Post-Oak Cedar Nature Preserve

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography

After not feeling well Saturday I was very happy to be out Sunday for a very short hike with my buddy Mark.  We hiked, took pictures, drove around, and even stopped to get a geocache.  It was a great day for me.

The Post-Oak Cedar Nature Preserve has a very short one-mile trail contained within it.  It is listed as rugged due to a few stream crossings and larger rocks underfoot, but Mark and I took an hour to explore this beautiful area.

The preserve is sandwiched between Harrison-Crawford State Forest and O’Bannon Woods State Park.  The trailhead is about half-way down Cold Friday road with a little pull off on the side, a large sign listing the rules (one really important one for the day) and a small wooden box with a sign-in log.  In the pamphlet for the park, it states the Division of Nature Preserves requests that you register at the trailhead before entering the nature preserve.

As we drove down Cold Friday road, I was able to take in the beautiful surroundings and the normal obstructed views were cleared away as most of the trees had shed their leaves.  The twisted partial gravel road eventually led us to the pull off.  Mark back in and we hoped out grabbing our gear.  Mine was my hydration backpack and camera, Mark was a small water bottle, gloves, toboggan and his camera (with my new lens attached).  I pointed at the sign and more specifically the reference to no hunting.   It is hunting season here in Indiana and the added danger of hiking we hoped deterred hunters from mistaking us for deer.  We talked, I wore bright orange, and naturally, the shuffling of leaves below my feet and small branches giving way underfoot we hoped would and it truly was enough to not get mistaken for the prizes sought by hunters today.  Besides hunting was forbidden there.  I signed the log with my name and a +1 before we headed in.

Mark noticed immediately that the air was much cooler here.  We were in a ravine and close to a creek.  There was a slight fog that grew thicker as we made our way closer to the creek, and the sweet smell of autumn filled my nose.  Within minutes Mark saw a dry creek bed below us which he mistook for Cold Friday Hallow.  It was, in fact, Potato Run, a creek that eventually flows into the Ohio River.

The path below us was covered with a blanket of newly fallen leaves.  It was hard to determine the direction of the path, but between trail markers and other visual cues, we made our way forward.  There were a few inclines and steep grade declines, as well as large rocks we traversed.  This is why I felt the trail was listed as ‘rugged’.

Soon we were at the creek bed and it was dry.  The fog illumined the sun’s rays through the trees and in cue we were lining up photographs and admiring the beauty all around us.  Mark took a page from my photographic handbook and was shooting leaves backlit by the rising sun.  I did too.  Don’t forget to follow him on Instagram here.

Soon we were back at the Jeep and Mark mentioned that he loved that trail.  I responded, though short, it was my favorite in the park.  “I have traveled by here hundreds of times and never stopped.  Thanks, Tim for showing me this place.”  We loaded up and headed further down Cold Friday road.

We passed many trucks filled with hunters that day, and didn’t venture far from the Jeep in ‘unsafe areas’, but we both were out in nature, got some great shots and both of us went to places we had never been before.  From the Jeep when either of us spotted something potentially photograph worthy or something worth looking at, the Jeep would pull over to the side of the one-lane road and we’d hop out and take a look.  Gunshots in the distance always reminded us what season it was.

Mark stated “this is my favorite time of year“, and I concurred.  Nothing shows nature’s beauty more than fall and winter.  That is when I am alive and take my best pictures.

We drove around a bit more, looking for sights and planning some winter shots.  Eventually, I was back home with my wife.  This was a good day for me.  Quite ordinary for most, but I was out in nature with my friend, and that experience alone was priceless.

I found myself today living in the moment.  No random thoughts or distractions pulled my mind away.  My mind was at peace, for a while.  Not sure if it was nature, hanging with Mark or both, but the quote from John Muir sums my experience today perfectly “And into the forest, I go, to lose my mind and find my soul“.

Until next time,

Tim