state parks project, part 2: shades

Saturday afternoon we decided to double our fun by heading to Shades State Park in Waveland (just outside of Crawfordsville, where we stayed for the night. By the time we got there, we only had about an hour and a half before the park closed, but I feel we made pretty good use of the time. We climbed down into Devil's Punch Bowl, a ravine with a small waterfall, and explored happily. The waterfall was frozen, so we got to check off a bucket list item: ice falls!

There were ice formations along the ravine too, somehow attached to the mossy rock wall. It was amazing and more than a little treacherous. At one point Liam and I were trying to cross an icy stream, and I lost my footing and fell pretty hard. Luckily, I was only bruised and wet, but not broken. Surprisingly, that didn't put an end to our adventure. We stayed until the sun started to go down (the park closes at dusk), then made our way back up to the van. Back at the hotel, a long soak in the hot tub worked wonders for my aching muscles.

Just like at Prophetstown, I felt like we could have spent a lot more time seeing all that the park had to offer. We're barely scratching the surface with these visits, but at the same time, we're leaving each time tired and amazed and fulfilled. Maybe we'll find a couple of duds along the way? One-and-done parks? Stay tuned.
 

See also: SPP 1.