I got to spend some more time in the woods this weekend teaching a Map & Compass class. We went out to Bradford Woods, IU’s enormous nature preserve/camp north of Martinsville. On Saturday we spent the day hiking around and practicing map and compass skills. We went town to the “Old Swimmin’ Hole Lake” and had to cross the creek barefoot a couple times (it was cold).
Sunset on Saturday.
This picture gets an A for focus, but an F for composition.
A puddle on the trail.
We made tinfoil meals for dinner. They were delicious.
A tree overlooking the Old Swimmin’ Hole Lake.
Last weekend I went out on a class with OA to the Hoosier National Forest. The class was “Foundations of Outdoor Adventure,” and was a backpacking trip for freshman living on the outdoor-program floor of Teter.
The Hoosier, despite being a bit cold, was absolutely beautiful — the colors this time of year are simply stunning. Here’s a few photos to share.
(And, yeah, I ditched Blogger. I just wasn’t happy with what I could do with it — it’s no good for sharing photos like I want to).
Near Hickory Ridge.
The horse trails really get muddy. But I kind of like it.
On the road a bit past the fire tower.
The morning view from the fire tower.
Last weekend, I was able to head out to Lake Monroe (Indiana’s largest lake) to help teach a Coastal Kayaking Class. We went to the easternmost part of the lake, near Crooked Creek, where few motorboats venture and where the lake, apart from a few channels, is less a lake and more a large, swampy marsh, full of eagles, herons, ducks, geese, fish, snakes and sucking mud.
It was a beautiful weekend, and getting outdoors and on the water was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of grad school. I’ll just share a few photos…
We made pizza on the fire – it was amazing.
This last picture is of the largest caterpillar I’ve ever seen in my life (“like a pickle,” as one person put it — just much, much hairier. And probably less tasty). I looked it up when I got home — turns out it’s an imperial moth: not overly rare (but large, with about a 5′6″ wingspan), but rare to see as a caterpillar.Lake
I really haven’t blogged much in a while, but I have some stuff I want to write about, so I’m happy to have the forum. And, of course, I’ll still put up some photography — I just got the zoom feature javascript working here so you can click on the image below to expand it.
This shot is from my recent backpacking trip to the Appalachian Trail on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. We were in a ton of fog, which spoiled some of the views but made for other beautiful scenery.
