A walk along several wooded trails

Walking the trails of Wasatch Lake presented an amalgam of visions and spectacles, and when the camera lens is equipped with a polarizing lens on a sunshiny day then pointed toward the sky at a 90-degree angle to the sun, you get some amazingly rich blue sky hues to background your images, like the several included below.

The image at the top of this post was taken near the conclusion of the 0.7-mile loop trail above the main lakeside trail (which is about a mile on its own) on the back, non-cabin side of the lake. This side trail climbs the steep wooded hill overlooking the lake to allow hikers to explore the forest. The horseshoe loop levels off briefly at the top of the hill before turning downhill to return hikers to the main trail encircling the lake. For most of the loop trail, the forest is so thick you cannot see the lake. The view above, again very close to where the loop trail rejoins the main trail, is the earliest you would see the lake on the descent, but it lets you know you're heading in the right direction.

Without further adieu, here are the remaining images from my trail walks during a recent visit to Wasatch Lake in Owen County, Ind., the second of three blog installments from the trip. Installment No 1, posted Monday, featured images of the lake. Post No. 3, which will come in the next day or so, will focus on wildlife on the grounds.

To view a gallery of my full shoot at Wasatch Lake in 2010, visit my online site at SmugMug.com.  

The portion of the main lakeside trail on the cabin side of the lake actually overlaps the gravel road (above) used by cars and maintenance vehicles to access the various cabins.  

At the far northeast end of the lake, where a wooden pedestrian bridge separates the lake from Beaver Pond, there is a seating area furnished also with the above sundial (side shot below).

Above, a look at the trail ahead -- and a late-afternoon light at the end of the wooded "tunnel."

Above, some ornamental grass along the wooden pedestrian bridge (below) at the far northeast end of the lake. In the image below, you can see the above grass on the left side at the far end of the bridge. The option to climb the 0.7-mile loop trail up the wooded hill begins about 15 yards beyond the end of this bridge and to the right. 

Above, log catching some spot sunlight from a late-afternoon sun.

Above and below, some more "down the trail" looks inside the forest area. The frame below is part of the descent of the loop trail above the lake; the frame above is part of the main lake trail and taken behind cabins along the east side of the lake.

Above, another birdhouse.

Above and below, two images of the filter-enriched sky serving as a nice background to fall colors and tree trunks mostly silhouetted from backlight.

Above, a view hikers encounter on the west end of the lakeside trail, near the west end damn where there's another wooden bridge.

Above and below: On the nature trails a bit removed from the lake and main residential area -- and separated by another wooded area -- hikers come upon the tennis court (above), which is available to cabin renters to use, and a small pond (below). 

Above and below: Perspective and closeup images of a birdhouse along the main lakeside trail.

Above, a solitary leaf spotlighted by a late-afternoon sun.

Above, the renter check-in building and maintenance garage, which features an antique Texaco gasoline pump (non-functional) and a classic Coca-Cola sign.

A final look at a hiking trail. This view is from the nature trail away from the main lake grounds -- taken from ground level low ... and with shallow depth of field.

A memorable, tranquil hiatus

 

Among the many benefits of a digital camera is that you can shoot to your heart's content until space on your memory card runs out, and if you've got yourself a card with plenty of memory and/or backup cards, then you should never have a worry.

The bad thing about shooting so much is that it takes a lot of time to go through the images when you're done. Such was the case recently, when I returned from spending several days in a cabin along Wasatch Lake, a little-known private development in Owen County on the fringe of the Owen-Putnam State Forest north of Spencer, Ind., and not far from Lieber State Recreation Area at Cagles Mill Lake and Cataract Falls. The daily operations and maintenance are handled by hired hands -- a married couple, Eldie and Marsha Miller, who live on the grounds, and Jeff, who lives off grounds and whose wife runs Cook's Corner, a restaurant in nearby Poland, Ind. These people don't own the property; it's an entity of Turner John Management, which is headquartered in the Stutz Buliding in downtown Indianapolis.

Some people go to Wasatch Lake to fish, others go to walk the miles of trails and still others just enjoy kicking back and doing nothing. I don't fish, but I did do quite a bit of trail-walking -- and took pictures of the sights and scenes I came across along the way. When I returned home, it was very difficult to go through the more than 1,000 total images to find the handful or so worth including in a single post here. So, I divided the images into three categories -- the lake, the trail scenes and the wildlife that's part of the acreage -- and will present images from each category in separate posts over the next few days. I'm not sure I'll be able to get it done on consecutive days, but I'll do my best to accomplish it within a week.

The images in today's first post present the lake in a variety of scenes -- from the pier at my cabin (cabins are fully furnished, by the way), near sunset with the water still enough to reflect the trees along the shore, during the daytime with a highlighting sunlight at play, and from atop a hill that provides a nice overview of almost the whole lake. Also, you'll see some of the cabins -- all painted green with white trim -- from various points along the lake, including the property owner's roomy, two-level Lake House cabin (the owner wasn't there during my stay), which was adjacent to mine. And there is a scene or two of a man who fished the lake each day I was there. The lake will return in some images on Day 3, when we visit some of wildlife on the property.

This was a wonderful get-away place, by the way; I would not hesitate to return. To view a gallery of my full shoot from my trip to Wasatch Lake in 2010, follow the link in this sentence.

Above and below is the approximate same view of the lake from the pier outside the cabin I rented. The top is as it looked the night I arrived, a pretty heavily clouded evening. The bottom is as it looked on my last evening, the one day of sparse clouds and full sunshine. The middle day was a mixed bag of weather that began early with overcast skies, followed by a torrential morning rainstorm that would eventually rock all of Indiana -- and bring along tornadoes in several places, including Kokomo and Greenfield. Within two hours after the brunt of the storm passed through, however, I was able to go out and walk and run the trails, and by mid-afternoon, we even had sunshine.

Above and below: The fisherman who was on the lake each day I was there. The image above illustrates the size of the trees along the trailed, non-cabin side of the lake. There is a steep hill among that wooded area ... and a side trail of about 0.7-mile that loops in a sort of horseshoe -- uphill one way, downhill the other -- that returns to the main lakeside trail not far from where it starts.  

 

 

 Above: A shot of the lake on the sunny third day, taken from the non-cabin side of the lakeside trail. The blues were enhanced through the use of a polarizing filter.

 Above: The fisherman again, this time seen from the cabin side of the lakeside trail.

Above and the following two images are views of the Turner John Management property owner's Lake House cabin. Above is from the non-cabin side of the lakeside trail. The cabin I rented is the one on the left.

Above: A closer shot of the owner's Lake House cabin, also from the non-cabin side of the lake.

Above: A side view of the Lake House cabin, as seen from my cabin's pier.

 Above: A shallow depth-of-field image of a piece of wood wedged into the water near the shore on the non-cabin side of the lake.

 Above: I came across several birdhouses along my trail walks. The above version was far and away the tallest of them all. It was near a pier not far from one of the cabins. 

 Above: A view of some other cabins, as seen from the non-cabin side of the lake.

 Above: A sunshine capture of some of the seasonal color, with the blues enhanced with the use of a polarizing filter. The trees in the foreground are along the cabin side of the lake.

An overview of the lake, taken close to sundown.