On the Road 8 x 30; 24 x 7

07-08-2005 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Lake Michigan

They tout this area as one of the most scenic portions of this Great Lake shoreline. I thought it was one of the most scenic places I've ever seen. The sand and water and cliffs make it look like The Mediterranean Sea. It doesn't really look like anywhere else in the good old USA. The Great Lakes (Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie, Ontario) and their connecting waterways account for about 18% of the world's surface freshwater (second only to the polar ice caps!), granting them status as one of the natural wonders of the world. Rugged, glacially formed bluffs towering as high as 460 feet above Lake Michigan are a stunning sight.

Why is the park called Sleeping Bear Dunes, you ask? A beautiful Chippewa Indian Legend has been preserved through the generations and is a part of the mystery and the beauty of the Sleeping Bear region in Leelanau County. Long ago, in the land that is now Wisconsin, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. Wearily the Mother Bear reached Michigan's great sand bluffs, but the exhausted cubs disappeared beneath the water before reaching shore. Mother Bear climbed to the top of the dunes to await her cubs. Grief-stricken and spent, the Mother Bear fell into a deep sleep. The Great Spirit Manitou took pity and raised her two cubs as beautiful gem-like islands, forested with green and edged with golden sand. Today as the wind, the rain and the snow sweeps over Mother Bear and the sun warms her, she keeps her lonely vigil waiting for the return of her cubs. The spirit of her cubs lives on forever in the beautiful Manitou Islands.

How did the dunes form, you ask? During the Ice Age continental glaciers spread southward from Canada, repeatedly burying this area under sheets of ice. These massive glaciers enlarged river valleys, carving out the wide, deep basins of the Great Lakes. They deposited huge piles of sand and rock debris when they melted, leaving behind the hilly terrain. Finally, 11,800 years ago, the last glacier retreated. The level of water filling Lake Michigan's ice-carved basin rose and fell many times before reaching its present level. The lake's shoreline--at first irregular with jutting headlands and recessed bays--was gradually smoothed out. Waves wore back the headlands. Shoreline currents carrying sediments built sandbars and spits across bay mouths. Sometimes sediments dammed bays, creating small inland lakes such as Glen Lake that we could see from the top of the Dunes. Receding Lake Michigan water levels have left a series of old beach lines that remain as alternating and contrasting low ridges and swales.

The glaciers left behind an ideal setting for building sand dunes; a sandy coast on the windward side of Lake Michigan. Prevailing westerly winds blowing across the lake build two kinds of dunes in Sleeping Bear Dunes. Beach dunes develop on low-lying shores of Lake Michigan. Their main ingredient is beach sand. Perched dunes, on the other hand, sit high above the shore on plateaus. Glacial sands atop these surfaces supplied material for these dunes. Some dunes migrate, pushed by the wind. Sometimes shifting sands bury trees. Then, as the dunes move on, "ghost forests" of dead trees are exposed, stark reminders of the dunes' passing. Not even humans have escaped the influence of windblown sand. U.S. Coast Guard buildings now located in Glen Haven had to be moved from Sleeping Bear Point in 1931 because migrating dunes threatened to cover them. Often, geological changes occur slowly over millions of years, but here you can witness dramatic changes within your lifetime. Twice in the last century landslides at Sleeping Bear Point sent large land masses plunging into Lake Michigan. In a matter of years, trees disappear as shifting dunes bury them under a blanket of sand.

Bob and I can testify to the fact that people can disappear in the sand as the dunes shift under your feet! We set out at noon in high spirits up the 400 foot plus dune. Our legs were aching, our hearts were pumping and we turned around to view Little and Big Glen Lakes behind us. We were dismayed to find we had only gone about a hundred yards. Walking up sixty to seventy degrees incline on shifting sand can be a losing proposition. With a few stops for catching our breath we made it to the top. But when we looked over all we saw was another steep dune! There were probably several hundred people going up and down this first huge dune. We couldn't believe what a crowd was out there. The parking lot had several buses of tour groups and kids camps. We forged ahead.

By this time we're already overheated. The sun shining off the bright sand was like a furnace. People were walking barefoot out there and said it was really hot on their feet. Many turned back but we had shoes and socks and were determined to make it out to Lake Michigan. About the third steep dune that we topped rewarded us with our first glimpse of the Great Lake! I was totally unprepared for the deep blues and aqua colors of the water. Think Monte Cristo and Cancun! We drank about half of our fluids on the way out. It really was like trekking across the desert. We got to a signpost that said 3/4 mile (we had gone 3/4 of a mile from the trailhead and we had 3/4 of a mile to go to the Lake.) Bob and I hike a lot so I can usually judge how far we've gone by how tired I am. I felt like we had gone about four miles at this point. I read an article that triathlon athletes and cyclists in training walk and run in sand to train. It takes ten times the effort in the same amount of time.

Anyway we were halfway there at this point. Most of the crowd had turned back after they topped that second dune and just saw another one in the distance. So by the time we actually got a glimpse of the Lake most people had turned back. A lady about our age with two teenage daughters was determined to make it out there. Her daughters weren't so sure. They all had flip flops on and said the sand was burning their toes. We left them in the shade of a scrubby tree that was clinging for life to the side of a dune. There were about five scrawny trees out there along the way providing minimal shade. But it felt like an oasis when you could get out of the relentless sun for just a minute. I can't imagine what it must have been like here last week when the temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees higher and the humidity was sky high.

The last quarter mile was relatively flat but still it was difficult to walk in the deep sand. But when we cleared that last rise, all discomfort was forgotten. The water was glorious, sparkling in the sun. The sky was a hundred hues of blue and a cool breeze was blowing off the water. As we stepped onto the strip of beach the temperature dropped 15 degrees. We took our shoes off and poured out sand. Then we waded into the 60-degree lake water. It felt more like 45 or 50 to me. They say it is 10 degrees above normal for this time of year after the unusually hot June temperatures. We sat on the shore sipping a Wild Cherry Pepsi, cooling our feet and letting the breeze dry out our sweat-soaked clothes. Offshore, surrounded by the unpredictable waters of Lake Michigan, sit North and South Manitou Islands, tranquil and secluded. The South Manitou Island Lighthouse was built in 1871 to guide ships through the Manitou Passage and into the island's harbor. Several large ships went through the Manitou passage as we sat on the beach. There were less than a half dozen people who made it out this far so we had the place to ourselves. After a brief rest we walked down the shore for a bit looking for unusual rocks. But thinking of the hike back we didn't go far. After about 45 minutes we packed up our stuff and headed back taking one last glance back at the colorful panorama around us.

As soon as we left the beach and the cool breezes off the Lake, the temperature skyrocketed again. We were hot and tired quickly and our legs were jelly from the sand. A group of young kids passed us on their way out to the Lake. One young guy was barefoot and said he'd buy our shoes; we said 'No deal.' The hike back wasn't nearly as exhausting as starting our trek up that 400 foot cliff was. We paced ourselves and made it back about 4:00. We laughed ourselves silly as we poured cupfuls of sand out of our shoes. Click here for Movie Clip of the sand we brought back with us! If anybody knows how I can 'rotate' this movie clip let me know. Until then, just stand on your head to view it! I bought postcards at the gift shop. As we made our way back to the truck a large group of kids had a footrace down the Big Dune. Oh, to be young!

We went north around Big Glen Lake to Glen Arbor and had lunch at Boon Docks. It was kind of a tourist trap but by that time we needed sustenance. I had a nice, but overpriced salmon salad and Bob had a chicken salad sandwich. We drove back around Big Glen Lake. This is a huge, perfectly round glacial lake that has that awesome aqua color. Lots of folks were skiing and boating out there. We stopped for gas in Benzonia and then collapsed at home with the paper. I opened our big packet of mail and had fun reading notes from postcard traders and all my Texas friends who are so good about staying in touch.

A family with an old travel trailer and a big tent moved in to the site next to us that the tenters vacated yesterday morning. There is a lot of activity here tonight. I guess the seasonal folks are here for the weekend.