Weekend Update: Indian Lake

I had a day all to myself on Sunday so I decided to go check out Indian Lake County Park in Cross Plains. I've lived here 25 years and it's only a few miles away but I had never been there! I'm so glad I went! What a beautiful spot. There is a 4.5 mile trail around the lake that I walked twice. It was overcast and coolish but it was still a magnificent walk with  the symphony of the birds and the breeze through the new leaves and the bull rushes. Heaven. On. Earth.

When you get there, the first thing you notice is the ruins across the street. It's an old stone building next to an intact brick barn and there's a sign that says that the are is a prairie restoration and wildlife viewing area. The new spring greens made it look straight out of Scotland, no?

I parked the car and started down the wooded path beside the lake. Came across this cool, old stump that was huge and almost as tall as me. I thought that it would be cool to take a picture of myself in it, but I was alone so...















Here's me inside the stump talking a pic up the trail!

This is the big bluff from the backside of the park. The stump is directly across the lake from where I'm standing here. This area was where the ice age glaciers stopped. The lake is a kettle formed from the melting ice. There are bluffs and driftless area as well. Beautiful!

Here, are the signs that tell you about it better than I can!

The park is trying to revitalize the lake by killing off the overabundance of carp so there were lots of dead ones along the shore. The dogs I saw were loving that! I'm guessing a lot of them got baths when they got home. 

Lilacs

The lilacs, fruit trees and early spring flowers were all in bloom. There were Canada Geese with babies, every manner of songbirds, and I even got wicked close to 3 Sand Hill crane. Holy Moley they are big up close! Almost like an emu! Best of all, there were no mosquitoes yet!

This is probably my favorite picture of the whole day....the new spring buds and leaves making a green tunnel over the road. 

After I walked the lake road, I decided to go up the steep bluff to a tiny chapel that was built up there in 1957. That in itself is a story so I'll tell about that in another post!  But overall, I highly recommend  stopping by to visit this park!