Camping at Clifty Falls State Park - Part 2

It was really cold during the night, but we managed to get a few hours of sleep and Riaan slept really well. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast thanks to Nathan and Anna. We had bacon and eggs with shredded potatoes, mushrooms and cheese cooked over the fire, accompanied with more yummy coffee. It was a delicious way to start the day!

We went and did another challenging hike in beautiful surroundings. We walked through a long, 600-foot tunnel, that was built in the 1850s as part of a failed railway construction project, and saw Tunnel Falls nearby. We then hiked down to the creek bed, where we saw lots of fossils of shells, and came back to the campground for lunch and to pack up.

Once we had packed up our tents and cleaned our site, we went and did one more hike. We walked around Hoffman Falls, before heading home via nearby Madison. It was a great weekend with friends!

 Candace with Riaan on a cold, clear morning.

 Making breakfast in the morning.

 Hmmm, bacon over the fire. Yum!

 Little man with his rugby ball.

 Looking across at Tunnel Falls.

 Another view of Tunnel Falls.

 Family selfie. :)

 The old railway tunnel. It was never completed.

 Walking through the tunnel.

 The creek bed down below.

 Northern water snake sunning itself on some rocks.

 A closer view.

 Shell imprint in a rock.

 A whole lot of old shell fossils in this little rock.

 The pretty river.

 Walking along the river bank.

 Hoffman Falls from the view site.

 Hoffman Falls is 78 feet or 24 metres high.

Walking through the forest with the little man.

 A former shelter. Only the chimney and foundations remain.

Camping at Clifty Falls State Park - Part 1

Candace, Riaan and I joined our friends Nathan and Anna for a weekend of camping fun at Clifty Falls State Park, two hours drive east near Madison, Indiana.(6th - 7th May 2017.) We had to do a number of detours on our travels to Clifty Falls because of major flooding on many roads. The end of April and start of May was really wet in southern Indiana.

We ended up arriving at Clifty Falls State park at around 11h30 in the morning. We first visited the interesting Nature Centre where we browsed at various exhibits and bird-watched out of the viewing windows. We then walked to the Fire/Observation Tower nearby.

Since check-in for the campground was only from 14h00, we decided to do a hike beforehand. We parked at the Big Clifty Falls parking lot and hiked a number of trails. There were some beautiful views over the ravine and the various huge waterfalls.

We went across to the campground at around 15h30 and set up our tents and spent the rest of the day relaxing there. We had lovely hobos - meat, potatoes, carrots and onions all wrapped up in cabbage and cooked in tin foil - for supper, drank delicious coffee, and enjoyed great fellowship on a rather cold evening.

 The massive power station just across the road from Clifty Falls State Park.

 Inside the Nature Centre.

 My little turtles. :)

 Riaan leading Candace on the hike to the Fire Tower.

 View over the Ohio River from the Fire Tower. Kentucky is across the river.

 Big Clifty Falls is 60 feet or 18 metres high.

 Huge tulip poplar tree - Indiana's state tree.

 A walkway under a cliff near Big Clifty Falls.

 A pretty flower known as columbine. It looks like a jester's hat.

 Cake Rock.

 Looking down at Little Clifty Falls.

 Little Clifty Falls is also 60 feet or 18 metres high.

 Candace and Riaan hiking in the forest.

 Tunnel Falls is 83 feet or 25 metres high.

 Rose-breasted grosbeak in one of the little streams.

 Our campsite at the primitive campground.

 Riaan leading me along the path.

 Little groundhogs across the way from us.

 Riaan trying on my glove.

 Delicious hobos for supper.

 Playing in mud is lots of fun!

Yummy after-supper coffee! :)

Another Spring Storm...

Another spring day in Indiana and another thunderstorm marches its way northeast of our home. This one was marked as a severe thunderstorm but thankfully didn't cause any damage.

 Obvious shelf cloud.

 Possible wall cloud to the right but thankfully it didn't drop a tornado.

Interesting clouds.

A Tale of Two Tails...

This blog is the tale of two tails - on one creature. I came across this interesting lizard - I believe it's actually a skink - towards the end of April. It has two tails - a long one and a much shorter one growing out of the longer one! Much like geckos in South Africa and elsewhere, skinks have the ability to drop their tail as a form of defence and distraction and then regrow a new one. Perhaps this one's tail didn't completely drop off and hence he grew a second, smaller tail? I'm not sure. But it certainly is interesting!

 A view of the conjoined tails on the skink.

 Another view of the skink sheltering behind a drainpipe.