Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (11/1/2015)

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.

Kent is heading for the steps up the dune

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.

View from the top of a forested dune towards Lake Michigan

Juniper shrubs at the next lower level

Down the stairs on the other side

Half moon over birches and pines

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!

West Beach on Lake Michigan, looking towards Chicago

Very little beach debris

Expanse of West Beach

Sand dune patterns

Wetland in sand dune depressions (KSS)

Dunes rise to almost 200 feet

Limited walking areas

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.

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

Armco-Ferro House was made with corrugated steel materials
clad with enameled steel panels, later inspiring the
prefabricated houses by the Lustron Corporation

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!

Florida Tropical House, designed by Miami architect Robert Law Weed

Cypress Log Cabin, designed by architect Murray D. Heatherington,
to demonstrate the many uses of cypress

Dovecote above the window

Time to go home.