Panoramic View

click to enlarge

Mouth of Kintzel Ditch
LaPorte County, Indiana

Kintzel Ditch is a small stream running through the wooded dunes of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It's ever-shifting mouth manages to empty into Lake Michigan no matter what the conditions. This stream is our target each weekend as we visit either Mt. Baldy or Central Beach looking for relaxation, photos and fossils. Lots of Crinoid stem fossils can be found along this stretch of beach. There hasn't been a single time I haven't found a few, and often we find 20 or 30 in an hour or two.

I've always wanted to explore Kintzel Ditch, and finally had the opportunity. After following the shore for a block or two, I could go no further without swimming - and it was way to cold for that. The sides of the dunes were collapsing into the ditch by both erosion from wind, rain and the stream, and also by the ground water that was seeping out into the ditch. These things made it impossible to go any further, and the dunes were much too steep to climb without ropes, so I headed back to a point where I could climb up and follow the stream at the top of the dune.

The morning sun was warm and the view from this vantage point was perfect for an attempt at a panoramic photo (three or more photos stitched together to make one large photo). I don't think you can quite get the full feeling of what lies below unless you climb up yourself; it's much further down than it looks- about 90 feet.

I'll have to trek up here during the winter to see how things look frozen.

The Last Nice Day of 2008

click to enlarge

Sunrise at Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana

Okay, so I'll go out on a limb and claim that November 5th was the last "nice" day of 2008. Things have to get colder now, and I doubt if temperatures are going to exceed 70 degrees until next spring (although I hope I'm wrong). Before starting on the things I had to do on Wednesday, I stopped at the National Lakeshore for sunrise and a long hike. I was greeted by nature at it's finest.

After completing everything, I returned to the lake front, but this time to Washington Park, about three miles north of Mt. Baldy. There were actually people in sight this time!

click to enlarge

Lighthouse and Catwalk
Michigan City, Indiana

The East Pierhead light and fog house is always a favorite stop, I never tire of walking out to the lighthouse - in any weather. It seems to be a favorite spot of the locals for fishing and for couples who just want a nice long walk.

click to enlarge


A perfect afternoon for a walk to the lighthouse then down to the end of the public beach. The air temperature was in the low 70's, but the water had to be in the low 50's. I was surprised to see kids in the water, I think they were visiting from another continent - probably Antarctica!

November Morning

click to enlarge

Leaf Litter on Mt. Baldy


November in Northern Indiana can be quite miserable. Wind, cold temperatures, horizontal rain, and gray skies make me long for summer. Occasionally, we get a few warm days this time of year, and yesterday was one of them - 74 degrees and sunny!

Just as the sun rose, I began a hike through the woods to the top of Mt. Baldy, a 125 foot tall "living " sand dune. This huge dune moves at the rate of about 5 feet a year, burying the nearby woods in the process. In fact, it moves so quickly that the Marram Grass and Cottonwood trees cannot take root, making it the largest living dune that these plants cannot hold in place.

click to enlarge

The Sun Illuminating the Fall Colors
Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the fall colors began to illuminate the landscape. Rich browns, golds and reds provided a contrast against the dunes and Lake Michigan. Standing atop the dunes gave a panoramic view of Lake Michigan and the Michigan City lighthouse far below.

click to enlarge

View From Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana

Walking southwest along the shore without another human in sight, I headed to a familiar spot, the mouth of Kintzel Ditch. This stream cuts between the tall, forested sand dunes of the 15,000 acre national lakeshore. I decided to follow it upstream to see if I could find the source. There is no trail, so walking along the shore became very difficult due to the large chunks of clay and sand that have fallen off into the stream. The walls of these parts of the dune seep water and feed the stream, making for some soft, muddy hiking.

Rather than return the way I came, I figured I could follow an animal trail toward the lake. After a half a mile or so, the trail ended, leaving me two possibilities: turn around or go through the brush. I chose to hike through the brush and head southwest. I was about a half a mile from the shore, so it should have taken a few minutes of walking, but then I encountered impasse after impasse. These woods grow on steep sand dunes covered in trees and short vegetation including poison ivy, thorny shrubs and vines. The strong vines were everywhere, and they grew horizontally between the ground and my waist. It was impossible to walk more than two steps without either turning, tripping or climbing. I think it would be easier to walk through a jungle. The thorny shrubs snagged everything I was wearing and carrying and tore my clothing and scratched my skin. My left arm has over 20 scratches on it alone.

Well over an hour later, I reached the top of a dune that overlooked Lake Michigan. Finally, I could make my way down to the familiar shoreline where again, not a soul could be seen.

Winter Approaches

click to enlarge

Cold, Gray and Wind
Michigan City, Indiana

The winds have changed and now seem to primarily blow from the north, across the length of Lake Michigan, cooling down the Indiana shoreline, and picking up the surf.

It's no longer a comfortable walk along the beach, yet it's still attractive. The high surf has washed away much of the beach in spots, in fact, at one point of the beach, the surf has taken away over 7 feet of the dune, creating a 7 foot wall of sand at the shore.

click to enlarge

Missing Beach

It was at this point I found the large shell in the lake. It's got to be a shell from warmer, salt water just dropped along the beach or washed away from someone's property.

EBSCO Alerts -21 Things at Oesterle

For my EBSCO portion of 21 Things at Oesterle, I chose to search for articles on G. Gordon Liddy of Watergate fame. Not only was he involved in Watergate (he chose to take the 5th), he has an earned doctorate degree in law, he was a prosecutor, defense attorney, special agent in the FBI, White House aide to President Nixon, soldier, pilot, defendant, felon, non fiction author, fiction author, and now a radio show host. The list goes on. There's not much this man hasn't done, and he's still interviewed often about his political views.

I chose email as my method of receiving EBSCO alerts on new articles about G. Gordon Liddy. I have enough RSS feeds on my homepage :-)

Mysterious Shell

click to enlarge

Shell Found in Lake Michigan

Here's something that has me puzzled. While walking along the cold, gray beach on the first day of November, I noticed something partially burried in the sand and under about a foot of water. It appeared to be a shell, but I wasn't sure. I decided to try and dig it out, but had to remove my boots and camera gear and get into the cold water. Just then, my wife simply walked into the water (shoes and all) and dug it out - she doesn't mind sitting in wet shoes and clothes all day. It was a very large shell that I figured couldn't possibly have come from Lake Michigan. I don't think there are any such creatures in the Great Lakes, but I'll have to do a little research to find out.

I wonder if it's a shell someone bought in the tropics and either dropped on the beach or perhaps it was a decoration that got washed away from someone's beach property. Maybe it's an ancient shell from a time long ago that was buried in the sand dunes for thousands of years. Either way, it's a pretty cool find.

Happy Halloween

A Kim-O-Lantern


Heidi-O-Lantern

It's Halloween! Time to carve pumpkins and trick or treat.

I've got a lot of great co-workers, so I started to carve pumpkins with their portraits. I wish I had the time and pumpkins to carve all of my co-workers - maybe I'll get started earlier next year - so they better watch out!

Pumpkin Contest Entries

click to enlarge

Christopher's Turkey Pumpkin

click to enlarge

Mike's Shrunken Head Pumpkin

The boys entered the annual pumpkin decorating contest at school today. The pumpkins had to be under 5 pounds and could not be carved (what fun is that??).

Chris decided to make a turkey, and Mike made a shrunken head. Winners will be announced on Friday.

Early Morning at the Cemetery

click to enlarge

Stream Bordering Bachelor's Grove

A cool, overcast morning seemed perfect for a trek to Bachelor's Grove Cemetery and Settlement. Arriving just before sunrise, there was very little light - especially hiking through the dense, wooded trail that leads to the cemetery. A small stream brushes the border of the cemetery, and feeds a still pond on the north end, between 143rd street and the cemetery.

click to enlarge

Pond Adjacent to Bachelor's Grove

Legend has it that Chicago mobsters dumped bodies in this pond in the 20's. It's certainly secluded and dark enough, and the old Midlothian Turnpike used to pass a few hundred feet to the south providing the necessary transportation to get the bodies close enough to dump.

click to enlarge

Fall Color

Unfortunately, most visitors to the oldest cemetery in Cook County are thrill seekers or vandals who tend to damage what's left of the cemetery. Most of the gravestones are missing, dumped into the pond or at local police impound rooms.

click to enlarge

Vandalized Gravestones
Bachelor's Grove

A small group of people are attempting to restore Bachelor's Grove Cemetery and settlement to a respectful, historic place in the south suburbs. It seems however, that Cook County would rather forget it ever existed.
http://www.bachelorsgrove.com/

click to enlarge

Path Toward Pond and Stream

click to enlarge

Infant Daughter Gravestone
with Offerings

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is considered by some to be a very haunted place. From Ghost farm houses to balls of light, to ghostly figures sitting on gravestones. There are over 100 documented sightings in this small cemetery.

Read on:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/bachgrov.html
http://www.ghostresearch.org/sites/bachelors/

Halloween Party

click to enlarge

Costume Judging
Halloween Party

23 costumed, screaming, sugared-up kids enjoyed our annual Halloween party last Friday. Ranging in ages from 4 to 10, these guys behaved really well - especially after they filled up on pizza, punch and desserts. Here they are all crammed into a corner downstairs.

They had plenty of activities including a ping pong ball bounce, Halloween riddle contest, costume contests, a treasure hunt outside in the "haunted" graveyard, and of course, just horsing around acting like the character they dressed up as.

Illinois and Michigan Canal

click to enlarge

I and M Canal and DuPage River Confluence
Channahon, Illinois

Chicago's growth and importance in America can be traced back to the building and opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848. Following more than a decade of work digging and blasting, the canal became the main mode of transport from Chicago to the rest of the world. Connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico, goods could finally be moved by water from world markets directly to Chicago.

click to enlarge

Lock 6 and the Lock Tender's Home
Channahon, IL

A series of locks raised and lowered the water level appropriately so canal boats could navigate both upstream and down. The boats were pulled by mules and sometimes horses along a parallel towpath, parts of which still exist today and are used as the I and M Canal trail for hiking and cycling.

click to enlarge

View from Lock 7
Channahon, IL

The locks were created out of Limestone hand-quarried from Lemont, IL. Most of the locks are still visible today in some form or another, but only a few can still show us exactly how the locks worked.

Everything is Falling

click to enlarge

Falls and Leaves

It's autumn and things in this photo appear to be falling - leaves, elevation, water, temperatures - almost everything. An autumn walk through the canyons of Matthiessen State Park is a sure way to celebrate the arrival of Fall and the colors that go with it. I'm not sure what I enjoyed more, the colorful trees or the leaves on the ground and in the water.

You'll need to get there fast if you're thinking of exploring the park - I think this weekend will be the last before most of the leaves are off of the trees.

Walking Over the Falls

click to enlarge

Falls Filling Giant's Bathtub
Matthiessen State Park

One of the great things about Matthiessen State Park is that you can freely explore the canyons, streams and waterfalls. This freedom allows you to see each waterfall from many different perspectives, and if you don't mind getting wet, you can go under them too!

These falls lead from Lake Falls into Giant's Bathtub, a wider pool of water that catches the reflections of the woods surrounding it.

Fall at the Falls

click to enlarge

Autumn Frames Lake Falls

Fall at Matthiessen State Park near Utica, Illinois is quite spectacular. Last Saturday was no exception.

Look Mom, No Hands!

click to enlarge


St. Peter and Paul Church is undergoing some clock repairs, so the hands have been removed for the time being.

Last Hurrah

click to enlarge

Evening on the Lake
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Last weekend was unusually warm for October - 85 degrees on Sunday. The kids were feeling better, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get out to the beach for one last "comfortable" walk.

Arriving at the dunes just before 5:00, we figured we'd be treated to a colorful sunset. Just on the horizon was a band of clouds that kept us from seeing the sunset, but we were treated to some great colors prior to the clouds getting in the way.

click to enlarge

Downtown South Haven, Michigan

The trees are beginning to change color, so it's the perfect time to explore the outdoors while the weather is still warm. Last weekend was no exception - 85 degrees and sunny in South Haven, Michigan, where we spent the day shopping and enjoying the beach. The last time I was in South Haven, it was around 3 degrees and the lighthouse was covered in ice.

click to enlarge

South Haven Lighthouse in Winter

At least we were all able to walk out to the lighthouse this time.

click to enlarge

Paddling in Lake Michigan
South Haven, Michigan

Chrome

click to enlarge

Danny in Chrome

One thing I miss about new automobiles (besides engine power and large body size) is chrome.
This Studebaker certainly had enough to go around.

Strider's Shadow

click to enlarge

Water Strider and Shadow

Water Striders are always interesting to watch, but one of the first things I noticed is how the sun plays with their shadows. The surface tension on the water creates a shadow larger than the creature, but also reflects down to the bottom of the stream making interesting rings of light around the shadow.

Skylines, Lights and Shadows

click to enlarge

Glass Reflections

Saturday was a bit too cool to spend splashing around in the lake, so we spent a bit more time than usual inside. The early Fall sun washed into the house through the blinds and created some great patterns as it passed through a piece of depression glass.

On the upper right hand of the photo, you can see where I'd rather be -- in the lake. I guess it wasn't too cold for the canoe - there's always next weekend!

click to enlarge

Chicago Skyline on the Horizon

On a clear day, you can see the Chicago skyline from Michigan City, Indiana, some 50 miles across Lake Michigan. Washington Park is free again (from October to May) so it's a great time to explore the lighthouse on the end of the east pier. Since the weather is cooler, there aren't too many people to get in the way of your shot either! Wait until January and February - I'll once again be the only human on the beach.