Ruminator

Photo provided by Anne Cabaniss My destination today was one I wanted to experience with my buddy Mark, but I made the journey alone. I have only been to this section of the forest once before, but never in this deep. There have been many people lost, and turned around in this forest, and though I love hiking alone, I also respect the dangers that are out there. The allure for me today is finding a hidden location that I had only heard about but never seen. Above is a picture of the original structure I went to see. Anne Cabaniss provided the photo to Indiana Department of Natural Resources who provided a copy of this picture to me. Sadly, the only thing left are the original twin chimneys as stated in the title of this post. That was my destination. I parked my Subaru, unloaded, grabbed my gear, and hit the muddy trail toward my destination. Immediately I felt the ever presence aura of nature all around me. I was excited, like a kid with a map on the hunt for treasure, yet felt a sens...

Photo by: Tim Bindner   Photo by: Tim Bindner Sunday morning my goal was to go to a cemetery as part of my research for my next book. I made it there, but this story today was about an unplanned location I could go to. The Baxley-Bliss Cemetery is in Harrison-Crawford State Forest, but the best access to hiking there was to park on private property that sits next to the forest. I planned to meet the property owner (Justin) and got permission to park on their property so I could hike to the cemetery. As I pulled onto the gravel driveway, I could see only the road before me that cut through the trees. I was instructed to drive to the “ Y in the road and take the left fork even though the GPS will take me to the right ”. I did so. I was met by a man in pajama pants, slippers and a t-shirt. He told me to “ park there by the zero-turn (mower) ” and I did as I was instructed. I asked him if you could guide me on a route to my destination as I had a map of the location of the cemetery, bu...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Today’s journey was to a seldom visited cemetery call Martin-Hogan-Long Cemetery (N38°06.621 W86°14.238). It is in Harrison-Crawford State Forest, but by the looks of the road to get there, few have traveled this way, or at least not traveled there in a long while. The bright sun made the 30° temperature feel warmer than it was. Something I would soon discover upon entering the thicker part of the forest ahead. Today’s hike was one mile one way, and I had a friend named Amanda join me upon this adventure. After grabbing our gear, we scurried around the locked gate at the end of a gravel road. By crossing the gate, we moved from a public road to the State Forest property. I was armed with a GPS and printed map showing “ overgrown, barely discernable fire lanes ” as given to me by my contact, a local Indiana DNR–Division of Forestry Resource Specialist. Amanda and I made our way downhill on the fire lane that quickly changed pitch and had us g...

Photo by: Tim Bindner I took a short hike today to Kessner Cemetery (N38°09.912 W86°14.995), but the journey was not about the destination but the hike to get there. I awoke before dawn at around 6am. I had my camera, map and backpack ready to go. Something, however, unnerved me about this planned hike. I was going to an even more deserted and less traveled road than I was on the day before, and as usual I would have no cell service. This was part of my second book research and I knew I had to go, but could I go alone? I had a detailed map in hand so I fought my anxiety and fear, got in my car and off I went. As mentioned, the road I would park off of was Dutch Hollow Road, and offshoot of Cold Friday Road. There is a single private lot at the end of Dutch Hollow, so traffic on this road is almost nonexistent. As I turned onto Dutch Hollow Road, the mist filled the wooded area around me, and the narrow gravel road was something straight out of a horror movie. Good thing I enjoyed those...