Climbs and Drops

July 1, 2015 Sleeping Bear Dunes

Firestarting is not my forte.  While we were at Leelanau, a place we really needed fire, I was only able to create ash and smoke.  By the time I got back to the site after a quick run to see if lighter fluid was available, Jen had the fire roaring.  The giggles and the kids laughing were so cute.  So damn cute. 

After the three hour drive from Leelanau S.P., and stops for laundry and grabbing a wifi connection, we headed for the two hour trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore to see what the buzz was about.  Jen saw this featured on Good Morning America about five years ago and has wanted to check out the 450-700 foot sand dunes ever since. That’s one of the reasons for this trip, after all.  The locals don’t like Good Morning America.

We checked in at Sleeping Bear around 1PM to take it all in.  "Wow" is all I can say about this park.  Luckily the National Park was closed through June 30 for repaving and upgrading, and, since we got there on July 1, it was meticulously maintained and upgraded.  Everything was beautiful and there was dropped limb firewood at every site from pruning.  When I reserved my campsite on Platte River Campground only about a week prior, I got the last one, so we were very lucky in that respect.  I was really happy we were there on day one to see what a National Park SHOULD be, because as we were leaving we watched people cleaning their dishes and stuff in the shower area, by the water areas clearly marked not to, etc.  Restore my faith in humanity there folks.  That’d be great.

 

I think the state bird of Michigan should be the mosquito.  They were EVERYWHERE.  My buddy Jamie had me buy this contraption by Coleman that has a starter switch on it, and you put a pack in it to keep em away.  Worked pretty good considering they were everywhere.  I only came away with about 100 bites.  Considering there were a million mosquitoes, I didn’t fare that bad.  I don’t know why they don’t pester Jen. 

We were able to set up the insta-tent in no time and decided it was time to do some exploring.  The Lakeshore is HUGE, with little towns in between the 18-20 mile stretch of park. Cute, little, expensive towns that cater to tourists.  Folks here don’t like Good Morning America, like I said. 

We got to the Dune Climb, 18 miles away from Platte River Campground about 4PM, which isn’t a problem since the sun doesn’t set here until oh, midnight it seems.  The kids were ready to go as were Jen and I.  Off came the shoes once we saw the sand and a limited amount of sharp sticks and stones, and the climb began.  The first section was similar to the bay side of our own national Seashore, it appeared almost to be exactly the same thing.  The kids basically sprinted UP the dunes, which were comprised of loose sand and other particles. We got to the top of dune one and snapped a couple of shots.

Dune two was a little more complex. “Ha, way to bring your kids here and attempt to follow them up me—I’ll learn ya a thing or three”, said the sleeping bear.  Up we started, slower now, looking at the kids who RAN up the dune again to point two. By the time point three came, I had the kids explore the peak for us, as I was starting to think this was a joke—a good one, but a practical joke nonetheless.  GT called down to us (me and Jen) stating these dunes ‘didn’t end’.  I, knowing that there had to be another side (research) to show Lake Michigan was tempted to keep going and see both sides but my heart cavity decided to make be breathe laboriously by this time and my calves decided to cramp at the same time allowing me to ‘feel the burn’.  I decided it was the end for me.  I was happy with my accomplishment anyway.  I was able to climb all the way to point three, I’m guessing it was about a two mile hike, straight up.  ERRRR 300 feet.

Now was the fun part.  The kids were ready to run DOWN the dune.  This, of course after running down and UP to spot four for another vantage point.  I was getting winded just watching them. I asked them to wait for us as Jen and I walked down the hill (much more fun) to try and get a quick movie capture.  As you may have guessed, Avery sprinted DOWN the hill like a gazelle, while GT also did the same and totally face planted in front of a passerby climber who just shook his head with this OMG-I-can’t-­ believe- that-kid-just-tried-to-run-down-the-hill look.

Hopefully the bust will turn out on a bigger screen.  We were able to get off the dune, mostly uninjured, but I’m pretty sure that GT will have sand coming out of his nostrils and every other orifice over the course of the next ten to thirty years. I can see him now, showing his grandkids the “I used to run down this” hill and have an epiphany as the last grain of sand finally falls out of his nose.

We needed gas, so after the dunes we checked out the Coast Guard Station nearby that reminded me of Ft Pickens, hit some touristy town called ‘touristy place’ and ate dinner, had a beer, a 24 oz one—yay Bells brewery—and went to head back to camp.  On the way back we noticed there was a ‘scenic drive’ which I decided to take.  GT objected to this when I decided we were going to take the scenic drive but I couldn’t hear him being that his voice was garbled with sand particles.        

Jen was a little bummed that we had to climb for the views and couldn’t see much and we both thought there was way more to this place.  The dune scenic drive was where the ‘more to this place’ came into effect.  After whining and complaining that they both wanted to go back to the campsite, we got out to shoot a couple of pics of the covered bridge.  

The scenic view points are numbered (so I guess people don’t miss them?—however I did notice that some were just kind of ‘huh?’—maybe they needed an even 10 spots) Then we got to spot 9 and 10.  Noticed all the cars.  Wondered what’s down the path, then there it was! (cue angels singing from above) 450 feet of sand in a slightly yellow tint, straight down, very steep. The warnings at the top of the hill stated you need to allot about two hours if you decide to go down this ‘hill’.  Avery complained because she wanted to run down, again, and then climb back up. After looking at the ants at the bottom starting to come back up and, yes I did see them appear to be complaining, I nixed that decision.  We DID allow both her and GT to run down from the 700 foot spot to where the steep dune started but she had to stop at the bush looking thing so as not to tumble over and fly down the dune.  It was scary how fast she was going, but luckily slammed on the brakes and fell ungracefully before going ALMOST over the side.  That pretty much stopped my heart a second. She did manage to stop on a stick and cut her foot on that run but didn’t complain as the Lutz “if you’re gonna be stupid, you better be tough” motto held fast.  She wasn’t happy she couldn’t go all the way down but I was, and was back at camp before 1AM.

We were able to buy lighter fluid at the IGA store (I don’t see a lot of Walmarts here but it’s pretty rural, which is very nice) before heading back to camp. Using the small shavings of sticks that were around, I created a pile and lit it, not even using the lighter fluid.  After getting the sticks roaring, I added the log tee-pee.  It was brilliant and beautiful, and roaring.  Jen was, needless to say, impressed. I on the other hand marveled at myself for being able to remember how to correctly light a fire, then had to go to the bathroom, as it was getting colder out by the minute.  55 degrees with no wind is MUCH warmer than 49 with hurricane winds, so I’ll take it. I got back to camp and noticed Jen tinkering with the fire, or what was the fire and now was ash and smoke and unburned pieces of wood.  Our fire skills competition is now tied 1-1.  We were able to get it going with the help of some lighter fluid and stayed up for about another 30 minutes then slept like babies. Beautiful place you got here, Michigan.