This Autumn has been atypically warm and dry. It is well into November and daytime highs are still in the 50’s. Rain has been almost nonexistent. As a result the trees are hanging on to their leaves a little longer, and the fall colors are stretching persisting a couple weeks later than usual. It was a lovely day to spend a relaxing afternoon out on the Tolleston Dunes trail in the IDNP.
Beautiful blue sky, white fluffy clouds, fading but still present fall colors. Tolleston Dunes is beautiful any time of year, but it really stands out in Autumn.
All around the trail it looked like the extended Autumn is allowing the leaves to “ripen” slowly, developing rich hues and all sorts of patterns.
Northern Indiana and Illinois are not exactly known for impressive elevation changes. The receding glaciers did a good job of grinding this area nice and flat. The sand dunes along the southern shore of lake Michigan however do offer some degree of topology. Many of the trails in the IDNP traverse multiple dune ridges like this one. It is only about 60′ high, but being pure sand at a 9 degree angle of inclination makes for a nice workout. Unless you aim for tree roots there is a tendency for each step to slid backwards in the sand almost as much as your initial step forward.
The almost pure white of the blossoming milkweed pods just pops out against the predominant earth tones. It has been a really impressive display this year.
Moving through this landscape your ears are treated to the crunching sounds of crisp, dry leaves underfoot.
The more I examine the patterns of veins and small colored patches on the Autumn leaves, the more similarities I see between them and satellite imagery of densely populated areas of the Earth.
There was just a hint of breeze when I took this photograph which caused a subtle blurring effect through out parts of this little patch of Milkweed pods.