a little difficult to see the landscape. Soon the rain began to fall on the highpoint as well so we rushed over to the sign to take the requisite summit pictures and then began to run back to the car. I wasn't able to get any shots with my long-angle lens due to the rain (I didn't want to risk damage to my camera or make Audrey stand out there any longer than necessary) but I'm quite happy with the shots I did get.

Charles Mound, elevation 1235'. State highpoint 26/50 for me, 1/50 for Audrey. The rain may have dampened us but not our experience.

Looking north towards hills in Wisconsin from the highpoint.

Apparent haze on the horizon is really rain falling farther to the north.

We ran as far as the barn, then slowed down a bit to keep from falling as the rain also slowed. By the time we made it back to the car it was dry and the sun was back out in full force, and the humidity was starting to rise from the short yet torrential shower. We tossed our wet stuff back in the car, I made sure my camera still worked, and we were ready to be on our way.

Before we left, however, a woman came to pick up a package that had been dropped at the bottom of the road. This was Jean Wuebbels, the owner of the highpoint. We talked to her for a few minutes; I thanked her for allowing us to climb and she complained about Amazon dropping off packages at the wrong driveway. It was a thrill and an honor to be able to talk to the actual owner of a state highpoint and just added to the already incredible adventure of the day.

Cows graze before a housing development in Scales Mound south of the trailhead.

A lone tree stands guard over the cornrows at the base of Charles Mound.

A common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) perches in a dead bush along West Charles Mound Road.

As we opened the GPS to search for directions home, we realized that we were less than two miles from the Wisconsin border. I had never been to Wisconsin before and Audrey had only been a handful of times so we decided to make a side trip and hop into another state. While I unfortunately couldn't find any "Welcome to Wisconsin" signs to pose with, we did find a gravity hill and some beautiful views in the hills of the Driftless Region before moseying on back to Indiana.

Windmills tower over farms and forests in the hazy hilly distance.

Great big metal silos, towering beyond the road like skyscrapers, differentiate midwest farms from the northeastern operations with which I'm more familiar.