It was Friday, September 21
st at 5:00 pm when I finally decided that I was going to go to the
Mounds State Park for the weekend’s camping trip. An hour-and-a-half later, I decided to go ahead and load my camping gear into my car and camp both Friday and Saturday nights. It was 7:30 by the time I had run to Lance’s for some food to grill and was ready to get on the road.
My plans hit a snag when I called the park from my cell phone to reserve a site and was told that they were full for the entire weekend. Full? Completely? Both nights? It warmed my heart that there were so many people who were out appreciating the beauty of the world, but I was already on the road; I neither wanted to turn back nor to spend the night in a cookie-cutter hotel room with nothing to listen to but the television and drunken laughter of whoever was in the next room.
However, the woman from the Mounds was very helpful, and provided me with the number of a small campground only a mile-and-a-half away from the park, the Timberline Campground.
I called the campground, and spoke with a very kind woman named Elizabeth, one of the owners of the campground. She gave me directions to the campground and to a site that I could stay at, and said that I could just come by the office in the morning to handle the payment. In a kind voice, she asked me to please drive carefully and to have a lovely evening. I felt welcomed before I even arrived.
Because I set up camp after dark, and had to wake up at dawn on Saturday in order to attend the People’s Foreign Policy deliberations in Indianapolis (see Opinion article “Pacifism without Passivity”), I didn’t get a chance to explore the campground until Saturday afternoon.
I will admit that I was initially cynical; the camp is geared towards people who use campers, and there were quite a few of RV’s, vans, and campers in the park. But Elizabeth had directed me to a site that was actually quite private.
It was only about 100 yards from a lovely pond that seemed to always have a fisherman or two standing at the shore, casting their lines and looking into the distance. Behind my site there was a path into the woods that led quickly to a river that had been hidden from my view at the site.
All things considered, it was the most relaxing time that I have ever had at a family campground, and I wouldn’t hesitate to return.
I packed up my site late Sunday morning. I always try to do this extra attentively, out of respect for the land itself, the directors of the campground, and whoever will use the campsite next. It is always necessary to remove all detritus; I have never camped anywhere that didn’t have dumpsters located conveniently on the way to the exit. If I cooked breakfast over a fire, as I usually do, I always make sure that the fire is extinguished before I leave.
I left the campground (“Antennae down-Wife on board,” reads the sign at the exit. “Thanks for your visit. Please come again.”) and drove to the Mounds State Park.
The park is named for the several ceremonial mounds that were built by the Adena- Hopewell people over 2000 years ago. I walked the 2.5 mile trail that winds its way though and around most of the 290 acres of the park. About one mile of the trail ran parallel to the White River, which reflected the clear sky and the technicolor display of the fall leaves with a glistening intensity.
The hike was well marked, and led me up and down some hills and varied between portions right alongside the river and portions deeper in the forested area. It was a perfect day for it, and I plan to come back and explore the other trails in the near future.
The only downside of the park is that, unlike Chain O’Lakes (see “Outside in Indiana, September 14), the Mounds State Park does not offer canoe and kayak rental. However, the woman who was working the gate recommended a nearby kayak rental location that has a few primitive campsites with access by road and river. Yep, you guessed it… I’m going there this next weekend.
Stay tuned to see how it goes. And remember, the world’s right outside your door… Let’s go!
(published in Manchester College's weekly newspaper, the Oak Leaves, on September 28, 2007)
It was Friday, September 21st at 5:00 pm when I finally decided that I was going to go to the 
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