Midewin Prairie

Saturday morning I had breakfast at the hotel and checked out, then drove back to Illinois.  My first stop was at the visitor center at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.  I spoke with a ranger to get an idea if and where I might see the bison.  They have a webcam on the prairie and it looked like they were in the north of the pasture, but might be difficult to see.  He suggested I hike from the Iron Bridge Trailhead.  Before I left, I looked through the scopes they had set up to see a bald eagle nest.  I could see one parent in the nest and the other on a nearby tree.  A young eagle was also in the nest; he had not yet developed white feathers on his head.  Then I made the short drive to the Iron Bridge trailhead up the road.  Right off the bat, there was a view of Iron Bridge Prairie, one of the areas being restored to natural tallgrass prairie.

It was full of golden Alexanders in waves of yellow.

I like the name of these.  I first hiked Henslow Trail to Route 53 Trail toward the overlook.  Near the northwest corner of the pasture was a huge bison bull, right next to the fence.

I stopped for a couple pictures of this magnificent beast then continued on.  The bison herd was established in 2015 to study the effects they had on prairie restoration.  I did notice a lot of birds and butterflies in this area.

The red-winged blackbirds were striking.

At the southwest bison overlook, I saw a pair of deer but they took off quickly.

The view from the overlook was nice, but I couldn't see the main bison herd.

I continued on Route 53 Trail almost back to the visitor center, but turned around when it started to sprinkle.  It never really rained, but drizzled most of the way back.  The lone bison was in the same spot so I got a couple pictures under better light.

With the herd far off, I was lucky that one chose to graze over here.

Near the start, I got on Group 63 Trail heading northeast.  There were some nice views of wildflower fields along the trail.

It's is named for a group of bunkers used to store munitions when this was a military facility.  Bunker Group 63-1 on the eastern end was open and it was nice and cool inside, as the sun had come back out.

It was interesting to see one of the bunkers up close.

I also saw some silverberry flowering near the entrance.

On the way back, I inadvertently took the spur trail back and could see several more bunkers from the trail, but don't think any were open.

Back at the start, I realized I hadn't taken the main trail back and went a short ways along the southern end of the loop.  Another bunker was open along, but I don't know the number.

I also spotted the Bison herd but they were too far away for a picture.   It was getting pretty hot out now, so I headed back to the car.

Heading west, my next stop was at Matthiessen State Park.  Although not as popular as Starved Rock, the parking here was almost full and it was very crowded.  I hiked down to the big bridge over the creek at Cascade Falls.  The bridge was very muddy so I crossed on the railing.  Going upstream, I hiked to the lake.

Then, I took the interior trail down into the Upper Dells.  Lake Falls was just upstream.

The lighting was poor, but it was really going.  But there were a lot of people here, so I didn't linger too long.  With the high water, heading downstream was mostly creek walking.  The Giant's Bathtub was another very scenic small waterfall.

The sandstone cliffs in the canyon were really beautiful; unfortunately, vandals had carved the rock.

At Cedar Point, where a small tributary flows in, the trail led back up to the top and continued around the Bluff Trail loop.

Past Matthissen Lake, I saw some late spring wildflowers.

Wild geranium and wild blue phlox were blooming.

The trail looped around and crossed the little tributary on a small stone bridge.

The loop went around and down to the Lower Dells, but the the trail to Cascade Falls was closed due to flooding.

Unfortunately, there's no way to see it from the rim.  So I headed back to the car and headed to Peru.

After checking into the La Quinta Inn, I took a dip in the pool to relax a bit and then had dinner at Jalapenos.

Indiana Waterfalls

For Memorial Day weekend, I had United miles that would expire so I flew to Chicago to get waterfalls in a couple more states.  Being United, my flight was delayed, Avis was incredibly slow in getting my rental car, and Chicago traffic was terrible.  But finally, I made it to Indiana.  My first stop was at Fall Creek Gorge Nature Preserve, near Williamsport.  A short trail led into the preserve.  Soon I came to a crossing of a tributary of Fall Creek at a little chute.

Just upstream on Fall Creek was the most narrow section of the gorge.

There were a lot of potholes in the creek here and it was really scenic.

And very out of place here in rural Indiana - the drive in had been farmland as far as the eye could see.

The trail continued a little further to a small waterfall on Fall Creek.

Although it wasn't very high, it was creek wide and scenic.

The gorge began just downstream of the waterfall.

There were some pretty wildflowers blooming here as well.

I saw some great waterleaf and wild geraniums along the creek.

After some pictures, I headed back.

My next stop was Williamsport Falls, the highest in Indiana at 90 feet, or so the sign at the parking area said.  It was right in the center of the little town of Williamsport.  The overlook was right next to the parking area, but the view from here was partly obscured by trees.

The falls were definitely flowing well.  I continued past the fence and found a place to scramble down to the base for a better view.

The lighting wasn't great but the waterfall was really nice.

Hard to believe such a big waterfall exists in such an otherwise flat area.  After some pictures, I climbed back up.

My next stop was across the Wabash River at Portland Arch Nature Preserve.  I first parked at the north parking area off Scout Camp Road.  The North Trail led from the parking area down to Portland Arch, one of the only natural arches in Indiana.

In high water, the small tributary was flowing under the arch.

Right past here were the ruins of an old dam on Bear Creek.

I saw some Virginia waterleaf blooming along the creek.

The trail lead right along base of the cliffs.

There were nice views of the canyon down here.

The trail then headed back up to loop back to the parking lot; I saw a cute raccoon as I was finishing up.  Just a short drive further was the trailhead for South Trail.  This trail led down to the bear creek and followed it around to the confluence with Rattlesnake Creek.

It was a scenic little trail through the forest.

Near the parking area, a bunch of ragwort were blooming.

That was my last hike for the day.

After finishing up, I drove to Lafayette and checked into the Hampton Inn.  The hotel and room were very nice.  Just across the street was Tapawingo Park and the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge across Wabash River.

The Wabash Heritage Trail, a national recreation trail led along the river here.  I followed this trail southbound passing the wastewater treatment plant where there was a little garter snake along the trail.

Past here were some beautiful fields of butterweed.

I had seen a couple of these fields driving in but nowhere to stop.  So this was a good opportunity to get some photos of all the yellow flowers.

The paved West Lafayette section ended shortly and I got on the unpaved Tippecanoe County portion.  Flooding on the Wabash River prevented going much further.

So I turned around and headed back.  The river was really scenic in the evening light.

A fountain was right at the base of the pedestrian bridge.

I was close to the hotel now, but wanted to find a restaurant before heading back.

I was getting really hungry by this point so went to Scotty's Brewhouse for dinner then back to the hotel.

Duke Forest Hikes

Saturday was going to be hot, but I wanted to get a hike in before it got too bad.  I headed to the Al Buehler Trail in Duke Forest.  This trail is on Duke Campus and technically not in the forest, but it's maintained by the forest.  From the parking area off NC-751, I hiked clockwise around the loop.  The trail first passed through a wetland area where stream restoration is underway.

Just off the trail was a wildlife blind, though I didn't see anything in the wetlands.

Shortly past here, the trail crossed over a dam that created a retention pond to improve water quality.

A connector trail led to a short fitness loop and then I got back on the main trail.

It makes a big loop around the golf course and eventually back to the trailhead area.  It was still pretty early so I drove north a mile or so on NC-751 and parked near Gate 3.  Hiking in on Gate 3 to Gate 7 Road, I took a short detour on Pine Thickets Forest Trail and then looped around to Gate 7.  There were some sundrops blooming along the trail in open, sunny areas.

I made a loop on the Gate 5 Road and then headed back.  Before leaving, I hiked Gate 2 to Gate 4 Road, making a detour on each of the little spurs.  It was around noon when I finished up and had really gotten hot by this point.

Alex's Birthday Hike

Saturday we Alex's 10th birthday so we had to celebrate.

First, we headed to Eno River State Park for a morning hike.  Parking at the Fews Ford access to the park, we first hiked the Cox Mountain Trail up and over its namesake and then along the river.  There were a lot of mountain laurel blooming along the river.

Then we crossed back over the suspension bridge and hiked the Buckquarter Creek Trail.  There were still lots of wildflowers blooming along the river.

Coreopsis and fire pink were adding some color to the river.

It was pretty hot and humid by the time we finished but we missed all the rain storms.

Heading back to Raleigh, we had lunch and then took Alex to Goodberry's for an ice cream cone.

Especially on a hot day, ice cream was a perfect treat to celebrate his birthday.