At the beach with the pups!

Well, over the weekend we decided to head back to the dunes... Our original plan was to go to Shenandoah National Park, but because of the prescribed burn we had to delay our trip :(

No biggie, disappointing though it was.
Anyway, here's some fun pictures of the pups playing at the beach.

Back story -  Matzah (Golden Retriever) has been afraid of water since my aunt and uncle got her... she's 7 years old now and I think she's finally gotten over it - you'll see in the pictures.

Lake Michigan as seen from Trail 9

The PERFECT shot! lol

Matzah (Golden) and Rella (Mastiff & Pit Bull mix)

OK... fun times start now-

Rella: "C'mon Matzah... let's just go NEAR the water... "
Matzah: "Oh... okay, but just near it though"

Matzah: "Nooooo!!!! you lying bitch!!!"
Rella: "Well, I didn't say what I'd do when we got there! Now come on!"

Rella: "I don't know what the big deal is... what are you? A scaredy CAT!?"

Rella: "Look! Chris even threw in a stick to play with!"
Matzah: "Oh boy a stick!"

Rella: "See... just walk in and grab it"
Matzah: "I dooon't knooowww"

Rella: "Here... I'll bring it to you"

Rella: "What's wrong with this guy Matzah? He keeps taking pictures... anyway, I got the stick"
Matzah: "???"

Rella: "See... this ain't so bad"
Matzah: "Nope, it's pretty OK actually"

Rella: "Now Gooo! farther!"
Matzah: "Son of a!!!! Hell no!"

Rella: "Well... you're already out there, might as well get the stick."
Matzah: ":/ fine..."

Matzah: "Got me a stick!!! Let's try again!"

Matzah: "I need to bring this back n dry off"

Rella: "MATZAH!!! I SAW YOU GET IT! GOOD JOB!!! HUUUUGGGSSS!!!"

We had such a good time at the beach on Sunday, spent a good two or three hours playing fetch with those two. Then headed back onto the trail back to the Nature Center. Here's a few more pictures from the end of the day.

Matzah is actually going out further this time. So glad she's finally over her fear of water :)

I don't know if Rella is actually swimming or if those massive ears are acting like sails! LOL

Rella's thinking "WTF are THOSE!?"

Just a tree... not sure what, but it's coniferous.

Too freakin' cute!

They never wander too far ahead and always wait till they see me again before they start going.

Pretty much the end of the day, only about another mile before we get to the car.

We really love going to the dunes... miles and miles of trails and it's always an amazing trip. I did get a season parking pass too, it's already paid for itself twice over.

Night Hiking on Halloween

All Hallows Eve... what to do? what to do? Take a hike! That's what! It was about 7:00 PM, nothin to do, didn't get my weekend hike in because of errands, and getting everything at home ready for winter to set in, you know the gist... Hoses to be brought in, outdoor spigots to be wrapped and insulated, garden to be plucked clean and tilled a bit, all THAT fun stuff.

Anyway, Indiana Dunes State Park beckoned to us, there was a huge moon out and the nights haven't become unbearably cold yet. Off we went, grabbed the usuals, water, snacks, cell phone and the new external battery packs I bought from Amazon.com, which I mentioned in the Gadgets Post.
When we arrived, I immediately tortured Rella by putting a costume on her, One picture and it was time for a wardrobe change - Doggy Sweater and Doggy Hiking Pack.

 We set off into the woods, the moon lighting our way (along with a small flashlight). I was a beautiful night, owls hooting, breeze slightly blowing through the trees, it was all very peaceful and quite serene.
We walked for several miles on trail 10 which is a fairly level and easy loop trail. It takes us past huge prairies and even has a few lookout stands, they're about 10 - 15 feet tall. Each stand has a placard of the area you are seeing, listing species of animals you might see running across the fields or rummaging through the woods. I was not thrilled when I saw Coyote on that list... let's just say I was quite paranoid the rest of the night.

As we walked through a particular stand of trees, the wind was blowing  just hard enough to cause several trees to emit a very eerie creaking sound... cue increased heart rate. Rella didn't seem to mind the noise nor did she seem very nervous about it, still I quickened our pace... I do not believe in ghosts or goblins however, that didn't help me out one iota of a bit. In moments of panic my first line of defense is comedy... cue up "Blair Witch Project" spoof.

 Of course right after THAT nugget of entertainment was over, mother nature decided to have a bit of fun too and sent an ambassador of the woods careening through the woods at breakneck speeds, making noise equivocal to anything you'd expect in a Hollywood horror movie. I froze and immediately my imagination got the better of me and my rampant thoughts(Obvious Swearing Omitted) included but are not limited to: "Ho-ly ___ Coyote! Coyotes comin' to eat me!", "No, It's a bear... It's a FRICKIN' BEAR comin' to eat me!", "Wait... are there mountain lions in this area!?", "Are you supposed to run or stay your ground? Running sounds good! (takes a step) No! don't! I think that they chase you because you're showing fear. I don't know!! (looks at dog) Why's she so calm!?" The noises drew nearer and I was ready to kiss my ___ goodbye. Just then a Ginormous DEER came running out of the woods crossing over the trail almost directly in front of me. Stopped... looked (I swear it was laughing) and ran off. I gotta admit, I Eventually had a good laugh after.

I love The Dunes, I seriously do. If you're in the Northwest Indiana area, I highly recommend experiencing The Dunes! Here's a link to my Yelp! Review, if you're so inclined to read it.

Happy Hiking!
-Chris

Indiana Dunes - Trail #8

Welcome to Jurassic... um, I mean Indiana Dunes State Park.

Hiking is so much funnier with family...

It all started pretty typically, me saying I'd be there at 11am., showing up at 11:15. Forcibly waking my cousin Elana and dragging her outta bed, plans were made, I didn't just show up and sentence her to a day of hiking for no reason LoL. After all that fun I began packing up the dog treats, water, some snacks for us - you know the drill. After the dogs get loaded up and we head out a request for some fast food is made 'n we hit up Mickey Dee's on the way. The Dunes aren't very far from us, maybe 30 or 45 minutes with decent traffic flowing.

On our way into the park.

We eat most of our daily recommended caloric intake on the 30 something minute drive there. Talked about the trails we may be using today and how often we've all hiked, and which trails we'd like to do in the future. I talked about my desire to hike the 105 mile long Shenandoah Valley, 101 miles of of which are part of the Appalachian Trail, my cousin Lorraine told me is scheduled to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in January. FYI Kilimanjaro is 19,340 feet tall 

As we arrive at The Dunes we're greeted by an abundance of colors as we drive through the access roads to the parking for trails 7 thru 10. It seems as if we are at that PERFECT time of year when the chances of seeing every color in existence in one hiking trip is very high.
We parked and started getting ready to head out onto the trail. I put the pack on Rella and connected her and Matzah's collars with one of those double dog walking things from PetSmart. My cousins  got their sweaters on as I got my camelbak on and double checked that we had snacks, ID's water etc. After we double checked everything, we're ready to hit it.

You can see Lake Michigan in the background.

I decided on Trail 8 for no particular reason other than the fact that I haven't gone on it yet. It started with a few steep inclines, some of which felt like walking up a wall. The dogs had NO problem getting up, must be nice having 4 legs, the rest of us two legged folk were having a helluva time. The first peak was "Mount" Jackson, and it was probably the tougher of the climbs. For every three steps forward we'd slide at least one step back - damn sand... that's all I gotta say. Eventually we did make it, and I gotta say the view from the top was well worth the effort. Looking to the North we could see Lake Michigan, to the South was the rest of the park with its trees and prairies going on for miles.

176 feet up on "Mount" Jackson looking South

Rest over with, we kept on moving along the trail. "Well it can't get much higher than this, it's probably all downhill from here" boy was I mistaken... We walked down a nice gentle slope, looking at the changing colors of the trees, snapping pictures of everything. And just  when we thought it was all good and that it'll be easy going Mount Holden (The second tallest sand dune in the State) beckoned us... rising up past some trees and brush. A hem, "Bartender, can we get another round of Deep Breaths, Sighs and Groans please?" Up we went...
Once we reached the 184 foot peak we were beat, we sat and watched the waves of Lake Michigan crashing on the beach below. Somehow the dogs were still rearing to go, I don't know how... perhaps it's because dogs have a vast and untapped energy reserve big enough to rival the nearby Nuclear Power Plant. At this point, I do not, neither did my other two legged companions. After our brief rest we decided to go down to the beach, It seemed close enough... of course, I was mistaken.









As we begin walking (Sliding) down  the dune ONE of us - not saying who... decides to blow chunks all over the sand. It made quite the nice little river of spew... There IS  a video though and it is hilarious! mid stream LoL! After this mornings chewed up McDonald's was left on the dune we did make it to the beach.

Looking West we see Chicago in the distance, it seemed so small.
Hard to imagine that just about 100 years ago you wouldn't have seen anything but water

We walked the beach for a while, talking and just relaxing and taking it all in as the dogs were playing in the waves. After a stroll down the beach we did end up going back, obligations called all of us. Back up Mt. Holden, down, then back up Mt. Jackson and finally back down the trail to the car. Off came the shoes, out came a pound of sand, and back home we went. I hope we can all get together again soon, aside from the puke it was a great day. Hell I think that made our day!

 Links to my reviews of this trail:
Yelp
All Trails

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