It took until mid-Janurary but we finally have some decent winterish weather. While I was disappointed to see the big snow falling to the north, we at least get to enjoy the sub-zero temps. Due to the mild weather to date the lake Michigan water is still pretty warm, my weather app showed it at 41 degrees. The air temperature however was hovering around -8 degrees (before wind chill), which meant the water was almost 50 degrees warmer than the air. Perfect conditions for steam forming above the waters of the lake which makes for some awesome imagery. So I planned a day around hiking out to the lake on the Miller Woods trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park.
Note that spending several hours outside in extreme cold and high winds is not something to be taken lightly. I have spent years learning how to do so safely. I plan to share what I have learned about how to do nature photography safely in cold weather, both as a series of posts on this site and as part of a workshop I will be giving at the Paul H Douglas Center for Environmental Education for the National Park Service on February 11, noon to 2pm.
Winding through the dunes alongside a frozen lagoon on the way to the beach. The cold (-30 degrees with the wind chill) made it a fun and interesting experience, but otherwise things appeared no different than any ordinary winter day.Here at the point where the trail breaks out onto the beach I got my first glimpse of the roiling cauldron of steam that I was hoping to find. I knew right away that it was going to be good as there was a 30 mph wind blowing OUT towards the lake, while strong waves coming from the opposite direction were pounding the shore.This image shows the extent of the steam rising from the warm waters and condensing in the cold air. The sky was clear and cloudless everywhere except for a thin layer right above the warm water of the lake. What this image does not convey is the fact that the steam from the lake was streaming into the wind coming from offshore. There must have been some very strong convection currents going on.Looking a little to the right you could clearly see how the steam from the adjoining steel mill was blowing out over the water as it rose above the layer of steam over the lake.With the camera pointed into the steam bath the scene looks like a spring storm coming ashore.As cold and angry as the lake appeared, there were plenty of birds flying around as if it were an ordinary day. But at -8 degrees with a wind chill of -30 it was anything but an ordinary experience. These are the kind of conditions which make me excited about going out for a nice hike to the beach.
Soon as I saw snow flurries in the forecast for the end of Thanksgiving weekend I knew where I would be on that day. The Miller Woods trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park. Aside from a freak snow shower on Halloween day, this is the first snow of the season. First snow is always fun because the plants and fallen leaves at the end of Autumn are still crisp and intact. After a few snowfalls all of the vegetation on the ground tends to get saturated with water and mashed down, which has its own beauty without a doubt. On this day I got out on the trail early enough to catch the first flakes beginning to accumulate on the foliage and ground. It was only a dusting, but still amounted to a beautiful day to be out in nature.
The first few snowflakes starting to settle on a grass seed clinging to a stick. By the end of the day all of these delicate seeds will be all matted down and lying on the ground.
These grasses are just starting to bend over with the weight of the accumulating snow. Eventually they too will fall to the ground.
When I got to about two thirds the way to the lake the snow began to pick up nicely. The temperatures were around 34 degrees, so it was a wet snow which mixed with the sand and coated my boots. No matter, I was dressed appropriately and was quite comfy.
It can be quite challenging to capture the feeling of falling snow on a busy landscape with lots of stuff going on in the background. The blurry reflections of the water in the bottom of the photograph allow the individual snow flakes to stand out better. The brain then interpolates upward and more readily identifies the falling snow in the top half of the image.This bridge marks a transition from Black Oak forested dunes to more open, sandy dunes. Normally at this point you can hear a low roar of lake Michigan waves rolling up on the beach which is just past these dunes. But there was very little this day and with the snow dampening sound, the land scape was deafeningly quiet.Upon arrival at the beach the snow was still coming down steadily and the waters of lake Michigan seamlessly blended in with the sky at the horizon. Although I saw no other people along the trail or the beach, this boat passed by silently, showing that there is always someone else out there, no matter the weather.Colorful Zebra Mussel shells at the beach near the waterline.
By the time I headed back to the trail head the snow had mostly stopped. All along the trail near the lake you find tall grasses and reeds. Since it has not been too cold yet, the wet snow quickly melts on the flowers atop the reeds, weighing them down and leaving them coated with beautiful water drops.
During a pause in the snow, the uniform grey sky and calm waters of this lagoon produce a lovely reflection of the treeline. Can you spot the deer in this image, she has heard me and just started running for the crest of the dune ridge. There were a pair of them and if they had remained still I would never have noticed them, they blend in with the ground cover so well.
