This is the second part of a series of posts examining an abandoned stretch of Beverly dr. through a portion of the Great Marsh in the Indiana Dunes National Park. The post A New Favorite Trail gives an overview of the series. The preceding post, Abandoned Beverly – Spring, shows the same area as it appeared in early March.
The following photographs were all taken during a hike in mid-summer 2023.
(You can click on any of the images to see them full size.)
A portion of the Great Marsh as seen from the Dune Ridge trail. It was a hot, humid day and there was a line of strong thunderstorms about 2 hours away when I reached this point. From here it was down the ridge via the Beverly Shores trails to reach the marsh below, I was following the same route as in spring.
Same stretch of abandoned Beverly rd. which I showed in the previous post. I just stepped off of the Beverly Shores trail I use to get down here from the Dune Ridge trail. What a difference a few months make. Back in march the left side of the road was all water and broken trees, and the right was bramble. Although it is not apparent in the photograph, the whole area was filled with birds, pollinators and of course mosquitos. Even with repellant I got chewed up pretty good by the ‘skeeters.
Looking out over the large section of what was open water back in March. The water is packed with all forms of aquatic life including numerous frogs which I could hear jumping into the water as I passed by.
Looking back at the Dune Ridge trail up atop the line of dunes. Although it does not look like it, the ridge is a mature sand dune with has stabilized to the point that it is able to support a forrest ecosystem. Down here in the valley between consecutive dune ridges we have a vibrant and lovely marsh.
Back in March the side of the roadway was looking pretty barren and not particularly attractive. The next four photographs show what the landscape bordering abandoned Beverly dr. looks like up close. It is beautiful, vibrant and full of life. The butterflies and assorted other pollinators were all over the place, as were dragon flies, frogs, herons and many varieties of birds.
The 7th photograph in the first (spring) post of this series showed what appeared to be a desolate stretch of abandoned road, surrounded on both sides by apparently dead trees. This photograph shows the view looking back along that same stretch of road, but from the other end.
Water that appeared devoid of life back in March is now so packed you can only see a short ways off the road.
Along the way through the marsh you pass by other abandoned roads. I have not been down this particular one… yet.
One of the last photographs I took as the approaching storm was starting to kick up some pretty good gusts. It took a lot of patience to get a shot of this blue beauty during a very brief moment when it was not bouncing around like mad in the wind.
Back in March everything was shades of brown and grey. On this day however the dominant color was green.
My next visit to my new favorite trail came in early September, right before the Labor Day holiday. Next up Pt 3 – Autumn.
