Fresh Snow at the Dunes

Looking Back From the Trail Head

Following a busy day, we headed out for a late afternoon hike at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Yesterday's snowfall made it all the more fun - especially with the bright sunshine. We haven't been here since the holidays began, so it was great to be back.

We decided to hike two trails that connect, our standard dune ridge trail, then what we call the lonely tree trail. These trails are pretty strenuous at times, but like most trails through sand dunes, it's up and down, up and down, not a severe climb up most of the way.

Cold Walk on the Beach

As usual, our hike began on the beach. For mid January, it was unusual not to see any ice on or near Lake Michigan, but it's been rather warm lately. the only ice we found was stuck to driftwood washed ashore by recent waves.

The Winter Beach

As we approached the trail, we headed inland, and just before we entered the wooded dunes, we turned back to look at the snow covered Marram grass and Lake Michigan. The low sun washed over the snow, highlighting all the contours of the dune.

This was just the beginning of our quick, two and a half hour hike through the rolling dunes.

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