Tom, Jackson, and Holden

Upon leaving Chicago, we drove back to Michigan via Indiana. Around lunchtime, we stopped to eat and to take a (not so) small detour. We had seen signs on the highway for the Indiana Dunes State Park and decided to stop and see some dunes since we were near Lake Michigan. We entered the park into the GPS and set off. Straight for the National Park Service park headquarters. We got directions to the park visitor center and set off again.

When we finally found the visitor center, I discovered the 3Dune Challenge. The 3Dune Challenge is to hike to the top of each of the three dunes in the park. It’s exactly the kind of semi-arbitrary accomplishment that appeals precisely to my semi-arbitrary personality. There’s no real reason why you should hike three dunes other than to say you hiked them all, but you do get something out of it – a hike, some nice views, a good story to tell afterwards. It’s like why I’ve been watching musicals for the past seven months and why I do things like hike twenty miles in a day for fun.

On the beach

It was hot, and we intended to walk the beach for awhile, maybe see a dune, but (when doing anything with me, there’s always a but) then we walked up the first dune. Since we were already up there, I voted to keep going and summit the other two dunes as well. Let me make it clear that I did not force anyone to do anything like keep hiking in sun/humidity, but we were already one third of the way to hiking all three dunes, so why not? Let it also never be said that I don’t give good answers for why I do things.

Back to the dunes. We hiked all three of them. I had just spent over three days in Chicago moving my brother’s apartment, watching him graduate, and eating while surrounded by concrete and diesel fumes. I needed some sweat, dirt, and handfuls of sand in my hiking shoes. Well, I didn’t really need the sand in my hiking shoes, but it was an unnegotiable add on to the 3Dune Challenge. Round trip, from the parking lot to the dunes back to the car, it took about an hour and a half without rushing. If that was my local state park, I would be back over there trying to see how fast I could do it, hiking multiple laps, summitting while carrying a twenty pound sack of potatoes, etc., because we’ve established those are the kinds of things I do for no reason other than I thought it would be a good idea.

There were more trails that we didn’t get to hike because we needed to be on our way to Michigan, but based on the parts we did see, it’s worth stopping by. If you have more time than we did, you might even be able to complete the challenge and lounge on the beach.

Proof that we made it to the top of all three dunes. And who what Tom, Jackson, and Holden are.