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.
Swamps and Marshes are probably my favorite areas to go hiking. The diversity of plants, insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles is amazing. The landscape itself is just really fascinating as well. In the Indiana Dunes there are many wetland complexes accessible by trails. Much of the area used to be an extensive complex of marshes, but years of residential use has transformed them into swamps filled with non-native trees and woody plants. These areas are currently undergoing extensive restoration efforts and as a result when you hike the area today you get to experience a wide variety of conditions. The different trails throughout the park allow for perspectives ranging from aerial views from neighboring ridge lines, to elevated boardwalks and abandoned roads passing through the hearts of these wetlands. It just never gets boring, no matter how many times I return to the same areas.
This view of the Great Marsh was taken from the Dune Ridge trail in the IDNP. It covers almost the entire length of an abandoned portion of Beverly Dr. which snaked through the middle of what was once a residential area that is now in the process of being restored to a more natural state. In order to capture the entire expanse of the marsh I stitched together a panorama of 6 photos.With all of its wetlands the Indiana Dunes area a great location to observe the seasonal bird migrations. I enjoyed watching this flock hop from one location to another in the Great Marsh. This part of the marsh is further along in its restoration than the rest of the area and is now more properly a marsh full of sedges and grasses as opposed to a swamp.Here we see a more swamp like area of the park, where woody shrubs and trees dominate. This photograph was taken along the #2 trail in the Indiana Dunes State Park. One of my favorite trails because it contains two elevated boardwalks which allow access to the interior of the wetland.This oily sheen sitting atop the water is a common sight throughout the swamps and marshes in the area. Given the close proximity to heavy industry, including steel mills and power plants, I first thought it was pollution, petroleum leaching into the ground water. Turns out that this is a natural, and ecologically healthy bacteria.One of my photographic interests is looking for images which capture how the swamp would appear from the perspective of a reptile or amphibian living there. Which is not easy to do without donning hip waders and then tromping through a fragile ecosystem. But you can find such vantage points if you spend enough time looking. I imagine this is what it must look like for a frog perched on a log…… and this is what a duck might see…… and then you have the slightly more elevated view of a swan.
