Indiana State Parks Challenge Complete!

You know the feeling you get when you set a goal, and complete it?  Well, that is where I am today.  A great feeling!  Earlier in the year I set a goal to hike in every Indiana state park that I had not already hiked in.  If it had a challenge, I completed it.  Yesterday I completed that challenge.

I have spent a LOT of time in the woods this year! 

I know I already blogged about some of them, but yesterday (as I was bragging on Facebook about completing this challenge) someone asked me to rank them.  There are some definite winners in my book.  Almost all the most amazing state parks are located in the southwest quadrant of our state.  Part of this may be due to the fact that it is very hilly and geological.  But here is my list (if I didn’t hike this park this year I indicated that):

1. Shades State Park – Hands down the most beautiful state park in Indiana.  It’s amazing.  Many trails go along creek beds, so be aware you may get wet!  You should know there are many ladders to climb here.  They have a challenge here called the 6 Ravine Challenge.  You have to take pictures of certain things along the trail, and then they will give you a sticker! 2020
2. Turkey Run State Park – This park has the most ethereal atmosphere, almost like scenes from Game of Thrones.  Absolutely beautiful, and near Shades.  It was pouring down rain when I hiked this, so there was water everywhere.  Many trails cross or go in creeks; there are ladders to climb as well.  Totally worth it.  But I was soaked!  Towards the end, crossing creeks, the water was halfway to my knees, so my “waterproof” boots were no match for the depth of water.  This park has a 5-mile challenge, but I didn’t know about it when I was there, so I want to go back and complete this.  At any rate, I’d like to hike it when it’s not raining cats and dogs! 2020
3. Potato Creek State Park – There were so many water birds at this park!  I hiked this park on my way home from my daughter’s house in Michigan, and I was trying to get it in between thunder storms (I didn’t make it – got soaked again).  I plan to go back here in the spring to photograph wildlife.
4. McCormick’s Creek State Park – This was a really pretty park as well.  The trail I took followed much of the creek bed.  Jovie (my dog) loved it because she could lay down in the cool water!  There is an old wolf cave there, too.  The history was pretty interesting.
5. Lincoln State Park – This was a very beautiful park. I hiked a trail that went back to a secluded pond that had been restored.  It was a beautiful setting.  I was hoping I would see some wildlife there, but it was misty raining when I was there, and I guess all the wildlife was taking cover!
6. Tippecanoe River State Park – Lovely park with trails along the Tippecanoe River. 
7. Prophetstown State Park – This park was very unique in that it was a restored prairie.  They let the prairie grasses grow (way above my head!), and there was an Indian settlement on the property to see.  Most of the trails here are in the open, so sunscreen is a must!
8. Chain O’Lakes State Park – Okay, so I didn’t think the hiking was stellar here, and I thought the mosquitos were going to carry me off, but I did go back and complete the 9-lake Kayak Challenge with a couple of friends.  This is where the magic is in this park.  There are 11 lakes here, and 9 of them are connected.  The total length is 5 miles, but you start in the middle, and because of this you do all of it twice.  If you only want to do half of it then go to the right from the kayak rentals (as you are facing the lake).  This was the prettiest and most interesting part of it to me.
9. Clifty Falls State Park – I have hiked every trail in this part (it’s close to where I live).  They have a Four Falls Hike Challenge, which is actually pretty easy to do.  Going in the spring or fall is the best time to visit here because the falls have more water. Hiked prior to 2021.
10. Brown County State Park – This park is very nice with rolling hills and great views.  They have a 7 Vista Challenge (which is really a driving thing), but I did it anyway.  Just be aware that they have released rattlesnakes in this park and they are thriving. Prior to 2021.
11. Fort Harrison State Park – This park is located on the northeast side of Indianapolis, but you wouldn’t know it when you’re in the park.  It’s really pretty, and you feel like you’re far from civilization when on the trails.
12. Indiana Dunes State Park – Talk about some great views, this park had it!  I completed the 3-Dune Challenge, which climbs the 3 highest dunes in the park.  This was VERY challenging for me.  Jovie kept looking at me when we would stop on the upward climb (because I couldn’t breathe!), and she would look at me like, “Now why are we doing this??”  haha.  It was a challenge, but I finished it in just 1 ½ hours.  I thought the first dune was the hardest.
13. Pokagon State Park – This park was a really nice one, too.  They had an 8-mile Hell’s Point Challenge. At one point on this trail there was a secluded pond, and I saw a couple of sandhill cranes. This park is pretty hilly.  I started at 8:30 AM and finished at 12:30 PM and by then it was quite hot. 
14. Spring Mill State Park – I’ve hiked many times in this park.  There is a trail you can take where you see several of the caves here.  In the summertime you can feel a cool breeze coming out of them, which is quite refreshing.  There is a pioneer village here that is really awesome in the summertime, and an old grist mill that still works.  The creek flowing through the village has really cold water which is nice on a hot day. Prior to 2021.
15. Whitewater Memorial State Park – The White River flows through this park.  Hiking is easy but interesting.
16. Versailles State Park – I’ve also hiked every trail in this park.  It’s small, but interesting.  They have nesting bald eagles here, so you can spot them now and then.  Some water birds, too. Prior to 2021 and current,
17. White River State Park – This is an urban park in Indianapolis.  It is located next to the White River, but they have also built a canal (which is the trail I took).  Even though it was late fall and no leaves were on the trees this was a very nice, serene walk.  3.5 miles, too, which you wouldn’t think in an urban setting.
18. Mounds State Park – This park has a lot of history with the mounds there.  You can Google about that.  Hiking was very easy.
19. Shakamak State Park – This park has three manmade lakes on it, so for me it wasn’t all that great.  I hiked a trail around one of the lakes and saw a very big rat snake curled up on a tree limb so that was cool!
20. O’Bannon Woods State Park – This park is located next to the Ohio River, so there were some pretty spectacular views from the trail I took.  I saw a couple of barges going up river as well.
21. Charlestown State Park – This park has some interesting history in that it used to have an amusement park there, until the flood of 1937 flooded it out and did so much damage they decided not to restore it.  There are signs around that show where the buildings had been located, and how high the water level was.
22. Falls of the Ohio State Park – Located next to the Ohio River on the Indiana side this is a great place to see fossils.
23. Harmonie State Park – Nothing truly spectacular about his park, but nearby Harmonie, Indiana was an awesome town.  I want to go back there for a long weekend.  Very serene.
24. Ouabache State Park – Easy hiking here.  They have a herd of bison there that was pretty cool.
25. Summit Lake State Park – Another manmade lake area.  Not my fave type of setting, so I wasn’t that impressed.
26. Richard Lieber State Park – I included this because the DNR site says it’s a state park, but really it’s just a recreational area.  They have a huge lake there, so water activities would be nice.  They had ONE trail that was .75 miles long.  Haha  Yes, I hiked it!  If you go here visit Cataract Falls, which is nearby.  This is definitely worth a visit!

Which park do you want to visit first??

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Charlestown State Park

I met up with some friends who were camp hosts at Charlestown State Park located in Charlestown, Indiana, along the Ohio River.  It was nice to have someone to hike with!  

This park was established in 1996.  According to Wikipedia, "The main feature of the park is various scenic trails overlooking Fourteen Mile Creek, noted for being one of the oldest unglaciated stream valleys in the state. On the peninsula the creek forms where it meets the Ohio River stands an isolated bedrock ridge called the Devil's Backbone. According to legend, the Devil's Backbone forms part of the remains of an ancient stone fortress built by Welsh adventurers who traveled to the Ohio Valley in the 12th century, though the story is unsubstantiated. The Backbone is restricted, however park staff offer limited tours in the winter. Over 14 miles of hiking trails are available for use, with many great views of the Ohio River, Fourteen Mile Creek and more."

This park is picturesque with the many views overlooking the Ohio River.  Did you know that there used to be an amusement park here?!  Visit Indiana.com says this:  "On the north bank of the Ohio River in Charlestown State Park, the remains of the Rose Island Abandoned Amusement Park serve as a ghostly reminder of outdoor amusements from a century ago. Today, the park lies in ruin – peeking through the dense southern Indiana woods as a spooky testament to an era gone by. Visitors can explore the ruins in the state park on a hiking path (Trail #7) with helpful signs identifying the remains of what once was. Given the peninsula’s bucolic nature along the river, its popularity with tourists, and its proximity to Madison, Cincinnati, Louisville, and the other Ohio River towns – the Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company purchased the land in 1881 as a stopping point for leisure passengers. Visitors would disembark and spend the day picnicking on the peninsula and frolicking amongst the ferns. The Great Depression slowed business, but the epic flood of 1937 pretty much ruined the park and the whole effort was abandoned."

An archway path to the amusement park area.

There are reminders all over Rose Island showing where amusement park buildings had been located (like the inn), and just how high the flood waters got.  It was crazy to see just how high the water had been. Here is a picture of one of the markers (not mine):

You can't really tell by this picture, but the Ohio River was at least 20-30 feet below the highest levels we saw.  It's incredible to think about just how much water would have been present to flood at these heights!

We saw so many pretty flowers, and a hummingbird moth!

Do you see the hummingbird moth?

There is a bridge that crosses over to Rose Island, and overlooks Fourteen Mile Creek.  

That's my friend Barkley in the blue shirt.

A view of Fourteen Mile Creek from the bridge lattice.

  Pam and I with Jovie on the bridge.

What a great experience this was!  After we looked around Rose Island we walked up a very long and high hill to get back.  Yikes!  We had to stop a couple of times on the way up.  No worries if you can't do this; they have a shuttle that will take you up and down if you book in advance.

I want to go back here sometime and hike the trail that goes along the Ohio River.  I didn't have time to do that on this day, but I would definitely go back.

Mounds State Park/Summit Lake State Park

The two final parkis I hiked in over July 4th weekend were Mounds State Park and Summit Lake State Park.  Mounds State Park has an interesting history.  According to Wikipedia, Mounds State Park is a state park near Anderson, Madison County, Indiana featuring Native American heritage, and ten ceremonial mounds built by the prehistoric Adena culture indigenous peoples of eastern North America, and also used centuries later by Hopewell culture inhabitants.  I didn't get any pictures of these because I didn't think it would translate well to my phone camera, but here is a photo of a trail I hiked:

You can read more about Mounds State Park here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mounds_State_Park.

Next stop was Summit Lake State Park.  According to Wikipedia:  Summit Lake State Park is a park located near New Castle, Indiana in east-central Indiana. Summit Lake became Indiana's 19th state park in 1988. The park covers 2,680 acres (11 km²), including an 800-acre (3.2 km²) lake.

The park is a mix of woodlands, old fields, wetlands, and prairie restoration areas which provide a wide range of flora and fauna. More than 100 species of birds reside in the park, and the area is popular among photographers and bird watchers. Hiking trails offer good views of the lake. Zeigler Woods Nature Preserve, at the southwest corner of the park, is Henry County's only dedicated nature preserve.

Like Shakamak, this park looked like it had a manmade lake on it and felt more like a recreation area than a park to me.  A good friend went with me.  We had a picnic lunch after Mounds State Park hiking, and then set off on a trail that went through a little prairie with lots of wildflowers.  Boy was it hot!!  We tried to stay in the shade as much as possible.

I wasn't very impressed by this park.  Maybe it would have been more interesting if we had kayaked, or were there early enough to catch some birdwatching.  

McCormick's Creek State Park

 In my continuing quest to hike all Indiana State Parks (I haven't already done) this year, my next stop on July 4th weekend was McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer, IN.  This was definitely my favorite for the weekend so far.  There were two waterfalls:  one smaller, and one bigger one.  The trails were beautiful, but I will say they could have marked them better.  The signs were posted in odd places, and a couple of times I had to ask hikers coming the opposite way if I was going in the right direction.

Here are the waterfalls I encountered:

They also had a cave called Wolf Cave that was formed as underground water dissolved the limestone bedrock and carved out a network of passageways. Over the years Wolf Cave became exposed by the powerful forces of erosion. The cave is now dry because the underground stream it once carried has carved lower passageways.

Here are a few pictures of the trail.  We crossed a couple of streams, and of course Jovie decided to cool off!

What's your favorite part of hiking?

Harmonie State Park/Shakamak State Park

 After I drug myself away from New Harmony, Indiana I made my way to Harmonie State Park located nearby.  Once I located the trail head for the trail I wanted to hike Jovie and I set off.  It is really a pretty park, with the Wabash River in full view.

We passed a couple of streams along our path, and Jovie took full advantage of drinking and cooling off!  It's hard to tell in this picture, but she is laying in the stream.  The water was cool and clean.

Here is a picture of a part of the trail.  So pretty and serene!

After we finished hiking at Harmonie State Park we made our way to Shakamak (I was told by locals this is pronounced Shack-a-Mack).  This place looked like a manmade recreation area, so to me it was kind of meh, but it might be fun to go back a kayak.  I saw quite a bit of wildlife in the water.  

See the ducks in that last picture?  When they saw me walking on the trail the mama duck started frantically quacking and all her little duckies lined up behind her and they swam into the lilies!  So cute.

But by FAR the most interesting thing I saw here was a snake sunning itself on a small tree on the side of the trail.  As I approached I saw it but couldn't tell what it was right away.  It didn't move a muscle as I walked around taking its picture.  I never could find its head.  Hmmmm.  The headless snake?  Perhaps not.  This is a harmless gray ratsnake, excellent climbers, and great for rodent control.

I spent the night at a dicey hotel (because they accepted dogs) in Terre Haute, IN.  Let's just say the carpet felt sticky (insert yuck emoji of your choice here).  Ewwww.

I did have a very nice conversation with my chatty server at the restaurant where I ate dinner.  The food was so-so, but it was really nice to talk to someone!

Next stop:  McCormick's Creek State Park!

New Harmony, Indiana

 When I saw how beautiful the weather was going to be over the July 4th weekend I decided to hit up some Indiana State Parks to hike.  I have a goal to hike in every Indiana state park I have not already hiked in by the end of the year.  I needed a goal, so here I am haha.  I love the serenity of hiking.  Sometimes I go alone, and sometimes I have a friend, or friends, join me. 

Before I get into hiking for the July 4th weekend, I want to tell you about a little gem of a town I discovered near Harmonie State Park.  It's called New Harmony, IN.  I don't recall ever having been there, but my mom told me after I got back that we went there as a family when I was a teenager.  I truly don't remember it.  I stayed at the New Harmony Inn Resort, which was massive for such a small town (population 719 as of 2019).  The best part for me was that it was pet friendly.  I like to take my Havanese dog, Jovie, with me whenever possible on driving trips. 

Back to New Harmony.  According to indianamuseum.org, New Harmony was "the site of not just one, but two early American utopian communities.  The Harmony Society, led by George Rapp, arrived in the United States in 1804 and settled in Pennsylvania before purchasing 20,000 acres on the Wabash River and moving to Indiana in 1814.  The harmonists were religious Separatists from Germany who pursued Christian perfection through every aspect of their daily conduct."

The town exudes serenity.  There are beautiful tree-lined streets with stately brick homes surrounded by what appears to be professionally landscaped lawns.  Flowers lined the sidewalks and front yards.  I came across a couple of places that had the 10 commandments etched into them, or other scriptures. When I arrived to the town it was evening; all the shops were closed.  As I had been driving for several hours I decided to take Jovie for a walk around the downtown area, which was mostly deserted.  So neat and tidy!  Here are some pictures of my walk:  

There were several memorial gardens, too.  The one with the fountain is called Carol's Garden, and I can't remember the name of the other one, and couldn't find pictures of it to find out. Here are my pictures.  So pretty!  

The Harmonist Labyrinth was a beautiful place, too.  The labyrinth was in the center of an area surrounded by tall trees.  I wasn't tall enough to get a great picture of it, so if you would like to see an aerial view go to https://visitnewharmony.com/location/harmonist-labyrinth/:

According to visitnewharmony.com, the Cathedral Labyrinth site "offers an opportunity to walk and meditate on an ancient single path labyrinth. The pattern of this labyrinth duplicates the original at Chartres Cathedral, built in the 12th century near Paris, France."

 

One of the highlights of New Harmony for me was the Roofless Church.  According to the sign placed outside, this church was built as "A House of Prayer for all People".  The gates were topped and inlaid with golden adornments, which is what drew my eye to this. The domed structure you see here had the most amazing acoustics.  A young lady was singing a hymn underneath it when I arrived, and it sounded really beautiful. As the name suggests there was no roof on this.  It was simply a large garden-type area surrounded by four walls.

Those are the highlights of New Harmony.  I confess I did no research before I came to this town, but I was mesmerized by the beautiful, natural settings.

I had a really hard time leaving this little town to go hiking because it seemed like there was a new treasure to see around every corner.  This would be a great place to go for a long weekend and just relax.  

Tell me what you think about it!

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Obvs I have neglected this blog.  I'm dusting it off and sharing information you might (or might not haha) want to know!  Coronavirus put a damper on my travels for the past year, so I bought furniture instead.  It was long overdue for replacement, but hey, who wants to spend money on boring stuff when you can travel to fun and interesting places?!

I'm going to attempt to get caught up from my last post which was, ahem, several years ago.  (Cringe)

I have begun the awesome tradition of going somewhere, usually warm, for my birthday, which is in January (email me if you want to send a gift 😏 ).  This year I decided to go to Cabo San Lucas, which is on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.  I've been looking at this destination for a few years, but plane tickets were very high.  I planned the trip back in July 2020, and low and behold, tickets were half the price! Yay!  I really thought COVID would be over by January, but that was wishful thinking.  I had a friend lined up to go with me, and we debated on whether to go because the USA implemented a required negative COVID test to get back into the country.  But hey, YOLO, right?!  It was fine, actually.  They had many COVID procedures in place, and many people thanked us for putting money into their economy.  You're welcome, my friends.  Such nice people.  I checked a few things off my bucket list on this trip:  whale watching, riding horses on the beach, camel riding, and sailing!

Anyway, Cabo was on my list because - whale watching!  Humpback and Grey Whales come south from the Alaska area to breed and give birth to their babies, and let me tell you, they did not disappoint!  Some areas of Cabo are high up from the beach, and we could see the water spouts of whales all along the coastline.  One of our first activities was whale watching. On the boat ride out to find whales we passed this famous landmark: 

This is called, simply, The Arch.  Doesn't it look like a dragon getting a drink from the ocean?  Right away we saw a humpback whale with a baby (this is the baby):

They bring them to this tip of the Baja Peninsula to build up their strength for the long swim back to their feeding grounds in Alaska.  This is a baby humpback whale in the top picture.  The whale would kind of "jump" out of the water and we could see its snout, as you can see here. The second one is the mama.  Did you know that female humpback whales can grow to 56 feet long?  Trust me, you can't see them clearly in these pictures, but what we could see was massive.  

On the same trip we also saw a gray whale, and it came within 20 feet of our boat, which was such a gift!  We could clearly see it's blowhole.  When we first found it, it did this:

It's as though it was as curious of us as we were of it.  It stayed just like this for about 2 minutes.  Finally, it swam towards our boat:  

We were required by law to stay a certain distance away from the whales, but we could just stay in one spot if they approached us, which this gray whale did.  We could clearly see the barnacles attached to it.

We had a great time horseback riding, and the ride lasted about 1 1/2 hours, which was great.  I had horses growing up, so I was very familiar with riding them.  It's just like getting back into the saddle.  Literally.  LOL.  We saw lots of wildlife, including some birds I had never seen before.  There was a lady taking our pictures as we rode, but sadly she didn't get pictures of those.  We passed a mini farm that had lots of goats, and some of them were near the road watching us as we road by: 

 

On the way back from the beach we could hear goats in the distance, and I called out "BAAAA".  It sounded like the entire herd answered me back haha.  Our guide had a good chuckle over that one.

The beaches in Cabo were beautiful, but dangerous riptides abound, so there were actually very few places along the beach that were safe to get into the water.  Here we are riding along the countryside and the beach:

On another day we rode ATVs.  I let Dawn drive because she's the daredevil and I'm not.  Let's just say I'm glad I survived.  She's crazy!  We did see a wild donkey, though, so that was cool.  Here's a picture of one (this is a stock photo - we weren't allowed to take our phones/cameras with us):

We went on a sunset sailing cruise the night before we left, and it was amazing!  I would love to sail again, maybe out in more open water, but this was good for a first experience.  They told us before we left the marina not to lean against the sails, but to hold on to the railing as we walked.  Then here when they wanted to take our picture (where we are standing up), I couldn't hold onto the rail because of the sail, and they said "Just lean on the sail"!  Um, hard no on that one.

As I mentioned before, the people were very nice.  I've been to Mexico several times, so this wasn't a surprise at all.  We stayed at the Marina Fiesta Resort right on the huge marina, which was surrounded by shops and restaurants.  We went to one particular restaurant several times called Alexander's.  The wait staff was very entertaining.  It got pretty cold at night, and much of the seating was outside, and they provided lap blankets for the patrons, plus free hugs to keep you warm!  This was a nice touch.  The food here was amazing!  The last night we ate here they asked us if we would like to meet the chef and tour the kitchen.  Yes, please!  Here are some of my favorite pictures of our dining here:

Did I say we road camels?!  Who knew they had camels in Mexico?  Not me, but darn if I wasn't going to ride one.  I didn't buy any of the pictures of us riding them (this was the same trip as the ATV death ride, I mean, fun ride).  But I did get a pic with this "little" baby:

You can see the ocean behind us, and it was very windy that day.  While I was standing here waiting for them to take the picture I felt water sprinkling on the backs of my legs.  I remember thinking at first that we were too far from the beach for it to be the spray off the ocean.  Then it hit me.  I looked behind me, and that little bugger was peeing and the wind was blowing it on the backs of my legs.  Ew. Ew. Ew.  He was sweet though, so I forgave him.

For my birthday I wanted a break from Mexican food and decided to get a burger.  The restaurant gave me this cake for my birthday, too.  It was delicious!

Here are some random pictures around the marina.  We saw lots of pufferfish, which I had never seen in person before.  Sorry for the poor picture quality of the fish, but I wasn't in the water with a waterproof camera.  The locals called the penguins Mexican chickens!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about this trip!  I had so much fun, and I would definitely go back here.  Let me know in the comments if you have been to Cabo San Lucas, and what your favorite memory is!