Off to the Beach

2019-09-08
Indiana Dunes, IN

Today was the start of the trip home. My primary goal was to get past Chicago while it was still a weekend, which required about nine hours of driving. The first five or six hours were actually pretty nice; very light traffic in Northern Minnesota and even through Duluth. Traffic was a little worse in Wisconsin where it seems that they are completely rebuilding the interstate. However, the Chicago area was about as much fun as you'd expect; lots of cars and tolls and I couldn't wait for it to be in my rear view mirror. It's a town I enjoy visiting, but not when I have a car.

Around 4:00 I rolled into the Dunewood campground at the Indiana Dunes National Park. That's National Park number 35 for me. Most of the signs still say National Lakeshore because it just became a National Park last year. They really do have an awful lot of signage as the park is fragmented and crossed by numerous roads; it will take a while to get them changed. The campground volunteer recommended site 49 for me, which has the tent pad ten steps up and back into the woods from my car. It meant a little more work moving stuff back and forth, but it's a cool secluded place. I'd thank the volunteer again, but he is heading back home to Arizona tomorrow, via Yosemite. Park volunteers are a very friendly sort.

With two hours of daylight left, I headed over to Indiana Dunes State Park (where most of the best dune hiking trails are) and I hiked trails 9 and 10 for 4 miles. The trail ran along the top of the dunes for about a mile and you can look through the trees at Lake Michigan. You also get to see two "blowouts." A blowout is a place where a tree has fallen or some other nick in the armor of plants on the dune and the wind works on the loose sand, cutting into the dune. It was a very nice hike; I'd recommend it.

Afterwards I went back to my tent, made supper as dusk descended, and called it an early night.

Hiking distance: 4 miles