A chance to get out: Bluffs of Beaver Bend!

Last Friday, Linda and I ventured off the beaten path to do some photography and hiking. Our first stop was the Bluffs of Beaver Bend that has these amazing sandstone cliffs. Steven Higgs and I photographed this area about four years ago on hot and muggy day.

This time, Linda and I hiked a ways on a gravel road and then started a trail up the bluffs to get closer to some of the formations that I could photograph. There are these incredible, tall sandstone bluffs with beautiful colors on one side of the trail and the East Fork of the White River on the other side. We were the only hikers on the trail which made for a quiet and peaceful hike at a leisurely pace. I’ll return again next winter when the leaves and undergrowth are gone for some better views. I’ve read that if you search, you can find evidence of early Native Americans gathering muscles from the river.

We were not able to make it to our second planned stop as the road was closed. The detour signs took us too far out of the way. We decided to go to Spring Mill State Park where we had a picnic lunch beside Mill Creek that was flowing quite fast. When I was child, my family often went to the park for a picnic of fried chicken, potato salad, and deviled eggs. Today, I had turkey sandwich and Linda had a salad. After lunch, we took a second hike mindful of Linda’s knee that she is strengthening after meniscus surgery. It was nice relatively flat hike beside a stream that was quite peaceful, but noisy due to recent rains. Given it was sunny day, I had to find some scenes in the shade where I could photograph the stream using my variable density filter. Everyone we met on the trail was respectful of social distancing.

On the way home, we made a stop at the quilt store to check on Linda’s sewing machine repair, still no progress. Then, up the road to Appleacres. We bought some fresh sweet corn, our first of the year, and one of their Vincennes cantaloupes, which are the sweetest and best tasting I have ever had.

Since we hiked a fair amount we decided to stop at the Jiffy Treet for ice cream in Bedford. My youngest brother claims it is the best in southern Indiana and we have to agree.

I have several more trips planned of various distances that we will tackle in the next few weeks. Then, there are some fall color trips. I am hoping for some great colors this fall given the rain we have had in recent weeks.