Stopover at Wilson River SRA, IA

Drove about 7.5 hours from Chesterton, Indiana to the Wilson River State Recreation Area in Missouri City, Iowa, where I was to meet up with my brother and his wife who were driving up from Texas so that we can caravan up to Winnipeg, Canada. I gassed up as soon as I crossed the state border, as prices were about a dollar cheaper per gallon in Iowa compared to Indiana.

My brother and his wife camped in their own minivan, with a tail veil that has a ground cover and a rainfly which I thought was really nice, since it provided protection from the light drizzle. I did not set up my own camper tent since we planned to stay only a night at the campground here, as a stopover on our journey north. There were very few people at the campground which was pretty quiet. We had a quick dinner, went to sleep, made breakfast the next morning and hit the road for our next campground in North Dakota.

Indiana Dunes NP: Cowles Bog Trail

I decided to hike the Cowles Bog Trail, which the Park brochure described as the most challenging of the trails and has diverse vegetation. When I arrived at the site, I discovered that the main trailhead was closed, and I had to park at the Greenbelt lot which was next to a train track and under some power towers/lines. It started to rain, and I sat in the minivan for a while, debating whether to go ahead with the hike. In the end, after seeing a few people arrive and went on their hikes, I retrieved my raincoat and waterproof hiking boots and started hiking at 2:30 pm. The first part of the hike was through some marshes and ponds; it was clear there was fish in the water since some herons and other birds were looking for food there.

The flat sandy trail started to change, there were a lot more bushes and then trees. I could see poison ivy and sassafras trees, having learned how to identify them from Ranger Penny during the Mount Baldy hike. The elevation also changed, becoming pretty steep as the trail went up the dunes, then sharply down towards the beach. The hiking boots were very useful in getting traction, especially when climbing uphill in the sand.

It was a relief to finally get to the beach. There were a lot of yellow flowers along the sandy path, I think these are called butterweeds. A few of these plants just popped up from the sand, with little vegetation around them.

From the beach, I took a different way back, the other part of the loop back to the Greenbelt Lot. It was up a very steep dune that turned into an undulating trail with changing vegetation, leading back to the Greenbelt Lot. The entire hike was just under 5 miles and took about 2.5 hours. I went back to Dunewood Campground to shower and change, then went to the nearby town of Chesterton for dinner. The town center was quite pretty. Had dinner in a Mexican restaurant, the fajita meal was rather large but I felt I have earned it after all that hiking!

After dinner, I drove back to the park's visitor center and parked Millie a few spaces from a Class B RV. There were about 6 RVs and a couple of cars in the very large, well-lit parking lot which also had 2 porta potties. Spent a comfortable night in the visitor center's parking lot of the Indiana Dunes National Park and drove off early the next morning, to meet up with my brother and his wife in Iowa.

Indiana Dunes NP: Pinhook Bog

In the morning, I checked out of Dunewood Campground and drove over to the Pinhook Bog parking lot to join the ranger-led hike scheduled for 9 am. Pinhook Bog is open only when a ranger is on duty, to protect the trail and vegetation. A pretty big group was already waiting in the small parking lot. Ranger Penny gave an introduction to the Bog and told us what to expect from the hike. She said that the lady's slipper orchid was at the end of their blooming season but we may be able to see a few of them.

After a short walk on a shady trail that was very close to the main road, we came to a fenced off area with a boardwalk beyond the locked gate. The ranger said that the floating boardwalk was recently installed. It was quite an experience to walk over the bog, we had to keep a few steps behind the person in front, to prevent water from sloshing over the boards.

The diverse vegetation was amazing. We did see a few pink lady's slipper orchids; the other orchids in the bog were not out at this time, but the pitcher plants with their maroon flowers were abundant. The ranger also pointed out sundews, another carnivorous plant as well as bladderworts and tamarack.

When we reached the end of the boardwalk, the ranger showed us photos of plants that were not blooming at the time, and pointed out that the trail covered only a sliver of the huge bog. She warned us not to get off the boardwalk, demonstrating how deep the bog was by putting her walking stick into it. The stick was almost completely covered.

A number of us stayed on the trail for a long time, taking photos of the plants and the trail. I finally left to get lunch and decide where to go next. The afternoon got cloudy and cooler, so I decided to go on another hike.

Indiana Dunes NP: Hiking Mount Baldy Trail

This evening's event capped an active day of hiking and was the most interesting one of all. The Indiana Dunes National Park has scheduled a ranger-led hike of the Mount Baldy Trail at 5 pm. This trail is normally closed to the public. Driving from the Chellberg Farm trail's parking lot, I arrived at the meet up point, the parking lot of the trail, with 5 minutes to spare.

Ranger Penny, a former teacher now park ranger, gave an introduction on how the dunes came to be, the geological history of Lake Michigan and the surrounding area. She explained why Mount Baldy was closed to the public. It was a riverting story about a boy who got swallowed by the sand in 2013. This led to the discovery of hidden dangers that nobody knew about. After the hike, I googled the incident: the story and resulting research and discoveries were well documented in this article.

The ranger showed us how the dune has shifted. and moved inward in just a few years. The photo above is Mount Baldy which was sitting on part of the parking lot and its roads. The bare branches on the top were actually the top of trees covered by the dune. The rangers predicted that in a couple of years the line of trees just behind us would be covered by sand.

She then took us on a hike up the dune, past no-entry and other warning signs. She assured us that we are not likely to be swallowed by the dune this evening. But she did point out poison ivy on the path, and reminded us to check for ticks after the hike.

It was a very nice hike, we all had great questions for the ranger who was enthusiastic and passionate about the park. She talked about conservation of the dunes, why it was important not to trample over the marram grass that hold the dunes in place, and the different plants and trees in the area. I now know how to identify sassafras plants.

At the top of the trail, we were rewarded by lovely views of Lake Michigan. It was a lovely end to a busy day of hiking 5 trails in the park. Ranger Penny informed us that she would be leading a tour of Pinhook Bog the next morning. I wanted to join the hike, but I had no place to stay the next day since I had only reserved a site for 2 nights and the campground was full. She said that they allow overnight parking at the visitor center. That was perfect, since I somehow missed planning for June 4 on my itinerary.

Indiana Dunes NP: Bailly Homestead, Chellberg Farm and Little Calumet River trails

Went on my 2nd hike after lunch in Portage, IN. Drove to the parking lot to hike the trail to the Bailly Homestead and the Chellberg Farm nearby. Started with the Bailey trail, and saw the log buildings and impressive house that French-Canadian fur trader Joseph Bailly built in the 1820s.

The homestead ended at the Little Calumet River trail. I chatted with a man and his little boy who were fishing near the bridge, they had caught a couple of crappie. I decided to follow the river trail which I remembered from the park map was a loop that will end at the Chellberg Farm.

The Little Calumet River Trail was lovely, non-dune like, full of folliage and mostly shady. It was very well maintained and a lot longer than I expected. I forgot to bring my park map, and Google Map was not useful. A few times I wanted to turn back since I was not sure how much longer the loop was. I asked that question to a hiker approaching from the other direction; he said that I was probably about half way on the loop. Figured I might as well might as well continue. The hiker asked whether I had cell reception, and if so I should download the trail map from The Hiking Project. Said it was pretty accurate and useful. I downloaded the app (from AllTrails) and sure enough, the app knew where I was and showed how far, far, more I needed to hike. It was a good thing there was strong cell reception on the trail, although the app offered downloads for offline use (only for paid subscribers). It took a while before I finally found myself at the end of the Little Calumet River Trail. Got on to the trail to the Chellberg Farm, where early Swedish farmers grew vegetables and raised chickens. The farm is currently run by volunteers.

By the time I reached Millie in the parking lot, it was 4:40 pm. I have been hiking for over 2.5 hours! I barely had time to drive to my next event, a ranger-led hike of the Mount Baldy trail.

Indiana Dunes National Park: Kemil Beach, West Beach and Diana of the Dunes

After breakfast in my campsite, I packed up Millie and headed for the Indiana Dunes National Park's visitor center to get information on what to do and see. I discovered that the park's sights and landmarks stretch over several miles between the towns of Gary and Michigan City.

On the way, I stopped by Kemil Beach which included the "futuristic" homes that were built for the 1933 Chicago World Fair. The houses were not open for tours, but there were displays describing them. The photo below is one of the homes.

Starting with the western edge of the NP at West Beach, I hiked the Diana's Dune and the succession trail that ended at the shore of Lake Michigan and back to the parking lot. Unfortunately, I did not take the photo to show that I successfully completed the Diana of the Dunes Dare.

Also stopped to admire a panne, i.e. a "lake" created by a blowout in a dune that was just outside of the bath house at West Beach.

Took a break for lunch, stopping by Panera Bread in Portage and the Walmart across the street to stock up on a few essentials. Then it was back to a different part of the NP about 9 miles away for another hike to see more landmarks.

Dunewood Campground, IN

Started my trip to Winnipeg, Canada yesterday, June 1. Was going to park overnight at Hollywood Casino in Washington, PA but at the last minute decided to stay in a motel instead because of the heat wave and predicted thunderstorms. It was a good call, had a very comfortable air-conditioned evening at the Super8 near the casino while it rained very heavily most of the night.

The next morning I drove by the casino, there was indeed a large parking lot beyond the parking garage but it was very quiet. It apppeared that the casino was closed at night, there was only one semi truck and one travel trailer on the lot, just a few cars around. I filled up Millie at a BJ's gas station (I researched the locations of BJ's stations on the route), paid $4.23 a gallon. Was I glad I did that, because when I reached Indiana, the cheapest gas was $5.36 a gallon!

Indiana Dunes National Park's Dunewood Campground was full, but I had reserved a non-electric site on the Douglas Loop a couple of months ago. I arrived with plenty of time to set up, this was a drive through site, so it was impossible to set up my tail tent the usual way, with poles and stake. Instead I had to settle for a reduced tent. A few biting insects were out, and I was happy to have the netting in addition to mosquito repellent/coil. The campground was quiet, restrooms were clean. There was no registration needed but the camp hosts drove around in a golf cart to check off the campers. They stopped at my site and said they could not figure out if I was in a tent or an RV! I told them to mark me off as a minivan camper.

I went to bed early, eager to check out the national park tomorrow.