I started hiking and taking photographs at the Indiana Dunes National Park during the early part of covid, it was a way to get away from the stress of the daily news cycle and worries about health and job security. I found the experience of hiking along the Tolleston Dune Trail that day to be a great stress reliever, and that continues to be true 5 years later. For me, hiking the dunes contributes to maintaining both my physical and mental health.
Yesterday was a great example, I took a mental health day off from work and drove out to Cowles Bog. I choose this trail because it is the most physically demanding one in the park, so I knew I would get a good workout. But the real benefit was having a few hours of solitude, with nothing but nature to occupy my senses. The feel of the sand in my shoes, the sounds of birds, a buck romping off through the forrest and rustling leaves beneath my feet, the smells of decaying vegetation, and the sights included in this post. That, combined with pushing my heart rate while slogging across multiple steep slopes of deep sand, went a long way towards maintaining both my mental and physical health.
Here is the GPS track from my hike. I use a handheld Garmin GPS to record my hikes, which I can then sync my photos to which provides precise locations for all of my photographs. This is useful when I want to make direct comparisons of a given location over the course of multiple hikes, and when I want to report trail maintenance issues to the park rangers. The yellow boxes represent the locations of the photographs that follow, and the blue X is where I spent a day planting native sedges back in April this year. The route I took was a lollipop out and back, beginning and ending at a small parking lot on the far right side of the map.The first part of the trail runs along the edge of the Great Marsh. Here we see a trio of Skunk Cabbage poking up out of the marsh muck at the edge of the trail. In the spring and early summer this trail is loaded with thousands of them. But even in late fall and through out the winter you can still find the odd few.There is a whole lot to like in this shot of a decaying log. You got one of my favorite Crustose Lichens, a couple of ground spider webs and a nice conecap mushroom, all accented by a bit of bright green briar and some dead leaves. Nature puts together great compositions, you just gotta look for em.As you turn north and head toward the lake you begin to traverse multiple parallel sand dune ridges. These ridges are stabilized and support a mature forrest ecosystem, but the trail is soft sand which makes even small elevation gains challenging. This photograph shows part of the steep decent down to the beach. The way that this view opens up as you break out of the forrest atop the last dune ridge is really spectacular. It is a nice reward for having just climbed the backside of the ridge which can be exhausting. I still remember how I felt the first time I experienced this view. It really makes quite the impression.Once you descend the final ridge, you find yourself in sand which has recently been stabilized by Marram Grass. By this time your footwear has taken on a cup of sand which greatly facilitates the formation of blisters. But the lake is just ahead.Here is a nice view looking back at the dune ridge from the waterline. The person in the foreground gives some scale for the size of the foredunes. In the summer heat I would be drenched with sweat and soaking my hot blistering feet in the lake while pounding down water at this point. In deep winter I’d be enjoying the brisk blast of artic air coming off the lake. On this day however, the temps were perfect for arriving in pretty good shape and just hanging out, not too warm, not too cold. Despite opinions of my friends to the contrary, I enjoy the nice weather as much as anyone else. I just like the crappy weather equally. Being outside in nature is awesome. Full stop. No caveats for weather conditions. Outside simply beats inside.Ahhhhh…… I spent a bit of time just sitting and relaxing here. This is called Boaters Beach because other than the trail I took to get here (which was about 2 miles long) the only other way in is by boat. So you never see hoards of people hanging out. In the summer you might see one or two small groups of kids who hauled beach chairs, umbrellas and a cooler of beer up and down those sand ridges… now those folks really earned their way here. Otherwise the beach is mostly an empty expanse of sand, which is awesome. Solitude.Here is a good sand level view of the Marram Grass that is the first step in stabilizing the sand which blows inland off the beach. Its roots fan out and effectively lock the sand in place. Over time more and more sand will accumulate and other hardy shrubs and small trees will start to take root. Now I am heading back inland, and preparing myself for the most strenuous climb of the trail that will take me back up the dune ridge. I always enjoy this expanse of rolling Marram Grass covered sand. This particular view always helps me put the ups and downs of life in perspective. The park encompasses four epochs of sand dune formation spanning over 10,000 years. This is the current dune system, other trails traverse dunes that make up the Tolleston, Calumet and Glenwood systems, each successively older and further from the lake than the previous one. One day this undulating expanse of Marram Grass stabilized sand will build up to form a new towering ridge. But that process will take another couple thousand years or so.Here is the view looking back down on the beach and lake from a point about 3/4 the way up the dune ridge. I make a point of stopping at this spot to catch my breath before climbing the last 1/4 of the way to the top. It is a really nice spot to sit and take in the view.Not much in the way of insects on this hike, in fact this fella was the only one I saw. Looks like he’s missing a couple legs, which does not really matter because with winter coming he is not long for this world regardless.As I approached the end of the days hike, I walked a little ways down the road that cuts through the Great Marsh. Here I am looking out onto the area where I planted sedges back in April. The satisfaction I felt in that moment, knowing that a small portion of this area of healthy marsh was planted by my own hands was the perfect way to wrap things up before hopping in the car and heading home.
By the time I got home I was physically tired, my hip flexors were sore as hell, and my head was in a very good place.
