Cool… Wet… Blustery… Perfect

As we reach the middle of October the weather has turned rather nicely to become cooler, wetter and more blustery.  We have had several days of steady rain to soak the ground which always makes for great hiking.  Leaves are changing color and beginning to fall, adding a new layer to enrich the humus.  Fungi are popping up to release their spores and the lichens are becoming vibrant as the moisture soaks into the dead and decaying wood on the forest floor.  One of my favorite times of year to hit the trails at the Indiana Dunes, this day I decided on the West Beach trail loop.  It is a trail with a lot of variety including beach, foredunes, interdunal wetlands and mature forested dunes.

Although not apparent in this photograph, there was a light rain with a sustained 30 mph winds off the lake on this day. I consider this to be near optimal beach weather, though it would appear that not many share my opinion on this matter. Regardless I thoroughly enjoyed my stroll along the beach this day.

The grassy backside of the foredunes facing the lake. Although it may not look like it this stage of dune formation is quite fragile. The grasses which are stabilizing the sand are easily damaged so it is important to stick to the marked trails.

Eastern Prickly Pear cactus, one of the main attractions along the West Beach trails. The whole area is very sandy and these hardy cacti can be found all over the open areas where they can get plenty of sun. The fruits are still attached and healthy, their orange hues contrasting nicely with the green.

Fallen leaves will form many layers where they soak up the moisture. Eventually they decay and form a fresh and nutrient rich layer of new soil for the coming spring.

It is early Autumn and the grasses are still vibrant green, though they are beginning to get matted down. I enjoy examining the crisscrossing patterns and the droplets of water which collect at their vertices. This is the sort of scene which makes it well worth being out in the rain.

The day alternated between light misty rain and short bursts of moderately heavy rain. Here I spent a few minutes examining this interdunal wetland while waiting out one of those moments. Just standing still, listening to the rain fall all around me and wind gusting all about. Being out in nature in the rain is one of the best experiences, and I never get tired of it. When appropriately dressed it is very enjoyable.

Another thing which you can really only find on overcast and wet days. The water soaking into this fallen branch has perked up the lichens and bracket fungi. And the over all dampness really intensifies the colors of everything. Many people associate overcast and rainy conditions with dull and drab, but the actual experience is just the opposite once you know where and how to look.

Water droplets act like tiny lenses, distorting and magnifying the structure of the veins in the leaves. Although similar in many ways to wet leaves in Spring and Summer, these Autumn leaves have fallen to the ground and are lying flat and still. This makes them so much easier to photograph as opposed to when they are still attached to plants which are usually bouncing around in the wind.

This old bracket fungi has taken on the appearance of a clam, or perhaps a mouth.

As I described earlier, colors are the most intense in these rainy conditions. One a bright sunny day the deep reds and greens of these leaves would be washed out and lost amid the intense brightness differences between the deep shadows and sunlit highlights. The uniform lighting of an overcast day is perfect for capturing the true colors of nature.

On this day it turned out that I timed my visit to the park perfectly. It was overcast, windy and rainy for most of my 3 hour hike. Only near the very end did the rain subside and bits of blue sky begin to appear. Time to return to the car and head home.

Contrasts

Some might think it would be uninteresting to hike the same trail over and over, year after year.  I find just the opposite to be true, the more times I go out on a trail in different conditions and at different times of year, the more I get a sense of place.  I very much enjoy the contrasts between different seasons and weather conditions.

Here are four photographs of the same stretch of West Beach, taken under two extremes of weather conditions.  There are two pairs each taken from approximately the same spot, summer and winter.  The summer images were taken when it was in the 80’s and high humidity.  The winter images were taken on a day when it was -5°F (before factoring in windchill) and 30mph winds off the lake.  Same locations on the same beach, two completely different experiences.

Hot, humid and not a cloud in the sky. For some reason people seem to really like hanging out on the beach in this sort of weather. Ah well, to each their own.

Now this is more like it. Although the image does not really capture it, it was definitely cold. Yes, believe it or not people surf lake Michigan in this kind of weather. Apparently the best waves for surfing are in the winter when the weather comes out of the north and the winds run the length of the lake. All I can say is a) those dry suits must really work, and b) there is always someone crazier than you.

Just a few hundred yards down the beach you get a sense of how narrow and crowded the beach is when the weather is warm. Steel mills on the horizon.

Same view but photographed with a telephoto lens which makes the steel mills more apparent. One of the things I love about bitter cold days is how the steam just billows up into the sky. Yet again we see someone else out enjoying the frigid cold. No matter how cold, snowy or rainy the weather, I have never gone out to the dunes and not seen at least one other person on the trail.