The Mysterious Man-Eating Dune of Indiana

HEADS UP!! Be careful if you travel to Mt. Baldy in Indiana, known as a “wandering dune,” or the “living dune”!

Mother Nature can be a truly frightening force to be reckoned with. With very little effort, our sturdiest constructions, the pinnacle of all of our technological know-how can be dashed to pieces by her wrath. She can also confound us with her inscrutable mysteries, leaving us with no clue of how or why she was able to inflict her deadly touch. Such is the story of the dangerous roving dune of Indiana, a mysterious wandering behemoth with the potential to swallow people without warning and with no known reason.

Mt. Baldy is an enormous sand dune located at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a 15,000 acre national park which lies along the long coastline of Lake Michigan, a place so renowned for its beaches that it is sometimes referred to as America’s Fourth Coast. The park is well known for its sand dunes, but in particular for the monstrous Mt. Baldy, which at 123 feet high is the largest sand dune on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. The dune is popular among hikers, who climb to the top for picturesque view of Lake Michigan, as well as a well-known spot for sunbathing. Around the dune itself are numerous hiking trails and a popular birdwatching spot called Cowles Bog. The nearby beach is very famous for its swimming, drawing visitors from all over the U.S.

July, 2013, a 6 year old boy, Nathan Woessner was swallowed by the dune. He was walking along the dune when he disappeared into a hole that suddenly opened under him. People nearby were alerted by the boy’s screams and found him completely submerged under the dune. By the time rescuers arrived, the boy was buried underneath 11 feet of sediment. Rescuers worked frantically to free the boy and finally, after an 11 hour ordeal, the boy was pulled out alive.

That's amazing!

Other stories began to emerge of other visitors encountering the holes as well. Hikers walking Mt. Baldy told of suddenly having the ground open up beneath their feet and causing them to trip or become stuck. Luckily, the holes in these cases did not exceed more than 5 feet in depth, and the incidents caused no fatalities. Nevertheless, it certainly seemed that the dune was a place of potential danger and that it was only a matter of time before someone was seriously injured or worse.

Read much more about this man-eating dune here: mysteriousuniverse.org...

Hand wringing response to some accident as usual.

From the link:

In order to ensure public safety and make sure the huge, rogue dune claims no more victims, the National Park service has closed access to Mt. Baldy and barred entry to the immediate vicinity until more is understood about what is going on.

Oh my god, the wilderness is eating our children!

Various signs and fences have been installed to turn people away, and rangers are conducting patrols to enforce the measures.

Shut it down, put up barriers, patrol the "dune".

a reply to: sled735

Well, it is sand. Sand is a very tiny object, and many billions of these objects make up a sand dune, which, under the right conditions, will have minor or major internal collapses. I'd think twice before walking on the sides or top of a large sand dune, even though this one seems safe enough judging from the lack of casualties.

I like stories like this one, it was the type of story I used to read the National Enquirer for.

Another interesting story concerning hungry sand dunes is the story of Singapore Michigan on the east shores of southern lake Michigan.

The sand dunes totally buried a thriving town in a relatively short time. The last person to occupy the city had to enter his house by a second story window before he gave up and left the area.

Here is a condensed version of that story.

bigprairieprepress.com...

Well thats just bizarre.

how did the kid breath under all that sand for 11 hours??

There are some mind boggling stuff out there.

Cool thread s&f

originally posted by: intrptr
Hand wringing response to some accident as usual.

From the link:

In order to ensure public safety and make sure the huge, rogue dune claims no more victims, the National Park service has closed access to Mt. Baldy and barred entry to the immediate vicinity until more is understood about what is going on.

Oh my god, the wilderness is eating our children!

Various signs and fences have been installed to turn people away, and rangers are conducting patrols to enforce the measures.

Shut it down, put up barriers, patrol the "dune".

Tesla's live version is better.

Though, I like 5MEB's song "Werewolf" a lot. Oh, the nostalgia...

Mama said . .

There's something weird about Billy...

LOL

I grew up on the Michigan / Indiana state line and spent dozens if not hundreds of weekends at MT. Baldy.

This is the first I ever heard of anything like this.

Sounds like another excuse to keep people out of certain areas and close off more land from the public.

I have experienced something similar at the mouth of the Brazos. Driftwood piles up and then gets covered by sand. The wood rots away and leaves hollow pockets. You'll be walking across the sand dunes and just fall into a hole.

dear hillary,
just thought you'd like to know about this lovely tourist spot down in indiana...
i'm sure bill would love it too!
please find enclosed the airfare, hotel arrangements & a complimentary hiking voucher
it might be cold, so be sure to bring lots of heavy, warm clothes

a reply to: intrptr

I would say this is the answer...

Mt. Baldy’s rate of movement has increased at an alarming rate in recent years due to corrosion caused by a loss of vegetation on its slopes due to human activity.

They were looking for an excuse to close it the same has happened to many places we used to go around here, the area needs recovery but the public only stays away if you scare them into it.

Sand is an interesting sedimentary material, especially the wind-blown aeolian dunes. These dunes are usually stable until their slopes exceed 34 degrees, their angle of repose. Vegetation and water can help hold these grains beyond this point, exceeding the angle of repose. When these factors are removed from the system, you can have failure and down-slope movement of the sand. (For example, consider building a sand castle. You use wet sand to build, and as it dries, it crumbles.) This is dangerous. Mass wasting is a serious issue. I highly encourage you all to visit nature, but I also encourage you all to be safe in doing so.

a reply to: Char-Lee

They were looking for an excuse to close it the same has happened to many places we used to go around here,

Same where i grew up. A whole mountain attached to a public park with trials, a summit and valley view have been chained off and no trespassing signs posted. If you go past sensors trigger and bring the sherif and dog team.

I can't believe that s***. When I was a kid the developers wanted to pave that hill with mansions and the fight won in court guaranteed that mountain to the public "forevermore".

I know how to get there a back way and sure enough, there are mansions sprouting on the backslope.

Its only a matter of time.

They paved paradise…

a reply to: sled735

A living dune that for some is the living end.

Buhahahahahaha!