[Southsider2k12]

Mount Baldy at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will remained closed to the general public for at least the third straight full summer.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/indiana...summer-38312345

[Southsider2k12]

One more update from the National Park Service on Mt Baldy!

The great news is that they WILL be offering Ranger guided tours of Mount Baldy again this summer. I emailed their Public Information Official and ranger Bruce Rowe today and not only did he confirm that they are going to have regular tours Friday nights at 5pm and Sunday mornings at 10am this summer, but as a special added bonus, they are going to offer a limited number of sunset hikes to Mt Baldy on select Friday nights. The exact dates and schedules are still to come, but it is in the plans for the summer.

When asked about the tours last year Mr Rowe told me that;

"We consider the tours last summer to be very successful. Most of the 23 tours we offered last summer filled to about 90% capacity (636 total visits). We had some cancellations of course, but we filled many of those spots with people who were at the visitor center and didn't even know there was a tour until they arrived here. "

Finally I asked Mr Rowe if there was anything else the public should know about the status of research at Mt Baldy and he told me that;

"The community should know that the results from a major research project on Mt. Baldy is due to the park later this fall. This project is being done by a group of scientists working through the Indiana Geological Survey out of Bloomington, Indiana. That report should give us a good idea of what is happening under Mt. Baldy and the extent of the phenomenon. "

I am excited! How about you all? The Mystery of Mt Baldy might finally be answered.

[diggler]

I don't think we've seen the last of the Dunes closures.

_