Gorgeous Fall Day

It was a beautiful day to be out hiking in the Indiana Dunes.  We’ve recently had a couple of nice soaking rains which always bring out the best in the fall foliage.  All pics were taken along the Indiana Dunes State Park Trail #2, one of my favorites as it sticks close to the marsh.

It was a slightly overcast fall day, perfect for capturing the fall colors due to the uniform illumination of the landscape.

Even from a few feet away off the trail, this purple lichen easily caught my eye.

I love this stage of decay in fallen leaves. The patterns and contrasts are beautiful to behold.

Look closely at the base of the mushroom, I did not notice the little fella munching on it until I’d loaded the image on my computer.

Look closely at this pic, the variety of fungi is striking.

This is part of a board walk across the marsh which is about half a mile long. It is one of the best spots in the park system to see the inner workings of the marsh.

This stand of dead Ash trees creates wonderful reflections in the water on calm, cloudy days like this one was.

I love all of the delicate details in this shot.

State Park Trail #2

The Indiana Dunes State Park has several really nice trails all in a compact area.  The park is very popular, and the line of cars to enter can be upwards of an hour in the summer so it pays to go early.  Of the parks 10 trails my favorite by far is #2, starting out from the nature center, it loops around a marsh/swamp, until it intersects with trail #10 which I take back to the beginning.  It is a great trail for wild flowers, fungi and lichens, all topped off by a half mile long boardwalk across the marsh/swamp which is nothing short of awesome.