Hike 1- Leonard Springs Nature Park
January 1, 2017
With the temperatures in the single digits, we wanted to keep our hike short and sweet with a familiar loop. We’ve been to this site before, but never at these temperatures! It was a whole new experience! One of the things we love most about Leonard Springs is the caves. We chose to start the loop at the “top” (which means we ended by coming up several flights of stairs), where there is a small cave opening. The warm air escaping from the cave formed icicles on the surrounding trees, shrubs, and inside the mouth. What a beautiful sight!
The path into the nature park is an old logging road, so it’s nice and wide. It almost feels like we’re not in Southern Indiana once you get into the nature park.
The path opens up and we come upon some streams, which will feed into a marshy/pond area we encounter later. Most of these streams were frozen, but as you can see, not completely! Another animal, or someone else’s dog, found that out before we arrived. We did do a little testing of the ice on our own, mostly to hear the sounds of the ice cracking in such a quiet space.
We made our way to the marshy/pond area, and were not disappointed! The water froze in such neat patterns, and we *think* we found a beaver home. Do tell us if we’re right or wrong!
We followed the path along the marsh to another viewing point where there is a great platform to stand or rest on that gives you a vantage point for birdwatching and surveying the land. We saw a small but interesting variety, most notably a plover, which you may be able to see in the panorama below if you’ve got a really good eye. Trust us, they’re there. If we weren’t chilled we may have stayed longer to let the birds resume some normal activity. In warmer weather, most of this area is flooded.
Our phones were losing battery, dang cold weather and Apple’s ploy to get us to buy new phones, but we did manage to take a few pics on our way up the hill, back to the cave. Here’s where we got to see the waterfalls! They were still flowing, but the ice created such lovely patterns on the surround rocks and trees!
Cooper wasn’t keen on walking up the stairs after the first flight, so we did have to carry him, which we’re sad to have missed photo evidence of.
Overall, this little hike got our blood pumping, gave us incredible sights, and started our new year out on the right foot. We’re looking forward to Hike #2, though we’re not sure where it will be yet! We’re open to suggestions, so send your favorite hikes our way.
-Erica, Nate, & Cooper