Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sunday was our day to explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We spent a lot of time walking up the dunes.

Walking out to Sleeping Bear Point near Glen Haven.

A view across Manitou passage

The lighthouse floating above the horizon. I enjoyed looking at the mirage at the horizon.

Joy waiting for us to come back up the dune. Joy very quickly and wisely learned to conserve her energy in the dunes. The loose sand made walking very difficult.

Our next stop was Dune Climb. (see map) The name seemed self-explanatory, so we started climbing. After the first steep rise, we could see that we were no where near the top. Here, I am at the second dune, which is twice as high as the first. Needless to say, we couldn't see the lake from this dune top either. I think Joy wearied of hearing Regan and I say, "let's just go to the top of the next dune, and then we'll see."

Eventually, we got to the top of a dune from which we could see Lake Michigan. Joy was not going any further, and I resigned myself to retreat to the car.

I did have to go on just a little bit further, on principle. Here you can see Joy and Regan climbing a dune on the way back to the car. I think I was caught up with Joy by the time she got to the crest.

The dune overlook, on the Pierce-Stocking scenic drive was spectacular. I had a very hard time resisting the urge to walk down and back, but we had a 8+ hour drive home. This spot is 450 feet above Lake Michigan.

A Peregrine Falcon flew by heading south while we were at the lookout. It would have been great to just sit there for a while. Well, I can't imagine that I would just sit there, especially when there are dunes to climb.