February 16, 2020 " In All Things Of Nature There Is Something Of The Marvelous" - Aristotle

Our Sunday family outing this week was supposed to be a quick hike from Marquette Park to Lake Street Beach along the Chanute Trail then back to Marquette Park along the beach. After a foggy morning, the sun broke through with blue skies and we had warmer temperatures as the day moved along.

Besides the zero degree temperatures of a couple of days ago, we've had a very mild winter this year. But these signs are put up every winter along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The dogs took us off course right away. 

The Grand Calumet Lagoons were frozen but I doubt the ice was thick enough to walk on. It was such a beautiful day that I was beginning to think this hike might take longer than I originally planned.

Yeti and Nola headed toward the Pavilion...

...then they cut across the grass toward the lagoons.

The back deck staircase of the Pavilion leads right to the lagoon. 

We took the scenic route over the bridges back to the picnic area.

The girls just kept walking while the boys stopped to enjoy all the natural beauty of the day.

The Marquette Park Christmas Tree looking good in the sunshine.

Sure the trees are bare, but they still look good with that blue sky above them.

Yeti and I enjoying the view high above the lagoons.

The view from the dunes above the Chanute Trail.

I liked the evergreen and the brown leaves framing the picture of Chrissy and Nola running down the dune.

The beavers have taken down five trees along the shore of the wetlands between the dunes.

These wetlands get some sun so there were partially frozen with some open water.

The hectic lives we lead nowadays disappears at times like these. Walking in the snow and sunshine is as much fun for me now as it was when I was a kid. 

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful." - Alice Walker

We hiked over the dunes onto Lake Street Beach.

The dunes closest to the shore have been flatten by the storms this winter.

I was surprised by the amount of shelf ice on the beach and the frozen sand covered chunks of ice scattered across the beach.

Always happy to get bright colors in a photograph.

It was right about here that I realized how intense the arctic cold was the past few days. As I looked down the beach, it was covered in ice and snow for as far as I could see.

I use Yeti to test the strength of the shelf ice.

This is going to be a great day at the beach.

I'm going to let the pictures tell the story. We walked from Lake Street Beach to Marquette Park. 

It was like a hike in the Arctic.

There were lots of caves and ice bergs breaking off because the water was flowing underneath the ice.

Just like the arctic icebergs, these are much bigger under the water.

I was amazed by the ice covered trees 30-50 feet from the shore. It must have been some storm when the temps dropped on Thursday & Friday.

Yeti had an easier time on the ice than I did. He has built in four wheel drive.

There are barely any dunes right on the beach anymore.

Nola & Christy weren't enjoying this winter beauty as much as me and Yeti.

There was a little bit of everything along this hike. Here is a relatively flat section... 

...then a bunch of raised shelf ice...

...and what ever this might be called.

We finally caught up with the girls.

Obviously, I couldn't stop taking pictures. The ice has so many different shapes and forms. I would love to see a time lapse video of how all this was created. 

More sand covered ice where the dune grass and tree roots were exposed.

This reminded me of Edvard Munch's "The Scream".

Someone's dock is frozen on Marquette Park beach.

This area has sand covered ice chunks.

The shoreline was so beautiful. I could have walked all the way to the Indiana Dunes State Park taking pictures but I had things to do at the house.

Snow covered dunes off the beach.

Ice covered everything we saw on the beach today.

Yeti with his "come on old man let's get moving" look.

More damage to the dunes on the beach.

The ice covered dune grass collapsed down off the dune. The past year has caused more destruction to the dunes than I have ever seen.

Chrissy showing everyone the 5 foot drop off on the dunes.

We finally found a low spot for the dogs to get a drink.

Yeti enjoying a cold one.

Ice balls on the beach.

It looks like everything was frozen very quickly which caused some very interesting ice sculptures. 

We stopped at the Aquatorium on our way back to the car. A tribute to the Tuskegee Airman is located here. 

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” Laura Ingalls Wilder

February 2, 2020 Our Ground Hog Day or Palindrome Day Hike at The Indiana Dunes National Park

It's Ground Hog Day and Palindrome Day...02/02/2020...reads the same forward and backwards. Truthfully, I didn't realize it was anything but another Sunday morning when the dogs woke me up. I decided to see if Central Beach or Mt. Baldy's beach was accessible. The Great Marsh was looking beautiful this sunny morning as we drove past it on our way to Central Beach..

The sun hasn't been out like this for almost two weeks. I was singing "Stairway to Heaven" as we walked up this. The dogs pretty much ignored me.

"There's a feeling I get

When I look to the west

And my spirit is crying for leaving

In my thoughts I have seen

Rings of smoke through the trees

And the voices of those who standing looking

Ooh, it makes me wonder

Ooh, it really makes me wonder

And it's whispered that soon, If we all call the tune

Then the piper will lead us to reason

And a new day will dawn

For those who stand long

And the forests will echo with laughter"

Nola & Yeti were very happy to be outside on a hike this morning. 

I was thrilled to see blue skies.

All the dunes along the main trail to the beach have been closed to hiking for years now.

I talked with two women who told me there was no way to access the beach here or at Mount Baldy.

From this vantage point, the lake looks relatively calm. 

But the storms of the past month have done enough damage to still limit beach access. The NPS usually doesn't try to keep a nice slope down the dune to the beach during the winter months. There is currently about a 25 foot straight down drop to the beach.

Also, there is no beach today. The water line is up to the shelf ice which has been pushed up against the dunes.

Sand, ice & water.

This is looking straight down where we are standing. Tree trunks, rocks and ice all crashed together on the beach.

Looking east there is shelf ice along the shore where the sun doesn't shine this time of year.

I left here and drove to nearby Beverly Shores to visit with my friends Roger and Irene. They had just moved to a new place about 100 feet from their old place. They are always gracious hosts whenever anyone stops by. It was great to see both of them and catch up on how they have been since I last saw them. Since they live a block away from Lake View beach, I usually would take the dogs there. But the NPS has closed that beach due to the severe erosion. So I stopped at Dunbar Beach, but I was told there is a fifteen foot cliff to get down to the beach. So I parked at Kemil Beach and walked the dogs down to the beach. 

Here at Kemil we could walk right onto the beach.

Since we walked west the last time we were here...

...We walked east toward Dunbar Beach today. There is still shelf ice along this section of the beach. As you can see, it is a beautiful morning for a walk on the beach.

The dogs zigzagged from the water, to the ice, to the wet sand and the dry sand.

Looking back toward Kemil Beach.

Yeti enjoying our hike while walking on the sand covered ice.

Of course my brilliant dogs decide to walk through the muddy section of the beach.

There was a lot of ice on the shoreline.

Yeti posing for me on the ice. His brown fur looks much darker in the sun and snow than it does everywhere else.

My little girl Nola having fun on the beach.

We continued hiking east.

Just like all the other beaches around here, the first dune along the beach has been breached and flattened.

This rocky section of beach at Dunbar has withstood the damaging onslaught from Lake Michigan... 

...until the recent storms. There isn't as much beach here and the dunes are eroded and are now more like cliffs.

I liked the sand and rock covered snow and ice shapes here.

That is about a 25 foot high wall of sand to our right.

Then it drops down to about five feet near this 1933 Century of Progress House. The erosion uncovered an old wooden staircase (seen in this picture) at the bottom of the dunes

We continued eastward toward Lake View Beach.

But turned around because I didn't want to cross the wider than usual street drainage into the lake. I did see a truckload or two of sand was dumped on the beach on  Lake View Beach.

So we headed back on the lake side of the shelf ice.

Nola always explores places she can stick her head into.

While Yeti loves standing up to get a better view.

The water has been under cutting the shelf ice. 

I am fascinated by how thick the shelf ice is because it's been a mild winter so far.

Nola and Yeti on a stranded iceberg. 

We left the ice behind...

...and hiked up the dunes to the Lake Front Drive. Then walked past some abandoned houses to the trail through the woods that ends at the Kemil Beach parking lot.

Our hike through the woods was enjoyed by all of us.

I liked this shot due to the colors...

...but the B&W version looks more menacing.

I know it looks like Yeti is pooping on Nola. He isn't. But it made me laugh so I added it to my story anyway.

So this concludes our day at the beach story. If you 'd like to join us on one of our trips outdoors, please contact me any time. The only thing better than hiking, is hiking with more people.