state parks project, part 10: indiana dunes

We are really trying to stay on track with this resolution, and so far, so good! Earlier in the week, we were trying to decide which park was next on our list, and I happened to see a Facebook post about a mega beaver dam at Indiana Dunes State Park. The park had posted pictures of all kinds of birds and other creatures from its trail cam, and noted that the dam is 600 feet long. I guess normally park officials don't let dams get that big, but they did this time, and they regularly release water to prevent flooding in the park. Seeing the pictures of the great blue heron, coyote, beaver, raccoon, etc. doing their thing was enough to solidify our decision to head to Chesterton and see what we could find.

I should note here that I've lived in the Midwest my whole life, yet somehow I've never been to Indiana Dunes, either the state park or the national lakeshore, other than to catch the South Shore at the Dune Park station going to and from Chicago. That seems like a weird little oversight. Mike said he had been once, but wasn't too impressed (later he said that he thought it was the specific area he had been to, near some factories/mills). I guess I just figured that (despite all beach vacations to the contrary) hot, sandy dunes just weren't my thing. I can hear you all now: SURE they're not!

Anyway, once we got to the gate, we made sure to ask where we could find the beaver dam, and were told to try Trail 2, a 3-mile, easy trail along the marshy areas. Plan in place, we set off along the trail. I was surprised at how shady and cool and foresty it was along the trail, and we had a lovely time hiking along, not seeing many other people along the way. Jimmy got a mad case of very loud hiccups, but other than that we just listened to the birds, who were quite active. Oh, and Henry was feeling a little philosophical, so he started a conversation with me thusly: "Mom, what if we're really all just dolls inside a giant dollhouse?"

Toward the end of the trail, we kind of ran into some trouble. Apparently the giant beaver dam did cause flooding, and that flooding damaged the boardwalk. We made it past one section of broken boards, then consulted a pair of hikers who were coming the other way, who said it was tricky but passable, so we decided to go for it.

And this is the place where I should note a key dynamic in my relationship with Mike. When faced with a choice that involves carrying on in the face of tricky/dangerous/less than optimal conditions or retreating the way we came, 99.5 percent of the time, I will say, "Let's DO THIS, Forts!" Mike, thankfully, is more cautious/sensible than I am, so I count on him to veto the plan should my enthusiasm prove to be more powerful than my common sense. This time, his doubts were written all over his face, but he eventually decided to give it a go. And we made it! Of course, along the way, the dog decided that he would rather flop down in the muddy marsh, then wade through it rather than navigate the boardwalk, so he was a huge stinky mess, but I guess that's a pretty small price to pay.

In the end, we hiked about six miles but never found the actual dam. I suspect maybe we could have seen it from the bird-watching platform, but sadly that was also damaged from the flooding, and Mike laid down a big NO on even going near it. Oh well.

After our hike, we kind of realized that we had sorely neglected the main draw of this park: the dunes/beach! OOPS. I also neglected to pack swimming clothes and sandals, and the beach was WAY too crowded for me, but I took the boys down to the water anyway, and was really impressed that we were able to see the Chicago skyline across the lake. They climbed one of the small dunes right before we decided to head back home. The boys were all wiped out, Charlie was wiped out, and we were all starving. Safe to say though that we'll be back again soon for some swimming, this time without the dog since they're not allowed on the swimming beach.

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9.