Wolf Lake Wetland Traditional Cache
Woodbutcher68: The city is redoing this area and is in no hurry to finish. I'll archive this one and put in a new one when they finish.
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Park at 41.398.820N 87.31.021W
This is the East side of Wolf Lake in Indiana. A few years ago, Wolf Lake was named one of the top five windsurfing lakes in America by the New York Times. During the summer there is a windsurfing school in the parking lot near the beach area. There is a boat launch just off Sheffield Avenue which is also the site of the Festival in August. There are two islands in this part of the lake, neither of which are original. They were created when the lake was dredged to build the Indiana Toll Road.
The lake was frequented by Native Americans and later attracted French hunters and trappers. It was surveyed by a young Lieutenant Jefferson Davis and according to legend, visited by Father Jacques Marquette. In the late 1800's, it was home to a number of ice houses. There was an automobile racetrack in the area of the island near Calumet Avenue. Across from the boat launch is a brightly painted building which now houses an Environmental Center. The was building is rumored to have once been owned by Al Capone.
The Indiana State record Tiger Muskie was caught in the main lake which holds a good population of Tiger Muskie, Northern Pike, Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Walleye and panfish. Salmon are occasionally caught, having come in from the Illinois side. A few years ago, a Lake Sturgeon was found on the stateline. Perch America, a local fishing club, stocks walleye on the Indiana side every year. It has been reported that the next Indiana walleye state record could come from the lake.
As on the Illinois side, the Southern end of the lake was filled with slag, some of which is exposed near the cache site. The area around the cache is a wetland restoration area that was started during the previous mayor's administration. The project was abandoned by the new administration, but seems to be holding its own. The piles of wood chips in the parking area are to be spread over the slag to allow plants to get a foothold. Along the channel on the South end of the lake, there is evidence of beavers. A number of trees have been damaged and a few have fallen.
Hopefully this area will be developed into a useful, natural recreation area and the illegal dumping will be stopped.
The cache is a camoflauged coffee can containing a pencil and logbook, a cup holder, combination lock, Play Dough, a wood trivet for the FTF and the travel bug, Napa Valley Bound.
Enjoy the cache!
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