Slowly Unfolding

With the quick and extreme changes in weather over the past few weeks, it's hard to believe plants are even able to emerge.  Temperatures have reached the high 70's and 24 hours later, they drop low enough for two inches of snow to accumulate.

Our hike through the wetlands of the Kemil Beach trail revealed thousands of ferns unfolding, getting ready for the warmer weather.  Two types of ferns could be found here, and these were smaller and few in number.



From what I remember during hikes over the last few years, these ferns will turn into tall, thin plants with three or four fronds at the top. They grow to a height of 18 inches or so, and litter the forest floor.

The larger, more robust ferns were abundant and still in tight, round fiddleheads. Of course, just an hour after this photo was taken, it began to snow again.

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Lonely Sunset

A red sky over Lake Michigan a few minutes after sunset mark the end of a windy day at the Indiana Dunes National Park. The wind blowing over the cold waters of the lake made the 55 degree air temperature feel like the mid 30's. In fact, the cold water often reduces the actual temperature near the lake.

The high winds and cooler air seemed to keep a lot of people away from the beaches, even though the day was clear and sunny. Earlier in the day, as we hiked from the beach to the rolling dunes inland, we had to remove our jackets because the temperature was much warmer just a quarter mile away from the water.

As we left the National Park, these benches seemed so lonely; in the summer, this beach is often overrun with people until after 9 pm. On this day, we had it to ourselves.

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The Trail to the Cave

After hiking through the narrow passage next to Steamboat Rock, the landscape opens up a bit, and the trail leads to a nearby cave. The cave is quite a bit above the trail, and requires a bit of climbing just to see inside.



Here again, we were surrounded by names and initials carved into the soft sandstone, some dating back to the early 1900's. Looking around, it's interesting to think about who passed through this area, and why. The Mississippi River is only a mile or two away, perhaps some of the visitors making their way down the river ventured through these cliffs.

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Steamboat Rock

One of the rock features of Iowa's Wild Cat Den State Park is Steamboat Rock. This large rock was separated from the rock cliff some time ago, and one of the pieces resembles the prow of a ship. The trail splits here, one part takes hikers between the rocks, and the other takes them around the outside of the "steamboat."

Evidence of visitors to this place is everywhere. Names and initials carved into the soft sandstone are everywhere, including some rather difficult to access places. Some date back to the 1800's if you can believe them, but they do appear old and worn, and written in a typeface not too common anymore.



Steamboat Rock isn't too tall, perhaps 30 feet, but it does seem like people like to climb up to the top for the view or the challenge. Here, one person takes in the surroundings after the climb up.



The easy way up was to climb along a diagonal rock process until some fingerholds were found toward the top of the rock. The carved initials are well defined on this particular rockface, these being in a place relatively easy to reach.

Wild Cat Den State Park, while not overwhelmingly large, offers some interesting trails and formations through a variety of terrain. Visitors can hike all of the trails in a single day.

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