Ft. Ben Redux 1.10.2010

After having a good amount of snow on the ground, we decided to go back to Ft. Ben to hit the sledding hill. We took Jesse's cousin William and arrived at the park around 10:00 on this Sunday morning. The hill was not crowded, but there were a few people there. The sledding hill is a former ammunitions range from the park's military days. It was very icy on this day because the snow was packed down so much from many days of sledding. We sledded for a couple hours and stayed fairly warm. Abby busted her already sore from tobogganing (Pokagon) tail bone and sat out a few runs to take pictures. So, all the pictures are of the boys. Go! It's fun!

More McCormick's Creek pics

McCormick's Creek State Park 1.2.2010

This trip occured during the coldest start to a new year in Indiana since sometime in the 1970s. We had many days in a row of single-digit highs. This day the high was around 15 or so, but we braved the cold and headed to McCormick's Creek anyway. Our first stop, prior to the park, was at nearby Cataract State Rec Area. The falls were mostly frozen and we were able to climb in behind them on the ice floor. We also hiked up to the top of the falls but didn't get on them because it seemed quite precarious due to its frozen state. Cooper braved the cold with us and she easily tolerated being handed up small cliffs as we climbed. We drove by Camp Otto on the way in, so we came in the back way and just saw the upper falls. We left there and stopped in at the always-awesome Cataract General Store for a bottled Coke and a giant pickle from the oak barrel. We didn't pick up any fake teeth, but they were there. The General Store still offers all the same supplies of food, beer, drinks, camping gear, and antiques that is has for decades. You can also pick up some cool T shirts as souveniers. Abby won one in the Linville family gift exchange of '08 and wears it proudly. (Thanks Shari!) We just had the pickle and Coke so we could eat at the inn later.

A short drive away was McCormick's Creek. It was the first Indiana state park created. We entered with a flash of our annual pass card and found the park to be nearly empty. We counted 12 cars in the entire park. Few people seemed interested in freezing their tails off on this day. We bundled up again and hit Trail 3. It loops through the falls and along the creek, both of which were partially frozen. Some parts of the creek remain unfrozen all year because they are fed by underground caves and springs. We hiked along 3 and into 10, which also closely followed the creek, but also snaked back and forth across. We successfully crossed the creek once by walking across a narrow fallen tree. Jesse had to carry Cooper. But, as we progressed toward the abandoned quarry, we found the creek impassable due to the weather. The water was high and there was ice on all the rocks. If you got wet, you would immediately freeze. Jesse's efforts to build a quick bridge ended up getting him a frozen pant leg. Sadly, we had to turn around, cross the fallen tree, and head back to warmer quarters. It was also nearly dark by this time, at 4:30. Darn you daylight saving time! We did hike for a solid two hours, but we just didn't get very far.

We also wanted to visit Wolf Cave, which we have done before, but it was closed, like the caves at Spring Mill, due to the fear of White Nose Syndrome. We have heard that the ban may be lifted in February. Cold and frozen-legged, we went to the inn for dinner. Cooper ate dinner and rested in the car with some blankets. We were a few minutes early, so we sat by the fire and read the paper for a few minutes. We also were let into the closed gift shop by the friendly desk lady and bought some patches. At five, when grandma dinner time starts, we hit the buffet. There were only two other tables occupied on this Saturday evening and we were put in a corner, next to windows, so we had a quiet, relaxing meal. The other people left quickly and we ended up being the only diners there for the rest of the time. It would have been perfect and very nearly romantic had it not been for the terrible, Kenny-G-like muzak they played at an annoying level. The buffet was good and they did have some delicious sweet tea. We ate for a long time and it was nice. Dessert and coffee prepared us for the dark ride home up SR 67.

On the way out, we checked out the family cabins, none of which were occupied. They looked great, and we may stay sometime in warmer weather.

Cataract Falls

Lieber State Rec Area

1317 W. Lieber Rd. Suite A

Cloverdale, IN 46120

Cataract General Store

2799 S. Cataract Rd.

Spencer, IN 47460

765.795.4782

McCormick's Creek State Park

250 McCormick's Creek Park Road

Spencer, IN 47460

More Pokagon pics

Pokagon State Park 12.30.2009

Our trip to Pokagon began with a stop in Frankton to drop off Cooper with Jesse's parents, since dogs are not allowed in state park inns. For this journey, Noah and Holly joined in the fun. We rode four-deep in our new state park cruiser, which performed admirably. Once we were near Ft. Wayne, we decided to stop for lunch. After a ridiculous amount of time spent consulting an iPhone map which directed us to numerous closed restaurants, we stumbled into Cebolla's Mexican Grill. We enjoyed some delicious Mexican food, and while eating, realized that this restaurant is owned by the family of one of Abby's favorite students! What a coincidence! Recharged with salsa and tacos, we made the rest of the journey to Angola, home of Pokagon.

Pokagon is located on a peninsula in Lake James, which is a large, natural lake with many boats and homes. We found the park and its Potawatomi Inn to be quite busy because of its indoor pool and bitchin' toboggan run. The toboggan run is a man-made, 1/4-mile long, refrigerated tracked sledding hill, with top speeds of 42 mph. You ride a long, wooden toboggan and it takes about 30 seconds from top to bottom. Toboggans are rented by the hour, and they fit you and up to three of your closest friends. We found it to be terrifying and awesome. The wait can be quite long, up to two hours, but we rode in the evening hours, around 8:00 and waited close to 15 minutes each time. After your ride, you do have to drag the sled back up the hill and some stairs, so take someone who is strong, like Jesse. Some people are big fat cheaters and have a chauffeur drive their sleds back up to the top for them. Lame. Our own sled made it to 35 mph on the south track, which was quite fast compared to the others we saw.

We started our day at Pokagon by checking into the inn. We stayed in a second floor room with two queen beds. The room was fairly nice, and the bathroom was spacious. The view of the courtyard was limited. However, directly across the hall was an outdoor covered porch which offered a very nice view of Lake James and audible screams of terror and joy from the toboggan run. Our only complaint in regard to the room was its close proximity to the elevator. Starting at about 7:00 a.m. its constant dings drove us to the brink of jumping from the porch.

After checking in, we wintered up into our hiking attire and made a quick trip around trail 3 in the Potawatomi Nature Preserve. From this trail you can also check out the small Lake Lonidaw on which we saw a guy ice fishing. The hike took us through Hell's Point, the highest elevation in the park. On this trail we encountered some deer, the first time on our entire tour. Some of the swampy areas were frozen into mini-lakes and we skated around some on those. After our frosty hike, we headed back to the inn for dinner.

The inn's dining room featured a slightly different menu than the other inns we have visited, due to its northern location. The menu featured several fish dishes, whereas the others have offered more southern-type fare. Noticeably missing and missed was sweet tea and fried biscuits with apple butter. They also did not offer desserts on the buffet as all other inns have. This was somewhat disappointing, but the food was nonetheless good. After dinner, we bundled back up for a night on the toboggan run.

After our tobogganation, we looked forward to a trip to the hot tub and pool. After a quick stop in the room for costume changes and drinks, we proceeded down the hall and were intercepted by and inn employee, who, noting our swim suits, informed us the pool had closed an hour early. He would not admit a reason, but we were sure it was due to a floater, Caddy Shack style! At that point, we resigned ourselves to stay in the room with drinks, Scrabble, and euchre. Jesse won all. Later that evening, after a fair amount of libations, we made an incredible discovery: The vending machine on the second floor mistakenly sells Famous Amos cookies for, get this, 10 cents. You read it right... 10 cents. Mmm... Labeled at $1.50, they spiral out at 10 cents. Amazing. Jesse and Noah tried to tell some 6th grade girls in the hallway about it, but were thought to be creepy and were hence ignored.

The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast in the dining room. Normal breakfast fare was offered. We loaded up on coffee, pancakes, sausage, biscuits, and bacon, and then loaded up the cruiser and headed out for a final hike. We took trail 1, starting down the hill from the inn on the semi-frozen shores of Lake James, and walked it through the southwestern border of the park. We saw the Apple Orchard and passed the Nature Center. Along the 2-mile hike, we encountered many cross-country skiers, many of whom seemed to fall down a lot. The park does offer ski rental and several trails, but it looked painful to us. After our final hike, we jumped in the cruiser and headed back south. We discussed returning to the park in summer sometime to enjoy its lake, when you can rent canoes and boats.

Cebolla's Mexican Grill
236 Fernhill Ave.
Ft. Wayne, IN 46805
260.484.8423

Pokagon State Park and Potawatomi Inn
450 Lane 100 Lake James
Angola, IN 46703

Mounds State Park 12.20.2009

For our seventh state park, we had our first guest hiker. Jesse's sister, Amy, joined us, since she was visiting from Denver for the holidays. If anyone wants to do the same, let us know. We would be happy for some company. We made this trip on the way to Jesse's parents' house for a giant Linville Christmas get-together. It was nice to spend a couple hours outside prior to being stuffed inside the house all afternoon. The day was sunny and about 35 degrees, but the ground was fairly well covered with snow, which was a fun contrast to our last trip, when we wore shorts!

We entered the park for free, since the gate was unmanned for the winter. That's a bonus! We did a quick driving tour of the park and its campground. There were a few joggers and a couple other hikers around. We parked down by the river. (Unfortunately, we were not in a van!) The three of us plus a backpacked Cooper headed out on trail 6 and checked out most of the park by hooking up with trails 4, 5, 2, and 1. Highlights included: seeing a kayak-er on the river on this chilly day, trail 1 with its tree tour, seeing tiny snowmen all around the park that had been built either by visitors before us or some gnomes (there is a great episode of Across Indiana about the pygmy people of Mounds Park), and the mounds, of course. The mounds are sort of mysterious, because the Indians that built them are mostly unknown. There is no written history of them, so everything that is known is just from artifacts. The mounds were used for ceremonies, not usually burials, as some have speculated. They also line up to lunar cycles somehow. They were, of course, dug by hand (no Bobcats available then!) and that is something in itself because the Great Mound is sizable.

We also visited the park's nature center, which is super nice. It features real bathrooms all year and cool exhibits with real animals. There is also comfortable furniture on its porch to enjoy while your lady friend is in the bathroom. The back room of the nature center offers a bird-viewing room, which is also neat. We learned inside the nature center that there used to be a roller-coaster in the park that went out over the river! It was washed away in a flood. We also learned about the Bronnenburg family, who once lived on the property in a house that is still there. They cared for the mounds and didn't allow people to mess with them or steal artifacts. It was their family that helped the land become a state park. Also, the park is fairly small, but it does have a pool and several nice shelter houses for parties. Trail 5 follows the river for several miles and it has great views. Overall, we liked it and it was fun to have Amy with us.

Mounds State Park
4306 Mounds Road
Anderson, IN 46017

Few more Spring Mill pics