A Climb in the Sand

Ever since I learned how, I have always loved to drive. It's something that I'm good at, and the quiet in the car lends itself to thought. The disadvantage of that is that sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I'm thinking about that I wind up somewhere I never expected to.

Sunday afternoon I decided to go for a drive, something I haven't had a lot of time to do since moving here in June. I'm very familiar with Valparaiso and Chesterton, and I have a rough idea of how to get around Porter and Lake County, but still I don't have a ton of exploring the area under my belt.

I headed North, through Chesterton, and turned off for the Dunes National Lake shore. After another turn towards Beverly Shores, I found myself at Kemil Beach. I was going to just keep driving, but a trail winding up over the ridge caught my eye.


This time of year, the dunes are all subtle color - tinges of blue in the sand grasses, pops of dark red budding on the trees, and of course a million shades of sky and sand. It was entrancing, so I decided to hike the path.


Hiking in sand isn't easy, especially if you've been immobile most of the winter. The Kemil Beach trail is not for the weak - near the end it becomes almost vertical! I did have a nice time though, and I got some gorgeous pictures from it. If you are interested in seeing this for yourself, you can find the DNR's page for Kemil Beach here. (http://www.nps.gov/indu/planyourvisit/kemil-beach.htm)


~Kat~