The hike back from the beach covered the same ground as on the way out. But sometimes the different perspective allows you to spot things which you missed coming from the other direction.
Traversing the trail with the steep rise of a dune on the right.
A view of the waters edge through the tall grasses and reeds.
Another example of the mirror like quality of smooth water on an overcast day. Note the beaver hutch in the middle. All throughout the woods there was ample evidence of beaver activity.
Hardy lichens and fungi which persisted through the winter, awaiting the warm rains of spring.
This was my first experience on the Miller Woods trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park. I was looking forward to seeing how the land changed later in the spring. Little did I know just how much would change before I revisited in Early April. Just a couple weeks after I took these photos a wildfire swept through the entire Miller Woods park. This fire burned much hotter than the controlled burn which had taken place before my first hike here. The entire ground was blackened, all of the vegetation was consumed in the blaze and some trees were reduced to ash. The posts on my second hike show the effects of the fire on this land.