Making Hay While the Sun Shines

Warmer temps and brighter skies have invited us out with more frequency the last couple weeks. The hikes continue to be, and I expect will be for a while, slow going as the trails are only getting muddier. With a feeling of great accomplishment G & I are adding many new layers of mud to our already MuddyBoots. In the past I avoided heading to the woods when I expected there would be mud making the trails slippery, but this year by forging forward we are seeing great things that are unique to winter and early spring hiking! More about that below.

On Sunday we explored the Flowing Well Park in Carmel. It’s now a small 15-acre park located off 116th street. The artesian well itself was accidentally discovered by a driller looking for natural gas in 1904. I recall driving past the well and parking lot as a child, but we didn’t stop to collect water, so it’s only been a roadside interest to me. Only recently did I realize that the area had been developed and now there is a trail along Cool Creek to enjoy adjoining to the flowing well area, so I added it to my places to visit; Check. The area calls out for creek stomping, but with the water still being so cold instead we had a skipping stone competition. C. looked for the best flat rocks, and found many interesting ones, but she couldn’t beat her dad at skipping any of them.

Our big hike of the week was at Fort Harrison State Park (having grown up in the area it will always be Ft. Ben to me). It’s a short drive from home, located on the northeast side of Indianapolis. While reading the trails map guide, I notice a funny coincidence, this property was purchased in 1904 for “military purposes” (same year I noted above that the well was discovered). In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated Fort Benjamin Harrison in honor of the 23rd president and Indianapolis resident. In my youth the only thing I recall we could do around the Fort was to go out there and enjoy the 4th of July fireworks. It is a pleasure to enjoy the area as a State Park now.

Our first spring hike did not disappoint at Ft. Harrison. Animals have been absent from all our hikes until today; there was a sense that they are as excited about these warm temps as I am! As we prepared at the car to take off up the trail we couldn’t miss the call of the Sand Cranes migrating overhead. A welcome sight to watch birds migrating north, a sign that more spring like weather will soon follow. Within the woods we were being watched by a group of 6 deer. They appeared to be as interested in us as we were of them, but they seem to be comfortable with people because other than keeping an eye on us they didn’t flee. We came upon them twice as our trail circled around their home area. As well, squirrels and birds were busy scavenging around the trees.

We picked a new trail to us to explore, the Lawrence Creek Trail. It circles around the Lawrence Creek Nature Preserve with lots of switchbacks as it ascends the hill which makes the climbing not so difficult, but it is a pretty wet area and there were times the mud was so deep that it grabbed my boot and if not tied around my ankle likely would’ve gotten pulled off. Muddiest hike so far! Thankfully there was a puddle and some leftover snow piles we were able to use to remove most of the mud before returning to the car. What a mess. The trail conditions slowed our progression so on this day we only covered half the trail…we will return, it was so much fun!

Midweek we made our first visit of the year to one of our favorite area parks, Eagle Creek, located on the west side of Indy. It has 1400 acres of water and 3900 acres of land. After purchasing our annual pass I noticed it had a retro theme and later learned that this is the park’s 50th anniversary. In 1972 the park was dedicated by Mayor Richard Lugar and was the fourth largest municipal park in the nation. It has more of a State Park feel than of a city park. There are miles of trails, a swimming beach, a marina, a nature center, and my favorite area (which was the original nature center) the Bird Sanctuary & Ornithology Center. On this visit we choose a trail we rarely take but still made a fortuitous stop by the Ornithology Center. There is an observation deck and to our delight we spotted a rookery of White Pelicans who are apparently regular guests in March (a fellow hiker/birder told us they are early this year) at the Bird Sanctuary area. Having never seen a White Pelican, I didn’t know what I had spotted through my monocular and in explaining to G. what I was seeing as I passed the monocular to him, an experienced birder shared that they were White Pelicans. I thought it looked like a pelican, but I never imagined seeing one in Indiana. Matter of fact, later when I pulled up a map showing their migration path Indiana isn’t included so what a special treat. Our return trip to the car brought us closer to them. They are social birds, creating large colonies, that this day were mostly resting on a small island in the sanctuary area but a small group swam near to us to give us a nice view of them. While looking up information about these huge birds (they can have a 9 ft. wingspan) I learned that instead of diving for fish individually, they fish cooperatively. While several herd fish, others scoop them up. These hiking experiences are certainly giving me lots of new things to learn about.

The Lenten Journey ~

While hiking on Sunday I spied these green sprouts pushing up through the dead leaves. I snapped a picture feeling like it showed the promise of the arriving spring season. As Ash Wednesday grew closer and I was reflecting on the importance of this Lenten season, this image kept coming to mind but instead of the green sprouts my mind kept thinking of the dead leaf and the process of the tree letting go of the leaf, eventually allowing for new growth to grow. Lent can be like that for me. The Lenten journey encourages a pause in ordinary life to evaluate the path I’m on…is it bringing me closer to God? What do I need to let go of to allow new growth in my life?

‘Til next time.