Sunday, November 1, 2015
Fortunately we had a sunny day after yesterday's rain. Returning home to Ohio from the event in the Chicago area, we stopped at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Coming from the west, our first stop was the West Beach, where we hiked the Dune Succession Trail.
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Kent is heading for the steps up the dune |
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Looking back down the stairs |
We saw the dune succession backwards, starting with the mature oak forests that cover the older dunes. Next would be pines and birch trees.
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View from the top of a forested dune towards Lake Michigan |
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Juniper shrubs at the next lower level |
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Down the stairs on the other side |
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Half moon over birches and pines |
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Ammophila breviligulata/Marram or Beach Grass in the fore-dunes |
We didn't see the moss and lichen level, nor did we see the bacteria at the bare sand level!
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West Beach on Lake Michigan, looking towards Chicago |
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Very little beach debris |
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Expanse of West Beach |
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Sand dune patterns |
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Wetland in sand dune depressions (KSS) |
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Dunes rise to almost 200 feet |
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Limited walking areas |
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Someone's auto sticker |
We missed the turnoff for Bailly's Homestead, as the signs were only for people heading west.
Stopped at the Visitors Center to have our National Parks Passport stamped.
Next to the 1933 Century of Progress Homes, houses that were built for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, featuring innovative building materials, modern home appliances, and new construction techniques. They were moved to this location in 1935 and are leased by private citizens.
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Wieboldt-Rostone House was clad in the experimental material called Rostone, composed of shale, limestone, and alkali; after 70 years it had deteriorated so much that it was covered with another synthetic material, a concrete stucco called Perma-stone |
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Armco-Ferro House was made with corrugated steel materials clad with enameled steel panels, later inspiring the prefabricated houses by the Lustron Corporation |
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House of Tomorrow, designed by Chicago architect George Fred Keck; the first floor was a garage and hangar, because it was assumed that every family in the future would have an airplane! |
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Florida Tropical House, designed by Miami architect Robert Law Weed |
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Cypress Log Cabin, designed by architect Murray D. Heatherington, to demonstrate the many uses of cypress |
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Dovecote above the window |
Time to go home.
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