Creating Memories With Family

Two firsts in the same outing; we did our first out-of-town meet up with family for a hike and we had our first pet join us! We enjoyed the record-breaking warm day at Lake Mississinewa located in north central Indiana with several members of another Slack family group, G’s brother H., our sister-in-law S., and their daughter K., with her son A. On this day we headed to Miami State Recreation Area which is situated on the north west side of the lake, which is actually the dammed up Mississinewa River before making its way to the Wabash River. I realized that this part of Indiana is an unexplored area for me. I had never been to this lake, and for that matter I don’t ever recall hearing of it. During our early camping and exploring years we generally headed south and west of Indy where Indiana’s terrain gets rugged, unlike the flat, albeit beautiful, farm fields of northern Indiana. Another benefit of this hiking/blog project, as well as rediscovering familiar natural treasures is I’m finding new (for me) Indiana places to explore. More about the area below, but first our hike.

We easily connected with the Slacks at the trail and fishing pond parking area. Even more Slax to get muddy today. We chose the Moswa Trail to create memories on. It’s a loop trail that follows Troyer’s Creek, and meanders through the woods that includes a spur that leads to a smaller pond. Once arriving to the south side of the pond we found ourselves at a tee off area for a disc golf “hole.” To our amusement the disc basket was spotted across the pond! We’ve played plenty of disc golf to know where our disc would land if we were to try and aim for the basket….smack dab in the pond. We all agreed that was an overly ambitious disc golf tee design. In addition the pond is surrounded by trees that would serve to ricochet the disc into the water if it went to the left or right. Someone could start a nice side business selling used discs if they dove down in the pond and retrieved the errant discs.

The hike was pleasant, only encountering a few trail hazards. We encountered some deep standing water that we could maneuver around with a little effort and discovered half of the viaduct had washed out so we had to improvise to cross the small creek. An added challenge to hiking before the season really gets started and the park’s crew begin to maintain trails. But in addition to adding interest to the hike it creates memories. H. is a woodworker and pointed out various tree species. Personally, I can only identify a hand full of trees, even fewer without the benefit of having leaves present so that was an interesting element to add to a woods hike. I am usually looking through the tree branches trying to spot birds.

The Mississinewa Lake is a 3,210 acre reservoir created by damming the Mississinewa River upstream from the Wabash River. The Dam was built by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to reduce flooding in the upper Wabash Basin and other downstream rivers. It is estimated that it has saved $305 million in flood damages, far exceeding its cost to build, $24.4 million. Construction of the dam began 60 years ago in 1962 and it became operational in 1967. There are 4 recreation areas, Miami State Rec. Area and Frances Slocum State Rec. Area, being the two most visited in this 9,000+ acre wildlife area that stretches through three Indiana counties: Wabash, Miami and Grant. We took a detour on our way to visit at H. & S.’s house to cross the dam. I was surprised at its height and how far I could see into the distant while crossing above the dam.

Our next hike took us to Cool Creek Park, a park we discovered during the pandemic when just about all we could do was be outside and enjoy nature. It is located on the Westfield/Carmel boarders, just to the east of US 31. It is a beautiful 90-acre park that packs a lot into a small space. There are playground areas, a nature center, picnic shelters, a music pavilion and what draws us, 4 miles of wooded trails. Cool Creek winds itself through the park, with several porch swing structures scattered along the trail that make a nice place to stop and take in the sounds of the creek and nature views. We like this park especially when we are looking for a close and quick hiking spot, but despite its convenience in location to home it still feels like we are getting away to the woods.

‘Til next time.