Hiking on the Paul Douglas trail in Indiana Dunes National Park, aside from the sound of freight train rolling by, you have no idea you’re surrounded by the city of Gary, Indiana. The trail starts in the oak savannah dunes swells. The leafless trees are a bit haunting.
Down the swells into the swales between the old dunes are wetlands and ponds with beaver lodges.
After a mile or so on the trail, you cross the Grand Calumet River, and there is one more line of dunes to cross to get to get to Lake Michigan.
And like Dorothy landing in Oz, Bark Ranger Chance nuzzles the river, and the ripples bring forth color.
The trail signs warn to stay on the narrow sandy trail and avoid the marram grasses to restore the flora on the dunes. This is the westernmost part of the park, and so the closest to my home. Still hard to believe I can drive to a national park in less than an hour.
A warm day in early winter lets the grasses and dunes glow against the water as the trail skirts along the edge of the river.
And finally over the last dune is the lake with a view to steel mills to the east and west, but calm blue water straight ahead. Just a couple stormy days before there were 7 to 11 foot waves on the lake, and another storm coming in a couple days, but a calm, warm, shirt-sleeve day to enjoy now.
