What is a fen?
Fens are terrestrial wetlands fed by surface water and/or groundwater, as well as direct input from rainfall. They are characterized by high soil water levels for all or part of the year, and are often based on peat. The landscape setting combined with the presence of ground- or surface water largely defines the hydrological functioning of a fen. The availability of water from the various sources will obviously vary throughout the year, and will differ between years. There are 3 main types of fens based on their location, although their names vary, they generally are: Basin Fens, Domed Fens (mound fen) and Hanging Fens (slope fen).Within LITH Fen there are several places where the clay layer is exposed and the water is able to "seep" out. Unlike single-source springs, seep water exits the ground all along the line of the exposed clay. When the exposed clay layer lies along a hillside or near the top of a hill, the emerging water from the seep runs downhill. These geological features are called "hanging fens," designating a wetland on a slope. Lake in the Hills Fen has nine seep locations and eight of them include hanging fens.
Where do hanging fens exist?
Hanging fens are often associated with the edges of Moraines - ridge, mound, or irregular mass of unstratified glacial drift, chiefly boulders, gravel, sand, and clay. Eskers - An esker is a long (miles long) winding (snake like) ridge of stratified sand and gravel. Eskers are frequently several kilometres long and, because of their peculiar uniform shape, are somewhat like railway. Kames - a geomorphological feature, a steep sided conical mound or hill composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier. They appear as low gradient slopes along the edges of the upland. They are often described as a "hershey kiss" hill. Hanging fens typically slope from the edges of the upland to level marl flats or stream channels and support low vegetation associated with the sedge meadow zone.
To claim this Earthcache:
1. Stop at N42 11.817W088 19.728.What is your elevation at this location?
2. Continue to N42 11.889 W088 19.638. At this point, you are on top of the hanging fen. What is your elevation at this location? Given what you learned about the locations of hanging fens, are you on a Moraine, Esker or Kame?
3. What is the approximate difference in elevation between the two stops? The visual difference is much different than the actual answer!!!
4. OPTIONAL: Take a picture of yourself at this location or a picture of your GPS at this location.
McHenry County Conservation District Cache Your Way Across McHenry County GeoSeries
Geocaching is a high-tech “treasure hunting” game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS device. The general idea is to locate hidden containers called geocaches or simply caches. Once you find it, take a trinket and leave one of your own behind for the next person. Share your experiences through geoaching.com.
To participate in our program and earn a special District geo-coin, follow these simple steps.
- Download a McHenry County Conservation District Cache Your Way Across McHenry County GeoSeries Passport from our website
- Go to geocaching.com and create a login (it’s free for a basic membership!) and find the coordinates/info for the program.
- Start your search and locate a cache using a hand-held GPS unit. Our have official District labels.
- When you find a cache, log your name on the logbook inside. If you are participating in the program, be sure to write the answer to the question in your passport.
- A couple of the caches have travel bugs. Please move these bugs along and do not keep them! You will get your own to keep when you finish the program.
- Complete all the caches and bring your passport to one of our facilities to claim a coin! Be sure to check each facility’s hours at the location before heading to it! Hours and days open vary depending on site.
Prairieview Education Center
Lost Valley Visitor Center
Brookdale Administrative Offices
If you are unable to make it to a facility when it is open, you may also mail it to:
McHenry County Conservation District
Attn: Geocaching
2112 Behan Road
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
Or e-mail a copy to geocaching@mccdistrict.org
Geocachers
Please join us in playing! All are welcome who observe and obey the rules. Please do not move or vandalize the container. Replace the cache in the same spot in like or better than you found it and when you leave, make sure the cache is completely covered. Please do not remove the informational card from the containers, this is a essential game piece for cachers completing the GeoSeries. The real treasure is just finding the container and sharing your thoughts with everyone who finds it.
District Geocaching Rules
For a complete list of rules, visit our website MCCDistrict.org/Geocache
McHenry County Conservation District Information
Visit our website at MCCDistrict.org or call 815-338-6223 ext 1211 for camping/shelters, 815-479-5779 for educational programs or 815-678-4532 for the Lost Valley Visitor Center
Photo Release
5/20/2021 Photos posted here may be featured on the McHenry County Conservation District's various social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, and twitter, as well as our website (MCCDistrict.org) and print material such as Landscapes Magazine. By posting photos to this log you agree to allow us to share your work with our followers. Photographers will be acknowledged in any shares or posts of photos, so please include your name in your post if it is different from that of your username.