Martin State Forest July 27, 2010

I wanted to go back to the covered bridge in Williams, IN to take a photo of it with a different camera. Norris and I got in the car and headed for Williams. After we stopped at the bridge so I could photograph it, we decided to see where SR 450 would take us. We went through a small town named Trinity Springs and another town whose name I cannot recall. We drove through beautiful country, yet there weren't any good spots to pull over so I could get out and take photos. SR 450 wound up bringing us out on 50 which would take us through Shoals to get back to Bedford. As we passed through Shoals, we noticed Martin State Forest. We stopped there and saw the fire tower and took a few photos of the trails there. I thought I would be brave and climb the fire tower, but I chickened out on the fourth flight.


Stairs leading to the trail in Martin State Forest:







Maybe this is what made me nervous...


Picture of the trail. Notice the odd light in the bottom right corner.

Tunnelton Tunnel & William's Bridge

After spending the morning doing laundry and working on my sociology paper, Norris and I decided to spend part of the afternoon seeing & photographic some close-by scenic areas. First, Norris suggested that we go to William's Dam. That was our first destination, but I was unimpressed with the Dam and the overwhelming smell of urine while we were there. We decided to move on in less than five minutes. We then came across Williams Bridge which is the longest covered bridge in the state of Indiana and was built in 1884. The bridge was amazing, but I was not a happy camper when Norris insisted that we drive over it!






After our little drive through Williams, we decided to head back to Tunnelton to try to find The Big Tunnel. Instead of going through the town of Tunnelton this time, we stayed on Tunnelton Rd. until it became Devil's Backbone Rd. and it then became Ft. Ritner road. We turned right on Tunnelhill Rd/River Rd and followed it until we came to one of the train trussels that we saw yesterday. There were two clearings walking up to the tracks and I told my husband that I believed that would lead us to The Big Tunnel. Hubby wasn't convinced, but we pulled the vehicle off into some dirt and made our trek up there. After walking about 1/4 mile we came to it - the entrance to The Big Tunnel! We did not walk through the length of the tunnel, but we did take some photos. When we left, we followed Tunnelhill Rd/River Rd all the way back to the town of Tunnelton. On the way back we came parallel to the tracks again and there was another little trail leading up to the tracks. I told Norris that I thought that was the other entrance to the tunnel, but again he wasn't convinced. Since the sun was starting to set, we decided to go home and we would come back another day to check out the other entrance of the tunnel...and maybe even walk through it!

One entrance to The Big Tunnel:


Norris in front of the tunnel:


Me in front of the tunnel:


The view of the tracks from the entrance of the tunnel:


Norris walking towards the entrance:

July 24, 2010

Yesterday my aunt and I decided to drive about ten miles out of Bedford to go to Tunnelton, IN. I have never been to Tunnelton before and it's been about twenty years since Melissa went. The reason for our trip to Tunnelton had to so with trying to learn a little bit about our family history. We drove for awhile and wound up lost out in middle-of-nowhere, IN. After driving nearly forty miles, we wound up in the little town of Tunnelton. We did not find what we were looking for, but during our drive we did come across Indiana Scenic tour #6, which was located in Ft. Ritner. There were many interesting old buildings to take pictures of as well. After my aunt dropped me off at my house, my husband, Norris, and I got in the car and went back to Tunnelton. We started to look for The Big tunnel which was built for the CSX railroad line in 1857. I have heard of this tunnel referred to as "Tunnelton Tunnel" my entire life, but the stories behind it always had to do with supposed supernatural happenings at the tunnel. My quest to find the tunnel had nothing to do with any desire to see anything supernatural, it had to do with wanting to see and get some photographs of this historical tunnel in Indiana.

My husband and I took Tunnelton Rd. through Tunnelton and went under a little train trussel and immediately turned left onto River Road. We followed River Road for what felt like forever. We started out going south and eventually looped back around to head north. We eventually came back out on Tunnelton Rd. For anyone who is looking for The Big tunnel, it is helpful to know that Tunnelton Rd. turns into Devil's Backbone road and then turns into Ft. Ritner Rd. We came out on the portion of the road near Ft. Riter. We gave up searching for the Tunnel and decided that we would try again some other time.

Pics from the little "trip" with Melissa:





Pics from the little "trip" with Norris:





My husband, Norris, patiently waiting for me to take my photos!