White River State Park - January 20, 2020

I had work in Indy so we packed up the fam and made a trip out of it.  It was MLK day and all of the State Parks and Museums were free.  We hit up the zoo (Free Dolphin Show!!) then walked across the bridge to the NCAA Hall of Fame.  And that's how I visited White River State Park.  First park trip of the year with the family. 

Chain of Lakes State Park - January 17, 2020

Chain of Lakes is the closest state park to home, but I only recently started stopping there when in the area for work.  This visit was on another cold, clear January day.  Parked atop a glacial esker, I descended the slope to run Trails 2 and 7, around Bowen Lake, along a stream, and aside Sand Lake. The cold killed my phone battery, and as I stood on a wooded ridge trying to resurrect it, I was struck by the sounds of the forest: a large woodpecker hammering a tree, the bare trees creaking in the breeze, the bird songs.  Our area is known for vast expanses of flatland, leveled by glaciers thousands of years ago, so the areas with hills, valleys, dunes, and lakes are fascinating to me.  Air pockets had formed in the ice around the edge of the lake, creating swirling patterns, which turns out to be the only thing I photographed.

Pokagon State Park - January 13, 2020

Pokagon State Park is the park I’ve been to most often.  Numerous family camping trips, including an ill-fated outing last summer that ended in a deluge sweeping through our campsite.  I wanted to try a different part of the park I’d never been to, so I started at the Acres Beechwood Nature Preserve located outside the park, which connects to Trail 8 .  My run started off with some excitement as two large, off-leash dogs came running at me barking while their owner assured me, “They’re friendly!!!”  I channeled Cesar Milan and made the dogs stop in their tracks, while the owner caught up with them.  After that episode, the run was tranquil.  The trail starts with a descent through woods, then over some shoddy boardwalks across a wetland area, before heading back up a wooded slope, and out into an open field.  From here, I experienced some of the best cross-country trails I’ve ran on in a while.  Soft groomed grass or moss-covered trails winding through the rolling hills and connecting with Pokagon.  I did Trails 8 and 7, which also had beautiful grass covered trails, rolling hills, circling a pond.  The cold gray sky, bright green snow-lined trial, and open grass fields made me think of the Scottish landscapes Robert McFarlane describes in The Old Ways, at least the closest NE Indiana has to it.   Bright green trail grass and moss – bright blue wild raspberry canes – crimson sumac berries – large owl or eagle flying away – two swans on the pond, again.

POTATO CREEK STATE PARK - JANUARY 8, 2020

After some work in South Bend, I made a stop at Potato Creek State Park for a quick run.  In the car I had been listening to David Wallace-Wells's book The Uninhabitable Earth describing the potential future impacts of climate change, so getting out in nature for a bit was what I needed. I was reminded of Wendell Berry's poem The Peace of Wild Things, which has been hanging on our refrigerator for years.  It was cold (20 degrees) and ice was forming at the edge of the lakes and creeks. I parked at the Nature Center and ventured out on Trails 1 and 2, a 3.6-mile loop in all.  The trail wound through the woods and along a lake, with several steep climbs including up Vargo Hill (elevation 885), the highest point in the park.  Great trails - cold air - two swans on the lake - two friendly hikers.  Got back in the work Corolla and continued grappling with the fate of the planet.