On our way out of town to Spring Mill, we stopped at Sullivan's Hardware to experience their annual Turkey Fest. We donated a bag of clothing to Goodwill there and in return received a cool Sullivan's hat (which you can see Jesse wearing in the photos) and a reusable shopping bag. We sampled trashcan turkey...mmmm... and ate free Tagalong Blizzards. We also got to see Dr. Dirt! On display were 15 various ways of cooking a turkey as well as many other types of Thanksgiving fare. We recommend Turkey Fest completely.
After a pre-11:00 a.m. McDs stop (breakfast for Jesse) and a post-11:00 a.m. McDs stop (lunch for Abby), we arrived in Mitchell, IN at Spring Mill State Park. We got in for free by whoopin' out our 2010 annual pass!!! We snapped a quick photo at the entrance and then took a quick look at the camp store and BMX track. Both were relatively closed but seemed cool. We did a brief tour of the camp ground and its luxuriously heat-free restrooms. Jesse and Cooper found a cave in the nearby woods while Abby enjoyed the facilities.
After loading up the backpack and Cooper's pack, we started on our hike. We started on Trail 3 near the Inn and almost immediately found a sink hole cave. We realized right away that we had no flashlight, which is a grave mistake for this park. The caves are its best feature by far and flashlights are a must. Jesse squirreled his way into the sink hole cave and explored it as best he could with no light. We then headed on down the trail over the top of Donaldson Cave, and met Bronson Cave. We tried to go into it, but once again were met with some defeat because of our lack of light. Nevertheless, it was awesome. The photo of Bronson Cave is from the inside looking out and you will see an observation deck. Trail 3 is listed as rugged but we found its 2.5 miles to be moderate. On down the trail, we came up Twin Caves. Twin Caves features a boat tour during summer months! It will cost you $3 from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We will go back and do it. It was at this point that we first saw some signs warning visitors to stay out of the caves because the DNR is trying to keep the park's bat population from contracting White Nose Syndrome, which is killing bats in the East and Northeast. The Twin Caves boat tour is still operating despite the risks of the disease, so we went down and checked them out. They are huge and a sizable stream flows through them. See the photo of Jesse and Cooper walking in the waiting area for the boat tour.
On down Trail 3 just east of Twin Caves we found the enormity of the trees to be overwhelming. The entire trail is surrounded by sink holes and we saw many more potential cave entrances. Jesse made an effort to check out many of them. We didn't see many people this day as it's later in the season. The weather, though, was perfect, at about 70 degrees and sunny. We wore shorts and T shirts. Crazy for late November in Indiana! We also saw a beech tree carved with the initials of a couple and then dates they had hiked the trail, starting in the late 70s and continuing for 30 years to this year. Carving trees is stupid but this was cool.
Upon finishing Trail 3 loop, we hooked up to Trail 4 and headed down the canyon to the gaping mouth of Donaldson Cave. Inside, we didn't find chocolates as Jesse had hoped, but we did find super cool rock formations and the sound of a huge waterfall deep inside the cave. Jesse climbed around a little to read the sign from the 20s when an IU professor was studying the blind cave fish that live inside. Cooper was not happy when Jesse climbed out of her sight, as she could no longer do her job of keeping an eye on us both. She cried the entire time he was out of sight and shunned him upon his return. We hiked out and were planning to complete the loop of Trail 4 through the Pioneer Village, until our plans were derailed by a sign stating that no pets are allowed any further, because pets are not allowed in the village. See photo.
Instead of disobeying the sign like the bad kids we are, we decided to turn around. The park was hosting a period Thanksgiving dinner in one of the pioneer buildings and we didn't want to piss of the DNR. We retraced our steps down Trail 4 to Trail 1 and looped back up to the Inn and our trusty Explorer. We dropped of Cooper and the walked to the pioneer village to see the sights. The village contains any original 1800s buildings, including a mill, tavern, distillery, apothecary, school, and homes. The mill is powered by water that pours from the mouth of Hamer Cave, where it harnessed with a dam and funneled into the flume, which turns the huge wheel of the mill. We followed the flume back to its origin at the mouth of the cave and found the water to be eerily blue and of course 54 degrees, the constant temperature of all caves. A concrete company still pumps water from here and uses it for aggregates. The mill can operate year-long due to the water from the cave which never freezes because of its constant temperature. We found a couple more caves after following small streams that flowed through the village.
We hiked out and headed back to the Inn, where Abby had a close encounter with a bear. See the photo. We sat down to another delicious buffet dinner, which included fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn bread, white fish, roast beef, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and the ever-present sweet tea. Conspicuously missing were the fried biscuits and apple butter. Abby was wildly disappointed. The food was good but just didn't quite measure up to previous Inn meals. We checked out the Inn and found a nice game room, an indoor-outdoor pool, and a gift shop with no patches but other good plastic junk. We saw a 1954 map on the wall and were surprised to find the park virtually unchanged from them except for the location of the camp ground and addition of the BMX track.
We found Spring Mill to be among the best we have so far visited, partially because neither one of us had ever been there and we were surprised by the enormity of the caves. We had no preconceived notions so it was all brand new and good. We are planning to return as soon as the ban on spelunking is lifted, with plenty of equipment, so we can thoroughly explore the caves.
Sullivan's Hardware
6955 N. Keystone Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46220
317.255.9230
www.sullivanhardware.com
Spring Mill State Park
3333 State Road 60 East
Mitchell, IN 47446
812.849.4129
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