Overcast and Cold

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Lighthouse and Gulls

Only the gulls were around last Saturday in Michigan City's Washington Park Beach; though it still seems odd to have to wear a winter coat. 30 degrees and gusty winds kept most people far away from the shore. It won't be long before the shelf ice begins to form, and walking along the beach will become dangerous.

No snow in sight in the photo above, even though 16 inches of lake-effect snow fell over parts of Indiana and Michigan last week. Along the lake there was only a trace, a mile into Michigan City a measurable amount was seen, and in LaPorte, about 8 inches was still on the ground.

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Wordle

Here's a bit of fun with words. This includes every word on this page of my blog.....

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Looks Like Winter

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Ready for Winter

At least this year I managed to get the pier out of the water before the first snowfall, and before the lake iced over! It seems just three weeks ago it was in the 70's................oh yeah, it was! The lake-effect snow was less than I expected, only about 6 to 8 inches rather than the 16 or 18 inches that fell just a couple of miles to the north.

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Frozen Piers

The fresh snow and the new formed ice on the lake are good signs leading up to next February's ice fishing derby - if things keep up the ice will be nice and thick.

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Soon to Freeze Over

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Soon to Freeze Over

The snow in the air today reminds me that Lake Michigan and Kintzel Ditch will soon be frozen over. They are already covered in a foot of lake effect snow, but in a few weeks, they will begin to freeze.

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Concentration

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Water Droplets Concentrating Sunlight

Why doesn't the leaf burn? The water droplet is focusing the sunlight to a tiny point on a dry leaf. I'm not sure why it doesn't begin to burn. I can certainly understand why it doesn't cause a fire - the leaf should burn a tiny hole, then the water drop falls toward the hole and extinguishes the fire.

Not sure.......

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No One To Watch

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Lifeguard Station
Washington Park Beach
Michigan City, Indiana

November in the north is not normally a month for beach going, but this particular day was great. It's way after the swimming season, so Washington Park parking is free, and you can have the entire beach to yourself!

If you're a lifeguard there's no one to watch in the water, and if you're a swimmer, there's no one to watch you swim.

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Turning Trail

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Twist in the Trail

The trail from the lower dells at Matthiessen State Park curves and heads downhill under a colorful, canopy of fall leaves.

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Fall Color

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Fall Color
Salt Creek
Brookfield, IL

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Panoramic View

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Mouth of Kintzel Ditch
LaPorte County, Indiana

Kintzel Ditch is a small stream running through the wooded dunes of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It's ever-shifting mouth manages to empty into Lake Michigan no matter what the conditions. This stream is our target each weekend as we visit either Mt. Baldy or Central Beach looking for relaxation, photos and fossils. Lots of Crinoid stem fossils can be found along this stretch of beach. There hasn't been a single time I haven't found a few, and often we find 20 or 30 in an hour or two.

I've always wanted to explore Kintzel Ditch, and finally had the opportunity. After following the shore for a block or two, I could go no further without swimming - and it was way to cold for that. The sides of the dunes were collapsing into the ditch by both erosion from wind, rain and the stream, and also by the ground water that was seeping out into the ditch. These things made it impossible to go any further, and the dunes were much too steep to climb without ropes, so I headed back to a point where I could climb up and follow the stream at the top of the dune.

The morning sun was warm and the view from this vantage point was perfect for an attempt at a panoramic photo (three or more photos stitched together to make one large photo). I don't think you can quite get the full feeling of what lies below unless you climb up yourself; it's much further down than it looks- about 90 feet.

I'll have to trek up here during the winter to see how things look frozen.

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The Last Nice Day of 2008

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Sunrise at Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana

Okay, so I'll go out on a limb and claim that November 5th was the last "nice" day of 2008. Things have to get colder now, and I doubt if temperatures are going to exceed 70 degrees until next spring (although I hope I'm wrong). Before starting on the things I had to do on Wednesday, I stopped at the National Lakeshore for sunrise and a long hike. I was greeted by nature at it's finest.

After completing everything, I returned to the lake front, but this time to Washington Park, about three miles north of Mt. Baldy. There were actually people in sight this time!

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Lighthouse and Catwalk
Michigan City, Indiana

The East Pierhead light and fog house is always a favorite stop, I never tire of walking out to the lighthouse - in any weather. It seems to be a favorite spot of the locals for fishing and for couples who just want a nice long walk.

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A perfect afternoon for a walk to the lighthouse then down to the end of the public beach. The air temperature was in the low 70's, but the water had to be in the low 50's. I was surprised to see kids in the water, I think they were visiting from another continent - probably Antarctica!

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November Morning

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Leaf Litter on Mt. Baldy


November in Northern Indiana can be quite miserable. Wind, cold temperatures, horizontal rain, and gray skies make me long for summer. Occasionally, we get a few warm days this time of year, and yesterday was one of them - 74 degrees and sunny!

Just as the sun rose, I began a hike through the woods to the top of Mt. Baldy, a 125 foot tall "living " sand dune. This huge dune moves at the rate of about 5 feet a year, burying the nearby woods in the process. In fact, it moves so quickly that the Marram Grass and Cottonwood trees cannot take root, making it the largest living dune that these plants cannot hold in place.

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The Sun Illuminating the Fall Colors
Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the fall colors began to illuminate the landscape. Rich browns, golds and reds provided a contrast against the dunes and Lake Michigan. Standing atop the dunes gave a panoramic view of Lake Michigan and the Michigan City lighthouse far below.

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View From Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana

Walking southwest along the shore without another human in sight, I headed to a familiar spot, the mouth of Kintzel Ditch. This stream cuts between the tall, forested sand dunes of the 15,000 acre national lakeshore. I decided to follow it upstream to see if I could find the source. There is no trail, so walking along the shore became very difficult due to the large chunks of clay and sand that have fallen off into the stream. The walls of these parts of the dune seep water and feed the stream, making for some soft, muddy hiking.

Rather than return the way I came, I figured I could follow an animal trail toward the lake. After a half a mile or so, the trail ended, leaving me two possibilities: turn around or go through the brush. I chose to hike through the brush and head southwest. I was about a half a mile from the shore, so it should have taken a few minutes of walking, but then I encountered impasse after impasse. These woods grow on steep sand dunes covered in trees and short vegetation including poison ivy, thorny shrubs and vines. The strong vines were everywhere, and they grew horizontally between the ground and my waist. It was impossible to walk more than two steps without either turning, tripping or climbing. I think it would be easier to walk through a jungle. The thorny shrubs snagged everything I was wearing and carrying and tore my clothing and scratched my skin. My left arm has over 20 scratches on it alone.

Well over an hour later, I reached the top of a dune that overlooked Lake Michigan. Finally, I could make my way down to the familiar shoreline where again, not a soul could be seen.

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Winter Approaches

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Cold, Gray and Wind
Michigan City, Indiana

The winds have changed and now seem to primarily blow from the north, across the length of Lake Michigan, cooling down the Indiana shoreline, and picking up the surf.

It's no longer a comfortable walk along the beach, yet it's still attractive. The high surf has washed away much of the beach in spots, in fact, at one point of the beach, the surf has taken away over 7 feet of the dune, creating a 7 foot wall of sand at the shore.

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Missing Beach

It was at this point I found the large shell in the lake. It's got to be a shell from warmer, salt water just dropped along the beach or washed away from someone's property.

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EBSCO Alerts -21 Things at Oesterle

For my EBSCO portion of 21 Things at Oesterle, I chose to search for articles on G. Gordon Liddy of Watergate fame. Not only was he involved in Watergate (he chose to take the 5th), he has an earned doctorate degree in law, he was a prosecutor, defense attorney, special agent in the FBI, White House aide to President Nixon, soldier, pilot, defendant, felon, non fiction author, fiction author, and now a radio show host. The list goes on. There's not much this man hasn't done, and he's still interviewed often about his political views.

I chose email as my method of receiving EBSCO alerts on new articles about G. Gordon Liddy. I have enough RSS feeds on my homepage :-)

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Mysterious Shell

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Shell Found in Lake Michigan

Here's something that has me puzzled. While walking along the cold, gray beach on the first day of November, I noticed something partially burried in the sand and under about a foot of water. It appeared to be a shell, but I wasn't sure. I decided to try and dig it out, but had to remove my boots and camera gear and get into the cold water. Just then, my wife simply walked into the water (shoes and all) and dug it out - she doesn't mind sitting in wet shoes and clothes all day. It was a very large shell that I figured couldn't possibly have come from Lake Michigan. I don't think there are any such creatures in the Great Lakes, but I'll have to do a little research to find out.

I wonder if it's a shell someone bought in the tropics and either dropped on the beach or perhaps it was a decoration that got washed away from someone's beach property. Maybe it's an ancient shell from a time long ago that was buried in the sand dunes for thousands of years. Either way, it's a pretty cool find.

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