Recent heavy rains raised the level of the Little Calumet River, causing it to overflow its banks and flood nearby lowland areas. The Little Calumet River Trail of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was partially flooded - even the boardwalk that usually keeps hikers out of the mud and away from plants was under several inches of water.
The canyons of Starved Rock State Park flow with water following a wet spring. This waterfall is in Kaskaskia canyon and is approximately 10 to 15 feet tall.
Dappled sunlight creates a spotlight effect over Lake Michigan's Indiana Beaches.
Taken from an 80 foot tall sand dune along Central Beach.
A bit of fog over Lake Michigan, dappled sunlight and sand kicked up by waves created some great patches of light on the surface of the lake.
3 image panoramic.
Sunlight and shadows highlight the moss and rocks of this Matthiessen State Park canyon on a spring afternoon.
A short climb down onto a rock ledge gave me a lower vantage point to photograph these falls. A foot behind me was the final cascade into Giant's Bathtub.
The bright sun illuminated the falling water in contrast to the shady canyon walls.
A field of bluebells and horsetail gives the gray canyons of Starved Rock some much anticipated color in early May.
The boys climb out of Kintzele Ditch toward the foot of a familiar sand dune. Following a winter of extreme erosion by wind and waves, the banks of the stream are wide enough to walk along.
A determined beaver gnawed his way through a pretty large tree along the bank of the Little Calumet River.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
A sure sign of spring, small wildflowers pop up along the trails of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
A small channel re-enters the Little Calumet River near the old Bailey Homestead.
A tiny horsetail plant begins life in the early spring sunlight. These plants remind me of prehistoric crinoids.
Spring wakes up the plants of the wetland bordering Beverly Shores, Indiana. Part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
From the bank of Kintzele Ditch, the east dune has an interesting curve upward that the clouds seem to imitate and continue into the sky.
A new park along the Illinois River in Rural Wilmington, Illinois boasts a small boat ramp. There is a charge of $5 to use the ramp, and it's totally on the honor system.
This past winter was rough on the Indiana Dunes. A November storm eroded a lot of the beach area including the dunes which normally stand at least 100 feet from Lake Michigan. The sands were deposited along the shore and along the bottom of the dunes where they continue to be shaped by the wind and rain.
Here along Kintzele Ditch in LaPorte County, the wind and fluctuating water levels carved interesting, horizontal patterns in the sand.
Ground water dripping from the partially collapsed dune along Kintzele Ditch freezes before it hits the stream on an early Spring morning. Looks like it may finally be possible to hike the length of the stream - the erosion from the winter created a small walking area next to the water.
