The Lonely Tree Trail

 

About 15 years ago, on a hike with my kids, we noticed a single tree on the vast grassland of the inner dunes. We named that tree "The Lonely Tree" because it looked so lonely in the middle of all the rolling hills. Over the next few weeks, we would visit the same trail and call attention to the lonely tree. Finally, we decided to try to get as close to the tree as possible, and looked for trails that headed in the general direction. After a bit, we made our way to a narrow, sandy trail about 100 feet behind the tree. This was about a mile walk from our original trail.

As soon as we arrived, my youngest son ran to the tree and gave it a long hug - he finally was able to greet the tree properly and make it feel a bit less lonely.

 

On the hike back to the main trail, the boys noticed another tree in middle of nowhere, this time it was an oak tree. This rather large oak had low branches, making it easy for them to climb up to get a great view of the surrounding dunes and woods. They could even see Lake Michigan from their high perch. This tree became known to us as the ladder tree, because the branches acted like a ladder. 

As seen in the photo above, at 20 years old, and 6'-4", Dan still loves to climb the ladder tree.

Hiking through this area today, some 15 years later, I'm still reminded of these natural landmarks on the trail, and I can still hear the kids shouting out in excitement as they came into view. It's great to remember these details, even if only to see how they've changed in the last decade.

The Edge of the Dunes

 

Getting to the top of the dune, we discovered and expansive area of mostly flat, grassy areas, but as we headed toward the lake, we found the sand dropped off rather abruptly. This abrupt drop lead to the ruins of a home, barely recognizable, and scattered down the eroding dune. Pipes, bricks, wood, and all sorts of electrical parts lead down to the beach below. I wonder who lived here, and even more importantly, why would they ever leave?! 

The erosion of this dune began well after the house was razed, I recall walking the trails between the lake and this house. They're now all gone, washed away by Lake Michigan.

   

I suppose it would take quite a bit of work to remove all of the remnants of the houses from the dunes, although it wouldn't be impossible. The old roads and driveways still exist, they've recently been turned into a trail system leading to privative campsites near Central Beach. 

 It's fantastic that the park opened this space up once again; I can recall walking here when a few houses still existed, and some had people living in them. Again, I question why anyone would leave this area unless they were forced to do so.

Building a New Foredune

 

A spring walk on the beach revealed the building of a new foredune on the shore of Lake Michigan. Only time will tell if this dune will grow or be spread out inland by the winds that built it. 

The Marram grass that grows just inland from the open beach has taken hold, and it keeps the sand that blows across it in place where it piles up. Over time, the sand will pile up and form a small dune. If the grass can grow through the sand, it will continue to keep the sand in place until it reaches 20, 50, or 100 feet in height. This all depends on how much sand is brought to the beach by the waves. 

The Indiana Dunes National Park has many areas of beach that are starving - meaning more sand blows inland than is replenished by the waves. This is one of the reasons the dunes are eroding at such an alarming rate (it's not from people walking on the sand).

   

 While waling through the paths of the dunes, there are so many patterns that can be found in the sand; footprints of humans, animals, birds, insects, are all common to see. Other items create patterns as well, in this case, a single blade of grass has bent over and touched the sand. As the wind blows, the tip drags and makes a mark in the sand. Because the grass is rooted in the sand, it does not change length and becomes the radius of the circle in the sand.

High Above the Lake

 

 

Taking advantage of March temperatures near 70 degrees, we decided to hike to a few places we haven't seen in a while, and one that was difficult to locate the last time we made the effort. Taking a little known trail, we were transported back in time to a place we used to visit frequently. 

This area was much easier to access years ago when the roads were still in use, and trails at the foredune were still in place. Years of no maintenance on the roads (intentionally left alone by the park), and years of erosion by the waves of Lake Michigan, have all but eliminated the access to this area from the beach. It is, however, still accessible from the roads, but you can hardly tell where the roads once were with all of the overgrowth. 

 It is good to see the National Park is marking these trails for once - maybe the entry fee is really going toward expansion and upgrades. I mean, what was once an asphalt road with houses along it, really can't be ruined by visitors walking across it, they may as well mark it and allow hiking again.

  When we would visit this area almost every weekend, the kids would love to climb on a particular tree to get a better view of the area. Careful not to walk on any of the Marram Grass or other plants, we'd make our way to the tree for a photo. Below are two of those photos, the first is from 2012, taken from a slightly different angle. The second is from 2010, taken from approximately the same angle as yesterday's photo. Things have really changed in the area. The park service has removed quite a bit of the invasive plants that were growing there. While it's best for the environment, I'm a bit disappointed at how bare things look today.

  

  

 

 

Morning Swans

Just as the sun came up this morning, two swans made their way past my position. Their white feathers reflected every bit of the early morning rays, while the relatively still water absorbed the light, making the water look like an oil painting, smeared, smudged, and dark. 

The master painters of the past highlighted the subject of their paintings with wonderful light, and kept the backgrounds dark and mysterious. Nature did this for me today, making this photograph look a lot like a Renaissance painting.

Climbing Shadows

 

 

The living dune of Mt. Baldy is slowly taking over the parking lot, and swallowing up anything in its path. The trees seen here are actually buried, their trunks begin at the level of the flat ground at the right of the image. A good portion of the parking area is now buried, and there's no end in sight. This is a natural process, as the "bald" dune (a dune with no grass or plants to keep it from eroding) seems to move inland because the wind blows the sand from the lakeside over the top and it falls on the opposite side. This makes the dune "walk" inland, burying everything in the way. 

The image below shows the leeward side of the dune today. Some of the trees that once stood here are completely buried, others died and broke off in the wind. The pine tree seen toward the left was once a small shrub in front of tall deciduous trees. This pine has grown significantly, but the trees are missing. 

Look below at the last photograph, it's a composite image I created over the years of the exact same area of this dune. You can see how the sand has moved to cover the trees. When Mt. Baldy was closed a few years back, I was unable to get photos, and when I returned, the trees were gone.

   

 Composite of Mt. Baldy over the years. Compare it to the image above to see the changes.

 

Gray Dunes

 

 

A walk through the Indiana Dunes on a gray, winter afternoon. I prefer sunny days when photographing landscapes, that's the opposite of most other photographers, they prefer overcast days that don't produce shadows. This may be true when doing portraits or photographing items outdoors, but I feel the sun brings out the colors of the landscape much better than filtered light. 

On this day, the gray sky seemed to demand a black and white image. The grayscale shows off a lot of the drama in the sky, and the contrast in the Marram grass of the dunes.

Sandhill Cranes in the Snow

 

 

These sandhill cranes woke up to a fresh blanket of snow in full sunshine just like us. Walking outside in the morning at this time of year, we're greeted by the sounds of sandhill cranes all around us. We're right on their migration route, and groups of hundreds- sometimes thousands - spend the night within a mile of us. If something spooks them at night, we'll hear their alarm calls, and I'll know to head out in the morning with the camera. 

Most of these birds stay away from people, and spend the night in the wetlands and farm fields nearby, but there are areas where some feed close to the country roads. I would often walk a mile or so to view and photograph them, but seeing me, they would quickly fly a few hundred feet away from me. I found that if I drive my car down the road, they're not alarmed much, if at all. I suppose they're used to cars, and realize the cars don't come close to them or pose a threat to them. I can spend some time photographing them from my car without alarming them at all - kind of a drive-by photo shoot.

   

 I don't consider myself a wildlife photographer, but I won't pass up an opportunity to photograph animals. I won't wait hours and hours for an animal to appear in hopes of getting a photo of it, but if it presents itself to me, I'll spend a couple of minutes attempting to capture an image. 

There are plenty of people who love the challenge of getting photos of animals - I'll leave that to them, they're better prepared for such things! Meanwhile, you'll just have to settle for these photos.

Migrating Sandhill Cranes

 

 

An overnight snowfall covered the farm fields and the food sources of the migrating sandhill cranes. Following a week of unusually warm weather, this snow was a surprise for all, but these cranes seemed to take things in stride.

The huge annual migration of thousands of sandhill cranes passes through this area each Spring, and is only a week or two away, but there are always early birds. I've seen these early flocks spending the night on frozen lakes, and thousands more in nearby farm fields. South of this location, in the Jasper-Pulaski wildlife Area, people wait for the migration to begin. This area is a stopping point for over 30,000 cranes, and offers some excellent viewing of the birds as they land in the evening and take off in the morning.
   

Sandhill cranes are large birds, standing three to four feet tall, with wingspans of up to five feet, and their rituals of jumping and dancing are fun to watch. They're often seen flying very high in the sky in large V formations, and generally can be heard before being seen. Their unique trumpeting sounds can help you spot them high above urban areas and rural areas alike. There is a migration in fall and spring, but the spring migration seems to have a larger concentration of birds excited to fly north to their summer feeding grounds.

The Back of the Dunes

 

 

Hiking up for a better view of the ice on the lake, and all of the surroundings, it's always wise to look around to see what's often hidden from view. A good portion of the dune is hidden from the beach, and it's always worth exploring. 

The path up is steep but not dangerous, a bit slippery with compacted sand, fallen leaves, and a bit of ice and snow leftover from the last storm. Up isn't too bad, but down can be a bit of a challenge - super fast if you just let gravity take over, but if you like your limbs intact, then the loose footing on the steep grade be cause for concern. It's always worth the effort.

   

 Sometimes there are formations on the front of the dune, the windward side. This face of the dune can take a beating from the winds off of Lake Michigan, and erosion can begin. When erosion takes place in the middle of the dune, it's called a blowout. A blowout is a bald area of a dune that has trouble growing any vegetation - the dune is basically blown out like a crater. These are pretty common, especially on the foredunes, and seem to attract people. 

Footprints are always seen in blowouts, but I never walk through them, I try to give them a chance to rebound as best they can. But dunes are the most unstable landforms, so they're going to do whatever the wind and rain dictate, there's really not that much I can do to make things better, or for that matter, to make them worse. My feet aren't going to destroy the dune directly, but walking on marram grasses or other plants can harm or kill the plants, which in turn, can accelerate the demise of the dune.

Warm Valley

 

 

 A well received break in the cold weather has allowed the dunes to green up a bit, and the sunshine sure helped as well. Some areas of these dunes have boreal leftovers that remain green all year. The patches of conifers can be seen mainly in West Beach, but small areas are seen in Central Beach, and the Dunes State Park as well. Walking through these areas of conifers instantly changes the feel of the area, often from bright sun and grass to shady Jack Pine; the sights, sounds and smells change right along with them. 

A benefit of hiking these dunes in winter is the fact that there are no ticks! Ticks love the dunes, especially the marram grass, and theres a lot of marram grass at the dunes.

   

 Even though the dunes are beginning to wake up, there are still signs that winter still has a grip on the area. A line of shelf ice can still be seen on shore, and the deciduous trees such as oak and sassafras are still without their leaves. It'll be a few weeks at least before the spring flowers arrive, until then, it's a back and forth dance between winter and spring.

Ice Lagoon

 

 

With the break up of the ice, interesting formations are found on the beaches of Lake Michigan. These structures of ice are ever-changing throughout the periods of freezing and thawing, taking shape with every wave and splash of the lake. 

Miniature environments that mimic vast land features elsewhere on earth can be spotted. Some appear to be mountain ranges, cliffs, lakes, oceans, estuaries, and canyons. Looking much like a lagoon filled with giant ice balls, this formation caught our eye as we made our way back from a hike through the rolling dunes. 

Hiking with me can be challenging at times, I stop periodically to investigate things that most people don't see, or don't bother to see. Stopping every so often to look and more importantly listen - it's incredible how the dunes and these ice mounds can block the sounds of the nearby cities and the crashing waves of the lake. Wind and wave sounds instantly disappear when traversing a dune, and temperatures can rise and fall just as fast - in summer or winter.

   

 First time visitors may surprisingly notice the Chicago skyline across the lake. At approximately 40 miles, the tops of the buildings are visible from the beach. Hike up a 75 or 100 foot dune, and you can see almost all of the buildings. The elevation helps overcome the curvature of the earth. A six foot tall person can see three miles across water before the curvature of the earth begins to hide things close to the surface. Gaining elevation helps to see a bit farther, and the height of the Chicago skyscrapers assists as well. So it's not unusual to see tall buildings from such a long distance.

Icy Pancakes

 

 

A bit of a breeze kicked up Lake Michigan this weekend, sending waves to pound the ice shelf. Every few seconds, loud, muffled thumps could be heard, followed by the splash of water onto the ice, this is how the ice mounds of Lake Michigan are formed, and how they degrade.

In very cold temperatures, this pounding and splashing sprays water and deposits ice chunks onto the ice where it freezes little by little until high mounds are built. At times of low winds, small pieces of ice are pushed against the ice mounds where they freeze in place creating a flat surface of round ice formations. Then the process starts again when the waves return, creating mounds further and further out into the lake. As the weather warms, these waves create a demolition process, where the water and ice erode the mounds. It's evident in the past several days, that this process is breaking things down on the beaches of the Indiana Dunes National Park.

   

 As ice forms on moving bodies of water, wind, current, and waves push the small pieces around at will. They bump into each other very frequently, and as they do, their edges raise slightly from the impact, and they freeze. This constant bumping and moving creates ice in disc form, and it's called pancake ice - it looks a lot like a pancake. 

These formations can become very large in open spaces, but here along the beach, they tend to form around two to three feet in diameter. The pancakes also freeze together when the temperatures drop, and break apart when the temperatures rise. Here they're beginning to break apart, and as they do, the same process repeats, and the pancakes can increase in size and become more rounded.

   

When the waves finally break through the ice mounds - or erode the underside and slip under - the ice at the shore begins to break up and move around. 

I'd love to have the time to create a time-lapse video of the ice forming and breaking apart over several days or weeks. Right now, the only safe way to do that would be to set up inside a home on the shore. Maybe one day.

Beach Approach

 

Entering Central Beach from what was once a road parallel to the lake creates a bit of a grand entrance as the trees open up to the view of the beach in the distance. I remember when you could drive your car almost to this point - you couldn't park it there, but the access was open for the homes that used to be on this road. 

These homes, perched on the dunes, had beautiful views of Lake Michigan, but they were all bought out by the national lakeshore. Years after acquiring the homes, they were razed to add area to the park. There are a couple of historic homes at the end far of this block, that remain because of their historic status; and are part of the national park.

   

 Many years ago, large boulders were brought in and installed along the shore to prevent erosion of the road and the many homes lining it. This measure worked as hoped, the road is still intact, and the homes on the tall dunes have not fallen into Lake Michigan as the dunes of Central Beach have. We refer to this area as "the rocks" and it's been a turning around point of many, many hikes. The rocks do provide a place to view the lake, especially during periods of high waves or ice. The waves and splashes don't reach you as you enjoy the view, and there is no danger of falling into the water or through the ice. 

I hope the areas acquired by the park will soon become trails and look-out points. These areas were once roads, driveways and house foundations, there is a basic trail system already there, it just needs marking and mapping. I'm optimistic because some other areas have been turned into trails - areas near Kemil Beach are now marked trails, and old home sites near the entrance of Central Beach are now an area of primitive campsites.

A Sunny Day for the Beach

 

 

The last thing I thought I would see on a February afternoon was a couple sitting on the beach enjoying the sun! And I'm sure they were there to sit in the sun, they brought beach chairs. The day was unseasonably warm, around 38 degrees Fahrenheit, with the first sunshine in many days, so it did seem warmer than it really was. And when you're between the mounds of ice and the dunes, the wind is blocked so it's surprisingly warmer than the surrounding area. I have to say it was a rather pleasant day to spend walking on the beach to take in the different stages of melting ice. I was surprised there was still so much ice on the lake, when all of the snow has long melted away.

   

 Finding a bit of higher ground, gives one a much better view of the ice and the surrounding area. I'm still amazed how this place changes over such short periods of time, and how other things in this environment remain constant. Dunes are one of nature's most unstable landforms, they change more frequently than anything else, so this change is to be expected, and should be desired. Instead, visitors are kept off of the dunes because they may hasten the erosion of the dunes. Mother nature's forces work far better and faster than any person could, so we should be allowed to enjoy the dunes, instead of avoid the dunes.

   

 Gaining that bit of elevation allows you to zero in on some of the details of the ice, and pick out some interesting formations. This formation seems as though there were several ice plates that fell on each other, but it's simply how this particular mound was melting. This is an example of how the ice mounds are not what they seem, and can be hazardous to walk on. These voids may not have been so large a few days ago, but they certainly were weak spots that were hidden and probably dangerous.

High Above the Frozen Shore

 

Walking on the beach when there are mounds of shelf ice on the shore is quite the experience; you're surrounded by dunes and ice - even the sound is muffled. But what's even more interesting is viewing the shelf ice mounds from above. Of course you can't climb the ice mounds safely, and most of the dunes on the beach are closed to hiking, but the few areas that are allowed certainly guarantee a fantastic view. 

With the ice melting this week, a lot of the chunks were floating away from shore, and being this high, you could see white ice almost to the horizon. As the breeze blew, the ice slowly moved away from us, only to be deposited somewhere along the shore when the winds change.

   

Depending upon the angle of the sun, the trees at and near the top of the dunes cast shadows on the beach below. It's often difficult to get a sense of scale in such an environment, but the visitors walking their dogs give an idea of just how high the dunes are, and how vast the beach and lake really are. 

There isn't much time left to see these ice formations, I suspect they'll be broken down in a week or so. Now is the time to head out to see them for the last time until next winter.

Winter Stroll on the Beach

 

 

 A welcome visit by the sun helped warm things up the newest national park, and people headed to the beach for a leisurely stroll. It's odd walking on the beach at this time of year, first because practically nobody visits the beach in winter, but also because you're sandwiched between sand dunes and ice mounds, and the shoreline is pretty much a valley between the two.

 Even though the sun was shining, at times the ice and cold water of Lake Michigan created some fog that hung around the dunes. The fog appeared and disappeared a few times as the afternoon progressed.

   

 Two years ago, the Park Service introduced fees to visit the Indiana Dunes National Park. Sure the money will go into park improvements, but I highly doubt anyone was happy about the fees, especially those people who live close by and visit almost daily to walk their dogs, or just unwind on a walk by themselves. 

I haven't seen too many empty days here, so it would seem people are paying the fees - or they simply take their chances by parking without a valid park pass. My best guess is that locals do the latter judging by the lack of hangtags in the cars.

   

 In a matter of days, the rest of this ice will melt, and the waves of Lake Michigan will once again pound the shore, moving the sand, rock, and logs, in a dance that takes place day after day, month after month, and year after year - no matter who visits the park.

Ice Breakup at Kintzele Ditch

 

 

Several days of unusually warm weather is taking it's toll on the shelf ice along the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. Formed by very cold weather and pounding waves, the ice mounds build rather quickly in stretches of frigid weather, at times piling up 15 feet tall and extending into the lake hundreds of feet. 

Temperatures in the 40s often begin the melting process, even though the water is still 34 degrees, the ice breaks up. The running water of Kintzele ditch assists this process by eroding the ice quickly, and the chunks broken off the mounds collide with other ice, breaking more and more ice away.

   

Unlike last weekend, the sun was out in full force this day, brightening up the ice and deepening the blue waters of Lake Michigan. It's hard to believe people will swim in this spot in just a couple of months time. 

The sunshine brings a warmth to the view, even if the temperatures at this time were only in the 30s Fahrenheit. Walking between the dunes and ice, you are blocked from most of the wind, and for all by two minutes of hiking, I was ready to remove my coat. Once we climbed the dune to the Central Beach access, it was cold again. Layer are the key, they can be removed and added quickly.

   

Getting a bit of height over the shelf ice mounds, the lake and floe ice come into view. When we arrived at the beach, there was a lot more floe ice floating just off shore. But within a couple of hours, the breeze blew most of the ice west. It's interesting how you don't notice the ice moving as you look into the lake; just like clouds, they're always moving and changing but you really don't notice the movement unless you pay close attention.

The Upper Dells in Winter

 

Matthiessen State Park's canyons are referred to as Dells; there are upper dells and lower dells. If you look up the term "dell" it means a grassy hollow or dried stream bed, often covered in trees. The landforms of Matthiessen are nothing like dells! They're certainly more like canyons, steep walls of rock, flowing streams and waterfalls, not small "u" shaped valleys formed by long gone streams. I suspect the terminology was carried down from Wisconsin's own Dells, where steep rock walls line the river. 

Whatever you call them, they're spectacular to visit at any time of year - especially when the weather is cold enough to freeze the waterfalls flowing over the canyon walls.

   

 My unofficial count of waterfalls in Matthiessen is 9, including the popular falls everyone sees, and some that are off the beaten path (a couple on no paths whatsoever that take a bit of climbing to view). I've been unable to find any document listing all of the names of the waterfalls and canyons, even looking at historic items from when the park was called Deer Park. Lake Falls, Giant's Bathtub, Cascade Falls, Devil's Paintbox are commonly viewed and well known, but if anyone knows the names of the other falls throughout the park, let me know.

Dunes of Snow and Ice

 

 

Walking along the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan, one can't help but notice tall sand dunes. They extend for miles and miles, and often well inland in some places. There's something very interesting about visiting in winter, you have dunes on both sides of the beach! The natural sand dunes are on one side, and the dunes made of ice and snow are on the other, and you walk right down the center of them in a sandy valley that is actually the shore of Lake Michigan. 

I've often thought these mounds of shelf ice give visitors the impression they are high above the Alps, looking down at the snow covered mountains. Framed correctly, a portrait taken here could be mistaken for one taken in a mountain range.

   

 If you're high enough to see over the mounds, Lake Michigan's waves can be seen battering the windward side of the shelf ice, you can see just how these mounds are built - one splash at a time. The Michigan City East Pierhead lighthouse is also able to be seen on the horizon, dwarfed by the ice and high waves.