Erie Trail, North Judson

 My oldest son and I are trying to get out to new places once every week or two to go for walks. We live in such a beautiful state (Indiana) and specifically a glacier-remnant and forged area and have hardly even ventured to all of the beautiful places we have surrounding us! Past walks this year took us to Luhr County Park in Laporte, Bluhm County Park in Westville, but our last walk took us a little farther South to the Erie Trail located in North Judson. I had been to this location once with hubby for a walk and once with a local invasives removal group to work on cutting out honeysuckle. Our sons, in particular the oldest, used to be railroad enthusiasts when they were younger, so he was really into the history of the pathway.

Long story short, The Prairie Trails Club, Inc. was founded in 2010 and paved a rail-banked right-of- way as a multi-use path for walking, running, and biking. It is established on the right-of-way of the former JK Line Railroad and spans 9 miles between North Judson and U.S. 35 near Bass Lake. There is another disconnected section located in the town of Monterey. On this trip out, we walked 4 miles total (2 miles out and 2 miles back). When I went with Woodchuck, we took our bikes to ride there and my ankle was much happier, lol.

This trail is maintained completely with donations, and by volunteers like those of us who went years ago to take care of the honeysuckle. That event was put together by CISMA. On my most recent trip, thankfully I saw some natives too! The area that I live in is kind of a dead-zone for groups working with invasives. There's lots in the state South of us, though I hear all groups everywhere are struggling to get volunteers. I really want to eventually start helping out, but with trying to take care of my home property, and the land, that's almost 16 acres I am dealing with, mostly on my own.

It was a cloudy day, and my oldest son is NOT a fan of getting caught in the rain and getting wet. He does not get that from me. I will be outside at all times in all weather. It simply does not bother me, but rather, it makes me feel more alive and connected. But I guess it was best to walk 4 miles under cloud cover than blazing sun? I started to find some native plants right away, but unfortunately, they were much less in numbers than the invasives.

                                                                Spiderwort, Native 👇

                                                                        Lupine, Native  👇

And then directly across the path was all of this bittersweet that was taking over a tree. I have yet to run across a native bittersweet, which is actually a thing! 👇

This property is really neat in that you can still see remnants of the former railway! We talked about how it might have been to drive a train thru this area and how beautiful it must have looked! 👇

There were also some of these signs, and I can't remember why they were there, but I think it had something to do with a local school. As a Cosmos and Night Sky lover, I got a kick out of reading about the planets! 👇

Thlaspi arvense, Field Pennycress, non-native/weed status. 👇

I wanted to point out that when you trim limbs off, leave an inch or two of the branch, as this picture shows, and don't cut it right to the tree. 👇

                                                            We made it to the bridge👇

Why do I always find this kind of stuff just laying on foot bridges? Three different parks now I have found things like this. Although I forgot to bring a bag for garbage, I did pick this up to throw away.👇

As we continued to walk, we found the Garlic Mustard, non-native/highly invasive status. 👇

This business is very well-known in the area, and we may have had their donuts once or twice 😊😏👇

                                            A mile marker, leftover from the railroad days? 👇

The barometric pressure is weighing down on me, but again, I guess walking under the rain clouds is better than under the blazing sun on this day! 👇

This next plant is super important to know about, and I stopped to point it out to my son and to talk to him about what to do if he ever encounters this while out on his own. Poison Hemlock, do.not.touch. This was not very far off of the side of the paved path, which also goes to say that you should stay on any marked paths when hiking. The purple splotches on the stem are an instant give away as to what this is. There is a lot of debate amongst plant people about how much care needs to be taken with this plant. Some say we are being made too afraid of it, and they know people who have touched it and not had any issues. I say, why take the chance?👇

The farther East we went on the trail, and closer to a side road that the path intersects with, the more garbage we ran across. I just don't understand how or why people do that. There was a basketball, and a small bag of garbage hanging in a honeysuckle bush, and then a broken tote. We were two miles from the car at this point and I had no gloves. It kills me to see stuff like this in natural places, and to leave it. Seeing stuff like this is part of why I quit working for the County Parks in the county I live in. A lot of people don't have respect for nature, or for the time and energy of the people trying to take care of those spaces. (I did let the organization know and the responded to me immediately and had already removed it!)

On our walk back, I was on the other side of the paves path and was able to see the flora there! These yellow flowers, Lithospermum caroliniense, or Carolina puccoon, are a native plant. 👇                              

                                It would be fun to find a sticker or bumper sticker of this! 👇

                  Rest in peace, whatever you once where. Here I go again being the KnochenHexe  👇

This was my first time using the bag I bought from a resale shop. I love it! But it has A LOT of pockets, and if I ever have to fill all of those up, it will take me 10 minutes to find what I need 😂 👇

If you are ever in the area of North Judson, I recommend giving this spot a hike, or bike, thru! And don't forget to take a little bag for garbage (and gloves) (note to self, put those in your hiking bag now....). We parked in a little parking located on the corner of 250 W and state road 10 (and walked East on the path). There are some picnic tables, shade trees, and a small grass area. No bathrooms of any sort, so when we were done, we headed West on State road 10 a few minutes into the town of North Judson to a filling station. You can find out more about this location atwww.prairietrailsclub.org and stay up to date at facebook.com/PrairieTrailsClub