Zully J.F. Alvarado moved from Chicago to Gary, looked out from her wheelchair and gazed upon Marquette Lagoon, rimmed by Lake Michigan dunes and oak forests, now outside of her home window. She wanted to kayak. Never mind that she had a dreadful fear of the water, not being able to swim. Why not her? In fact, why not Gary?
Her persistence and help from the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association led to an ADA-accessible canoe and kayak launch in 2016 and a succession of evening group paddles that, she says, became a âgreat equalizer.â
The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) launch provides a sliding bench where you scoot from your wheelchair into a kayak, then pull the boat into the water. But it also saves aged and weakened knees and hips from fully crouching to the ground.
As seen from wooden steps, a sign at Weko Beach in Bridgman warns hikers to stay off of the fragile dune. A treacherous ice shelf forms on Lake Michigan, but you can see still open water from shore. Climbing the shelf can be fatal because of trap doors in the uneven ice.
Tribune Photo/JOSEPH DITS