I arrived in Crown Point, IN after 1pm on Christmas Eve. Normally that is early enough for me to shower and get ready for the family gathering, but this year the start time was moved from 4pm to 1pm so that the elderly could drive back home in daylight. That means that by the time I got to the gathering at 4:20pm, people were leaving and I got a few leftovers to eat. I was too exhausted from the drive to want to stay long anyway. I slept good that night.
I didn't venture out until the afternoon on Christmas Day, walking to the neighborhood Sauerman woods across the street. I had never been over there, thinking it was private property all this time. There is a small pond there where birds like to gather.
My big hike was the perimeter trail hike in Indiana Dunes State Park the day after Christmas. This is a network of trails I try to do on every visit to Northwest Indiana, but often cut it short because of blustery winds, snow, or ice. I hike trails #2, 10 and 8 counter clockwise, or I bypass #8 to walk through the campground back to where I am parked. The entire perimeter is over nine miles, but trail #2 was closed due to flooding when I was there. Weather was the best that day all week, and many other hikers took advantage of that. https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/files/dunes_trail.pdf
This year the hike was modified a bit due to trail #2 being closed from flooding. This trail is the prettiest trail in the summer as it's mostly flat with a mile-long boardwalk over a floral marsh. The heavy rains from the last weeks have made this trail temporarily impassable. I parked at the Wilson shelter in the park and started the 8.4-mile hike via trail #8 going toward the lake, climbed over the park's three tallest dunes (Jackson, Holden, and Tom), then continued the hike on #10, along the shoreline for three miles. I passed two big blowouts (sandslides) before that trail turns south back into the pines and oaks of the old dunes. Winds were a mere 4 mph that day, and the waves sloshed against the shore in rhythmic motions. This is unusual this time of year. We normally have snow and ice and high winds.
The dunes of Northwest Indiana is where I learned to love the outdoors at a young age. Here's where I also subconsciously became an environmentalist. I remember as a kid seeing dead fish on the shore, fish that died from chemical contamination from the oil refineries and steel mills belching their toxins into the water and air. Luckily the dead fish are far fewer now, but chemicals continue to be belched into the air.
The Indiana shoreline is 90 miles long and only 15 of that is preserved as the Dunes. The rest is industrialized with steel mills and oil refineries. A small portion is for private homes. If it weren't for the Dunes, there wouldn't be much healthy recreation for people in the area.
The National Parks Service in collaboration with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) preserve the Dunes. The state park alone is 2182 acres, but the majority dunes are under the NPS. Most of the trails are free, but the state park charges $12 for non-residents for a day-use fee; $7 for residents. In the winter there is only a fee on weekends.
I made it out to the Dunes twice. My second visit was on the 30th with a lovely hike on the newer Miller Beach trail, a pleasant 1.3 o/w hike on a singletrack to the beach. I managed 7.8 miles before I promised my stepmom I'd be back for a family get-together. Miller Dunes is the most western track of the dunes, and the sounds of the nearby steel mills and Southshore train are audible.
Other hikes were in the forest preserves of Cook County, IL, along the Thorn Creek. That is an area I want to explore some more in the summer. I also walked around Culver, IN on New Year's Eve when I visited my stepdad in Culver, and a short but cold walk along the Kankakee River west of Knox, IN in a game and fish hunting area popular with duck hunters.
I got to spend quiet time with my stepmom and later my stepdad. Both are 74 years old and in frail health. It was just last Christmas that we thought we were going to lose our stepdad when he was struck with a serious gastro infection. My stepmom developed inflamed feet this past fall and can not lift her heavy legs now, so driving a car anywhere is no longer an option. She spends all her time inside her home, in front of the TV. This is why I'm thinking of spending next summer here to help her with small errands and chores, and going on hikes all over northern Illinois and Indiana in small trips. Erin will be moving from Virginia back to Indiana with the boys next June and I will be able to spend more time with them, too. I normally get the holiday blues when up here for Christmas, so hopefully having the grandsons around will be more cheery.
I got to visit a few breweries while here, although there are so many new ones now that it's gotten to be impossible to try them all in a short time. There are two new breweries just ten miles from my stepmom's house: Devil's Trumpet off US30 in Merrillville, and Off Square Brewing off I-65 in Crown Point. Devil's Trumpet makes good coffee stouts; Off Square Brewing makes good pizza (but none of the beers impressed me). The most enjoyable brewpub was in Lansing, IL, of all places: One Trick Pony, and their line of German beers.
One thing I did not do on this visit was take the Southshore train into Chicago for a walk in the Windy City. The weather simply wasn't warm enough, or there were other family obligations. Taking the train into the city is now the only affordable way to see Chicago, as parking is at a premium now.
While I was in NWI for the Christmas week, southern Arizona had its best snowfall in years. Snow in Arizona is more fun than snow in the Midwest.
My stay here is now coming to a close. I'm planning on leaving in the morning of the 2nd. A storm is coming in from the Southwest and should blast the Southeast mid-week. I hope that storm bypasses me as I have two hikes planned in central Missouri (Rolla, MO) on my drive back to Arizona. I'm giving myself five days to drive back.
I've had problems with my stepmom's wifi and computer, so I will upload photos when I'm back in AZ
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