Riding Underwater in the Indiana Dunes

It was quite the ride yesterday at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. John and I went to meet some friends and ride the trails at the Dunes State Park. They got there before us, and since we had to saddle up, they went on ahead and we planned to meet them on the trail. We weren't very far into the dunes when it became apparent that the recent weather had made the trails wet and muddy. But then we came upon what appeared to be a small lake...the trail just disappeared into the water. We could see where the trail picked up on the other side. Our Girls, being the great trail horses they are, forged ahead through the water. I just love the fact that they can handle anything the trail throws at them. And yesterday the dunes really provided something different. We were riding through the water and it got deeper, and deeper! I had my camera with me, and took some of these photos when we were almost out of it. In one of the photos Zora's tail is actually floating on the water! It was an amazing experience, and one that was repeated four times on this ride -- yes, we came across four places where the trail was just swallowed up by flooding. Crossing one flooded section, I looked down and could not see my feet -- they were completely underwater! I am just kicking myself for not getting photos or video of that stretch of "trail." At the next flooded spot, I took this video. Unfortunately the video does not show the most flooded area we went through, but you can get an idea of what it was like. We never did cross paths with our friends -- they avoided the flooded areas, which is probably the most intelligent thing to do. But then John and I have never been accused of being intelligent!