Distance: 7 miles o/b
Elevation: 623' -689'
Significance: walking an old railroad bed that traverses a wetlands preserve
Ethan was with his Papa (my X) today so I took advantage of the chance to walk part of the Oak Savannah Trail (OST), a paved multi-use trail I discovered last summer while walking the Erie-Lakawanna Trail (ELT). This is a west-east trail that travels through wetlands. Northwest Indiana was once a major railroad hub for Chicago, but now many of the tracks have been removed and turned into railtrails or multi-use paths.
My one mistake today was not starting until 9am. It was in the upper 60s when I started and in the upper 80s with 80% humidity when I finished 4.5 hours later.
The OST is nine miles long, so half as long as the ELT. I started the path in the Oak Prairie County Park in Griffith, cutting off a mile from its most western terminus that it shares with the ELT. This first quarter mile through the park is cool and forested and meanders north through a dense black oak forest. Several dirt trails off this path, however, flood easily and didn't look passable as I walked by.
The first two miles of the OST are mostly shaded. Once out of the park and past the Griffith-Merrillville airport, the route is straight on to Hobart's Lake George. The path is 20' wide, 4" deep asphalt, and full of the usual northern Indiana marsh flora I like so much: spiderwort, purple coneflowers, pink swamp milkweed, daisies, yellow woodland sunflowers. The blackberries were also ripening and I stopped a few times to pick a few.
It's amazing how fast one can cover mileage when a route is straight. I crossed Harrison Avenue and stopped 3.5 miles at IN53 (Broadway). The farther east I got, the more trash was along the way as I was now in Gary-Merrillville. I rested off Broadway (there was a bench there, but it was in the hot sun, so we rested in the grass). I picked up some trash around the bench to which a passing cyclist thanked me for removing, and then we walked back west to the car, leaving so much more trash behind.
The return walk was just as fast, but the sun was now higher and Zeke's fur was hot. I stopped more often to let him cool off his paws in the standing water. Is this water from recent rains, or is this area a permanent wetland? I heard plenty of bullfrogs, saw many dragonflies, and heard lots of red-wing blackbirds. I like these sounds. I even spotted some sponge fungus.
A mile back into our return walk, I got off the trail and took Zeke down to a running creek which fed into a small pond on private property. I was ready to stay here a while to let Zeke cool off and rest, but then three teenage boys came riding on their bikes and stopped about 50 feet from me. Oh great, I though, if they see me they will think I'm some creep stalking them. I was sitting on the edge of the railroad bridge built in 1917. They did a few wheelies, drank from their plastic bottles, then threw their empty bottles into the wetlands. Idiots! I thought. So now I know what kind of people are trashing the trail. One of the boys made eye contact with me and soon the boys were off again. That is when I climbed back up to the trail to resume my walk.
I, too, was now also getting hot and tired. I had overestimated the heat and humidity for this walk. Zeke clearly was exhausted, too. We went straight to the car once back at the county park, turned on the AC, and sat there while the AC worked itself cool. Today's walk was the longest yet on this road trip, but it was the high humidity that did us in.
I would like to walk more of the OST while I am here, perhaps start the trail from Lake George on the eastern terminus and walk west for a few miles.
It was now 1:30pm and I hadn't eaten anything yet. I drove to downtown Griffith and saw that the New Oberpfalz brewery was open. Yay! Other breweries in the area have cut their opening hours during this covid pandemic, but this one actually has extended its hours. I am thankful for that. I was here last year and liked their German beers. The patio is dog friendly, too. It's a small place that does feel like a German Gasthaus. The Helles Lager (5.1% ABV/15 IBU) won the US Open Beer Championship Gold Medal Award for Bavarian-style Lager and it is good. It's the right kind of crispness after a long hike. I buy it sometimes at the grocery store.
I sat out on the patio with Zeke in the shade on the cool tile with his big water bowl I take on road trips. An elderly German woman (that accent is a give-away) walked past and asked me if Zeke had water. Yes, I replied. The bowl was against the building and behind Zeke, so it wasn't obvious to her. "OK, good," she replied, "because I would otherwise get him some." My server had already given me a second water pitcher just for Zeke but Zeke didn't drink. He just wanted to rest. I ordered a chicken sandwich to eat and had an American Porter as my second beer.
I was back home by 3pm. I chatted some more with the day nurse Adrienne with whom Carol seemed to have had a lively conversation all day. I stayed awake long enough to meet the night nurse Janice, but got really tired fast. I'm going to take it easy tomorrow and only do small walks, to give Zeke a break.
The pandemic is now in full blast in Arizona. I guess I can say I'm glad I was able to get away from it by being here, but what if Arizona shuts its borders to others and I'm stuck elsewhere? The Arizona governor once again shut down gyms, bars, restaurants for another 30 days effective yesterday. Even the school district has delayed the fall semester by two weeks, starting now August 17th. The sudden bar closure caught people like SteveT by surprise as he was at the Bone Dry Taphouse Monday afternoon when the bar tender there got the word to shut down immediately. The pandemic in Chicagoland seems to have eased a bit, but more people are wearing face masks here than in Arizona. Even I joined the crowd and bought a box of 50 face masks for $35. I've yet to wear one, though, since I've been cognizant of the six-foot social distancing rule and keep to that. But I should wear masks more often. It's people like me who have helped spread the coronavirus by not masking up. These disposable face masks are more comfortable than that heavy N95 mask I brought on this trip. I don't see a need to wear a mask while out walking by myself, though.
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Global cases: 10,791,168
Global deaths: 520,829
US cases: 2,779,904
US deaths: 130,798
AZ cases: 84,092 (+4877)
AZ deaths: 1720 (+88)
IN cases: 45952 (+358)
IN deaths: 2650 (+10)
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