Nestled in the Woods

A hike through the woods of the Bailey Homestead on a cloudy, Fall morning brought us to a few small log cabins. Similar cabins were used in this area for trappers, and even homesteads. Set against the colorful Fall colors, the cabins stand out quite well.



At certain times of the year, these cabins are open to the public for historical demonstrations of the homestead. This particular cabin was used to demonstrate traditional music and dance, while the cabin below is a trapper's cabin complete with tools of the trade and furs.


This area is only about a half mile down the trail from the golden leaves of the Chellberg Farm's sugar bush, making this area very easy to visit while at the farm.

The Sugar Shack in Autumn

One of the staple features of the Chellberg Farm in Spring, the sugar shack rests atop a hill surrounded by Fall color. The maple trees which provide sap for the maple sugar process turn a vivid gold at this time of year, and create one of the most impressive displays of autumn color at the Indiana Dunes National Park.

There are many other areas within the park with beautiful Fall color, but this area is in my opinion the most spectacular. Hiking the trails through the sugar bush, one is surrounded by the golden leaves not only on the trees, but on the forest floor.

An Autumn Expanse

The Chellberg Farm sugar bush is an expanse of Fall color at this time of year. There are a few trails meandering through the woods, and each offers great views of the rolling landscape. Unlike the natural oak savanna in this area, these woods are more dense, cutting off distant views, but concentrating the color. 

This particular trail winds through the lower portion of the sugar bush, where a few small creeks flow.  Foot bridges cross the creeks and ravines, and some staircases assist with the steeper climbs, but the rest of the trail is the natural soil.



The bridges seem to divide the area into zones, and crossing them leads you into another micro environment within the park. The trails in this area are not strenuous, but more or less leisurely walks through a beautiful part of northern Indiana.

Descent Into Autumn

One of the most striking autumn hikes in the Indiana Dunes National Park is the Chellberg Farm trail through the sugar bush.  Planted decades ago by the land owners, these woods are primarily maple, and were used for their sap to make maple sugar. In autumn, these trees glow bright yellow-green, turning the woods into a magical place.

The trail winds through the rolling landscape, crossing several small creeks which tend to flow only after some rainfall.  The rain on this day darkened the sky and the forest floor, giving a nice contrast to the glowing leaves.



Because of the rainfall, I encountered only two other visitors walking the trails. Sometimes poor weather makes for great hikes.



I find it a bit unfortunate that visitors must keep to the trails and not wander off into the woods, but I completely understand why this is. Views such as this make me wish I could follow the valley between the hills, just to see what is beyond my view.

Overcast Over The Lake

It's amazing how a bit of overcast weather will keep visitors away from Lake Michigan. Cloudy days make for empty parking lots, empty beaches, and even lighting for photographs. It seems that if the sun isn't shining brightly, people don't even think about heading to the beach, but they're missing out.

Soon, the cold winds will blow across the lake and discourage even more people from visiting. It may get very uncomfortable to walk along the shore, but winter can be one of the best times to explore and experience the beach.



The shore changes constantly with the wind and waves.  From a sandy beach to a rocky beach, to no beach when the waves are too high, it's never the same twice. The small streams that empty into the lake also change their path because of the waves -they can change 180 degrees in a day. These streams become obstacles when the weather turns cold, one can no longer simply walk across because the water is too cold, a narrow portion needs to be found in order to continue walking down the beach.  Many winter hikes have been cut short due to these streams.

Dune Valley

Our hike inland through the grassy and wooded dunes began at the beach, where we found a trail through the valley between two dunes. The size of the dunes don't show so well on the photos - they are much larger than they appear - especially when you hike up and down. We decided to head between the dunes for just a bit, then take the trail up the dune on the right side to hike the ridge all the way around the series of dunes near what is called the blowout. This time of year is perfect for hiking in the tall Marram grass. The temperature is a bit cooler for the climbing portions, and there are no ticks to worry about. Along with the ever-changing plants of the dunes, we always encounter some sort of animal or insect. We were once startled by a very loud turkey we surprised as we came over this ridge. He all of a sudden flapped his wings and screamed as he flew away, waking up every creature within a mile on a very quiet early morning. After taking the trail up the dune, we were able to view the valley floor, and the spot where the top photo was taken. Lake Michigan doesn't always appear this deep blue, most of the time it's a bit lighter in color. This is probably due to the time of year, time of day, and the overall weather conditions. It does, however, provide a great contrast to the sky and sand near it.

Beached on Beverly Shores

Just a few steps away from the famous Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's Century of Progress Homes, and across the street from the lakefront homes of Beverly Shores, these boats add some color to the landscape of green Marram Grass and tans sands. It's surprising to me that these boats are left untied so close to the unpredictable waters of Lake Michigan. While it's doubtful the waves ever reach this far up, anything is possible when the north winds kick up the lake. Ten foot waves are not unusual here, and these boats have been in this spot through so many heavy storms. Every so often, after a very windy storm, tons of wood, debris, and boats of all sorts, wash up on the beaches here, proving just how items along the shore can be washed away in a moment. The photo below shows the aftermath of one of those storms about five years ago.

Eroding Dunes

Contrary to what many people believe, the dunes along the southern shore of Lake Michigan are ever-changing - have been, and will continue to be. The forces of nature such as rain, wind, and the waves erode parts of the beach and dune, and build another.

Rising water levels this year, along with some "starving" of the beach are contributing to the collapse of portions of the windward sides of the dunes in the Indiana Dunes National Park. A starving beach is one where the natural replenishment of sand is slower than the loss of the sand due to wind and wave action, so the beach and associated dunes lose sand.

These dunes are crumbling at a relatively fast rate.  The paths and trails that once meandered along the ridge are long gone - washed into Lake Michigan - not because of people walking on them, as many will attempt to mislead the visitor. Walking on some sand dunes and plants will certainly disrupt the natural state of the dunes, and often kill the plants that hold the dunes in place. But this is a case of the lake taking over, not human activity. The Michigan City pier a mile or so away has been blamed for some beach starvation, and while this may be true to some extent, it seems unlikely that the single pier could affect the beaches miles away to such a great extent.

The trees seen in this photograph were growing on the top of the dune just a few weeks ago.  The waves undermined the foot of the dunes, and slowly collapsed the side.  Some trees fell sideways and were washed away by the waves, but these just slid down in an upright position, and the waves buried them in sand. They appear to have been there for years, but in fact, they have only been there a few short weeks.


Wind, rain, and gravity have all combined to create some interesting formations as the dunes erode.  These formations look a lot like the mountains and stone formations of Bryce Canyon National Park. They change right before your eyes, small amounts of sand slide slowly down the dune, others crumble and chunks roll down.  Some of this movement resembles waterfalls, but of sand. Beautiful fans of sand form at the foot of the dunes, but are quickly washed away by the waves as soon as the winds pick up on Lake Michigan.


While it's sad to see some of these majestic dunes crumble - especially the ones I used to frequent, it's all just a natural part of the dune's life cycle.

First Quarter Moon

A perfectly clear evening gave us a great view of the first quarter moon in rural LaPorte County, Indiana.

Just a few days before the Perseid meteor shower the skies were fairly dark. The peak of the meteor shower will take place just a few days prior to the full moon, so the meteors will be just a bit difficult to see due to the bright sky. I'll certainly brave the mosquitoes and attempt to photograph some meteors this weekend.

Wall Cloud

The storms were supposed to stay a few miles northwest of us, but they managed to reach us anyway. Out of the blue, this ominous wall cloud headed toward us. Rather than run inside like most people, we stayed outside to watch. There was no sign of lightning, so some of us headed out in kayaks, and others kept swimming.



Not a drop of rain fell as the clouds passed overhead. The 90 plus degree temperatures dropped suddenly, and the winds picked up a bit, but the change was only temporary, giving us relief for just a few minutes.

Miller Woods Trail

Continuing our hike through Miller Woods, we reached the Grand Calumet River. At this point the river appears to be a lake, or group of lakes.  It's this demarcation where the landscape changes dramatically.  The first mile or two of the trail winds through Black Oak Savanna, a relatively rare landscape, while on the other side of the river, the landscape turns into sand dunes.

The trail follows the foot of these dunes along the river for quite some distance before turning toward Lake Michigan.



The trail allows views of hundreds of plant species, a good representation of the 1,100 found in the park, reinforcing the fact that the Indiana Dunes National Park is ranked 7th in plant diversity of all the US National Parks.

Thunderstorm

For over an hour, we watched the distant storm on the horizon. It never seemed to come closer from sunset until almost 10 PM, when the winds kicked up and the lightning intensified. We then decided to put all the yard furniture and boats away just in case the storm was severe. As we packed everything away, the storm got closer and the winds picked up dramatically.



I enjoy watching storms approach, but usually they arrive rapidly, and there isn't much time to watch and enjoy the lightning.  This time, the storm seemed to sit in place and move left to right, giving us plenty of time to view the storm.

Miller Woods Ponds

Our hike through Miller Woods continued, as we encountered dozens of ponds and interdunal ponds. The ponds dotted the landscape, in the oak savanna, the woods, as well as the grassy fields. Many varieties of spring flowers were in bloom, adding plenty of color to the mostly green fields.

The trail to the beach was a bit over two miles long, and there was something new to be seen at every turn, and over every hill. I suspect this trail would be perfect for bird watching, judging by the variety of ecosystems and the birds we saw on this day.



Along the trail we noticed quite a few areas where there were dead standing trees.  Most were not near any standing water, so I could only guess at the cause. One possibility was that these trees were killed by insects or disease. Perhaps they were ash trees damaged by the emerald ash borer, or oak trees damaged by oak wilt.  Another possibility is intentional removal of damaged trees or non-native species - some of these trees had ribbons tied around them, suggesting a mark for removal, treatment, or study.

Larger lakes were encountered during the hike as well, not to mention Lake Michigan, which was our destination on this hike.

Oak Savanna Hike

A late spring hike through Miller Woods offered a wide range of landscapes to explore. Located within the Indiana Dunes National Park, Miller Woods includes trails ranging from a quarter mile to over two miles one-way from the trail head to the beach. Hundreds of plant species can be viewed in this area of the park, lots of wildlife, and quite a few ponds and lakes.



The first half mile or so of the beach trail includes some peaceful ponds and lakes, some of which are rather large, and surrounded by oak savanna. Unlike most wooded areas in the Midwestern United States, these woods are as they naturally were before invasive plants were introduced to the area. Commonly, the invasive plants litter the floor of the forests, and create an impenetrable mass of vegetation; often, one can't even see through it.

In a natural state, the oak savanna has large spaces between oak trees with only short plants covering the ground. These areas have the best preserved oak savanna in northern Indiana. I imagine the rolling dunes dotted with small ponds discouraged farming and industry in this area, so the landscape never really changed much.



Recent rainy weather for the past two months has filled up many of the small lakes and ponds in the Miller Woods. However, only a few small areas of the trail were slightly flooded. These ponds pepper the landscape, we encountered one after another as we hiked the rolling land.

Located right next to the Lake Michigan shore, and at the boundary of the city of Gary, Indiana, this portion of the park is a huge surprise to anyone driving through the area.

Disappearing Beach

Water levels on Lake Michigan have risen over the past few years, causing some erosion along the Indiana shoreline. Central Beach has been disappearing for some time, due in part to rising waters, but also because of the piers marking Michigan City's Trail Creek. These piers prevent the waves from carrying sand to the beaches down shore, and instead, deposit it on the windward side of the pier.

I remember reports of the dunes of Michigan and Indiana crumbling into Lake Michigan back in the 1980's, but have witnessed an accelerated erosion over the past five years or so.  The park service prevents people from walking along the dunes, saying they are contributing to the demise of the dunes. Anyone can easily see, the lake is the culprit- in fact, the paths that were once on top of the dunes are somewhere in Lake Michigan now. Many meters of the dunes are gone, including the trees which were completely uprooted and eventually washed away by waves. This wasn't caused by people walking on the dunes, but it is a convenient excuse for the Park Service to keep people off of the dunes. --See, we're doing something to save the dunes. I suppose someone will buy it - I don't.



Not long ago, Central Beach was a great destination for those looking to spend a day on the sand.  Now, even when the water is flat calm, there is barely any sand to walk on. Perhaps now that the Indiana Dunes has National Park status, something can be done about the disappearing beaches of Indiana. But that something needs to be the right thing, not just the appearance of conservation, or simply doing something to say something is being done.

Slowly Unfolding

With the quick and extreme changes in weather over the past few weeks, it's hard to believe plants are even able to emerge.  Temperatures have reached the high 70's and 24 hours later, they drop low enough for two inches of snow to accumulate.

Our hike through the wetlands of the Kemil Beach trail revealed thousands of ferns unfolding, getting ready for the warmer weather.  Two types of ferns could be found here, and these were smaller and few in number.



From what I remember during hikes over the last few years, these ferns will turn into tall, thin plants with three or four fronds at the top. They grow to a height of 18 inches or so, and litter the forest floor.

The larger, more robust ferns were abundant and still in tight, round fiddleheads. Of course, just an hour after this photo was taken, it began to snow again.

Lonely Sunset

A red sky over Lake Michigan a few minutes after sunset mark the end of a windy day at the Indiana Dunes National Park. The wind blowing over the cold waters of the lake made the 55 degree air temperature feel like the mid 30's. In fact, the cold water often reduces the actual temperature near the lake.

The high winds and cooler air seemed to keep a lot of people away from the beaches, even though the day was clear and sunny. Earlier in the day, as we hiked from the beach to the rolling dunes inland, we had to remove our jackets because the temperature was much warmer just a quarter mile away from the water.

As we left the National Park, these benches seemed so lonely; in the summer, this beach is often overrun with people until after 9 pm. On this day, we had it to ourselves.

The Trail to the Cave

After hiking through the narrow passage next to Steamboat Rock, the landscape opens up a bit, and the trail leads to a nearby cave. The cave is quite a bit above the trail, and requires a bit of climbing just to see inside.



Here again, we were surrounded by names and initials carved into the soft sandstone, some dating back to the early 1900's. Looking around, it's interesting to think about who passed through this area, and why. The Mississippi River is only a mile or two away, perhaps some of the visitors making their way down the river ventured through these cliffs.

Steamboat Rock

One of the rock features of Iowa's Wild Cat Den State Park is Steamboat Rock. This large rock was separated from the rock cliff some time ago, and one of the pieces resembles the prow of a ship. The trail splits here, one part takes hikers between the rocks, and the other takes them around the outside of the "steamboat."

Evidence of visitors to this place is everywhere. Names and initials carved into the soft sandstone are everywhere, including some rather difficult to access places. Some date back to the 1800's if you can believe them, but they do appear old and worn, and written in a typeface not too common anymore.



Steamboat Rock isn't too tall, perhaps 30 feet, but it does seem like people like to climb up to the top for the view or the challenge. Here, one person takes in the surroundings after the climb up.



The easy way up was to climb along a diagonal rock process until some fingerholds were found toward the top of the rock. The carved initials are well defined on this particular rockface, these being in a place relatively easy to reach.

Wild Cat Den State Park, while not overwhelmingly large, offers some interesting trails and formations through a variety of terrain. Visitors can hike all of the trails in a single day.

The Hike to the Ridge

Fresh out of the Devil's Punch Bowl- the name of the previous canyon- we hiked along the foot of the sandstone cliffs toward Steamboat Rock. People can't resist climbing up the rockface for a better view of the surrounding area. "Real" rock climbing is not allowed, and is not a good idea on sandstone anyway, but these places seemed quite safe and worn from previous adventure seekers.



One of the best things about photography for me is the chance to get outdoors and enjoy nature. Every so often, you just need to stop and notice your surroundings, taking in the sights, the sounds, and the smells. It would be a shame to simply capture images without enjoying what nature really is.



One of the benefits of hiking and exploring this area in early spring is the lack of leaves on the trees. You can see more of the rock formations when the trees are bare. Of course it's a bit less lush and green, but more of the distant features can be seen, and once found, they may deserve a closer investigation.