The Indiana Dunes sit at an unusual crossroads of landscapes.
Here along the southern edge of Lake Michigan, forests blend into prairie, wetlands, and towering sand dunes. Wind and water have shaped this landscape over thousands of years. It was a very different Lake Michigan experience from Sleeping Bear Bay, where the shoreline felt broader, wilder, and more exposed.
By the time we arrived in Indiana, this outing marked state twenty-five of the Canoe 52 journey.
At the time it felt like just another day on the water—load the canoe, push off from shore, and let the paddle strokes settle into their familiar rhythm.
Looking back now, it was also the last trip the original crew would take together.
Transition at the Indiana Dunes
Remarkably, the Calumet Lagoon sits within a black oak savanna, part of the broader ecological mosaic of Indiana Dunes National Park. The region’s industrial history dominates much of the surrounding built environment. Against that backdrop, the quiet of the lagoon feels almost improbable.
This landscape was unlike any we had experienced so far in Canoe 52. You could actually see the landscape changing around us—the forests of the East giving way to Midwestern prairie, while the dunes and beaches of Lake Michigan seemed to overlap with both.
The water was clear, revealing underwater growth. Chirping crickets and other insects filled the air beneath a cloudless, pale blue sky. It was the kind of unexpected place we had hoped to find when we started Canoe 52 years earlier.
In spite of this serenity, something felt off.
Final Paddle of the Original Crew
Near the end of the day, Rigby spotted the shore and tried to jump from the canoe before we were ready. It was the kind of moment we normally would have handled without much thought, but this time the crew was out of sync. Each expected the other to react differently, and for a few seconds the familiar rhythm between us broke down.
It seemed insignificant at the time.
Just a few weeks later, Rigby died unexpectedly at only eight years old. None of us could have known that this quiet paddle through the Calumet Lagoon would be her last boat ride—or the final outing of the original Canoe 52 crew.
Indiana marked state twenty-five, nearly halfway to fifty-two. It was a milestone that should have felt like the midpoint. In hindsight, it feels more like a dividing line.
The journey continues, carrying us into a new phase of Canoe 52.
