Thunderstorm

For over an hour, we watched the distant storm on the horizon. It never seemed to come closer from sunset until almost 10 PM, when the winds kicked up and the lightning intensified. We then decided to put all the yard furniture and boats away just in case the storm was severe. As we packed everything away, the storm got closer and the winds picked up dramatically.



I enjoy watching storms approach, but usually they arrive rapidly, and there isn't much time to watch and enjoy the lightning.  This time, the storm seemed to sit in place and move left to right, giving us plenty of time to view the storm.

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Miller Woods Ponds

Our hike through Miller Woods continued, as we encountered dozens of ponds and interdunal ponds. The ponds dotted the landscape, in the oak savanna, the woods, as well as the grassy fields. Many varieties of spring flowers were in bloom, adding plenty of color to the mostly green fields.

The trail to the beach was a bit over two miles long, and there was something new to be seen at every turn, and over every hill. I suspect this trail would be perfect for bird watching, judging by the variety of ecosystems and the birds we saw on this day.



Along the trail we noticed quite a few areas where there were dead standing trees.  Most were not near any standing water, so I could only guess at the cause. One possibility was that these trees were killed by insects or disease. Perhaps they were ash trees damaged by the emerald ash borer, or oak trees damaged by oak wilt.  Another possibility is intentional removal of damaged trees or non-native species - some of these trees had ribbons tied around them, suggesting a mark for removal, treatment, or study.

Larger lakes were encountered during the hike as well, not to mention Lake Michigan, which was our destination on this hike.

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Oak Savanna Hike

A late spring hike through Miller Woods offered a wide range of landscapes to explore. Located within the Indiana Dunes National Park, Miller Woods includes trails ranging from a quarter mile to over two miles one-way from the trail head to the beach. Hundreds of plant species can be viewed in this area of the park, lots of wildlife, and quite a few ponds and lakes.



The first half mile or so of the beach trail includes some peaceful ponds and lakes, some of which are rather large, and surrounded by oak savanna. Unlike most wooded areas in the Midwestern United States, these woods are as they naturally were before invasive plants were introduced to the area. Commonly, the invasive plants litter the floor of the forests, and create an impenetrable mass of vegetation; often, one can't even see through it.

In a natural state, the oak savanna has large spaces between oak trees with only short plants covering the ground. These areas have the best preserved oak savanna in northern Indiana. I imagine the rolling dunes dotted with small ponds discouraged farming and industry in this area, so the landscape never really changed much.



Recent rainy weather for the past two months has filled up many of the small lakes and ponds in the Miller Woods. However, only a few small areas of the trail were slightly flooded. These ponds pepper the landscape, we encountered one after another as we hiked the rolling land.

Located right next to the Lake Michigan shore, and at the boundary of the city of Gary, Indiana, this portion of the park is a huge surprise to anyone driving through the area.

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Disappearing Beach

Water levels on Lake Michigan have risen over the past few years, causing some erosion along the Indiana shoreline. Central Beach has been disappearing for some time, due in part to rising waters, but also because of the piers marking Michigan City's Trail Creek. These piers prevent the waves from carrying sand to the beaches down shore, and instead, deposit it on the windward side of the pier.

I remember reports of the dunes of Michigan and Indiana crumbling into Lake Michigan back in the 1980's, but have witnessed an accelerated erosion over the past five years or so.  The park service prevents people from walking along the dunes, saying they are contributing to the demise of the dunes. Anyone can easily see, the lake is the culprit- in fact, the paths that were once on top of the dunes are somewhere in Lake Michigan now. Many meters of the dunes are gone, including the trees which were completely uprooted and eventually washed away by waves. This wasn't caused by people walking on the dunes, but it is a convenient excuse for the Park Service to keep people off of the dunes. --See, we're doing something to save the dunes. I suppose someone will buy it - I don't.



Not long ago, Central Beach was a great destination for those looking to spend a day on the sand.  Now, even when the water is flat calm, there is barely any sand to walk on. Perhaps now that the Indiana Dunes has National Park status, something can be done about the disappearing beaches of Indiana. But that something needs to be the right thing, not just the appearance of conservation, or simply doing something to say something is being done.

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