First time I hiked the Miller Woods trail was on March 26, 2021. It was a windy, cold spring day. I picked this trail because it was the closest one in the park to my home on the south side of Chicago.
The trail begins at the Paul Douglas Nature Center seen here looking back just a couple hundred yards from the trail head. When I arrived I learned that they had just completed a controlled burn over the eastern portion of the woods as part of their restoration work.
I love overcast skies for outdoor photography. They provide uniform illumination of the landscape, and even though the day was windy this interdunal swale was shielded well enough that the surface of the water had a smooth mirror like quality.
This early in the spring along the southern shore of Lake Michigan there is little in the way of new growth. But if you look carefully you can spot some of the hardy early risers poking their heads out of the soil.
Looking back from atop the first of several dune ridges which you encounter, you can see how the trail is composed mostly of loose sand. Although the ridges are not particularly high or steep, the sandy soil makes for a pretty good workout.