Our recent trip to Chain O’Lakes State Park in Albion, Indiana did not disappoint. This is one of our favorite places as Chad and I camped here the weekend we first met! It’s a wonderful wooded area that, as the name suggests, has a chain of lakes. The park is well maintained and there are several walking trails that wind around the lakes, meadows and woods. Today we took trail #8 around Finster Lake which goes past a wonderful marshy area called, Turtle Pond. We could hear a chorus of frogs as we approached, but it soon turned silent. It didn’t take them long to realize we were there, though the turtles didn’t seem to mind. We stood, overlooking the pond and counted about 9 visible turtles. They were out bathing themselves in the first real sunny day of spring, just as we were!
Okay, so the walk is only a half-mile long and is considered to be moderate. I don’t do well with hills, so I had a harder time than most might. Chad, as always, was patient with me and we stopped often to study the trees and look for morels…well and to let me catch my breath. We found the path is well marked (although we did meet an elderly couple that got sidetracked) and there are plaques identifying specific plant species along the way. We went just after a rain, so there were some areas that were soggy, but we managed to get around them easily. All-in-all it was a wonderful day and I look forward to trekking through the other areas of the park.
Painted Turtle
