Eighteen miles of uninterrupted trail running, thirteen miles hiking the shoreline with a cool Lake Michigan breeze at our back, three peaceful nights camping in the wilderness, two glorious sun sets, one beautiful moon rising (ahh… bella luna, my beautiful belle) followed by a gentle sun waking from his sleep summarizes the grand finale of my unofficial end of the summer.
Each year my brothers and I travel to Michigan’s North Manitou Island in the Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore to close out our summer. Patrick did not come with out this year due to other commitments. Matthew and I made the most of it. In addition to exploring the island, we had to do some trail running to prepare for the Chicago Marathon.
A Relaxing First Day
We arrived at Leland, Michigan to catch our ferry early Friday morning. I met my ‘Nokia Bro’ on the boat ride there. We had a nice public conversation about how great our phone was. When we arrived on North Manitou Island, we checked in with the park rangers to complete our back country camping permits and quickly headed for the west coast to set up camp. This year we decided to spend two relaxing nights near the beaches at the old Town of Crescent site. We took the shortest and fastest route there, Centerline Trail. It’s quick but boring. We set up our campsite and enjoyed sunset number one while we ate dinner on the beach. We cleaned up our dinner site and watched the stars glitter in the sky and the moon light the beach and trails.
Trail Running, the Beach, and Exploring
We kept the electronics on silent to let the warm sun wake us up. We prepared for our 18 mile trail run around the island. We decided to take the lower main trail to the village area, head towards Lake Manitou, and finally back to Crescent via the Old Grade Trail. I impressed Matthew with my fall and recovery skills. Past Fredrickson Place, my right foot caught an exposed root. I tumbled and rolled. Matthew was surprised that I didn’t fall flat on my face and break something. The trail to the Village and to Lake Manitou climbed and descended gradually. The inclines were barely noticeable until we hit the Old Grade. We climbed that trail until we hit the clearing close to the beach. Matthew needed to slow down to keep his heart rate within its target range. (It sucks to be a flatlander sometimes.) We ran past Crescent to get in our full 18 miles and finally turned back towards our the beach for a cool down. We tossed off our ASICS and jumped into the water. Lake Michigan became the largest ice bath in my life.
We relaxed, ate the smoked salmon we brought on our trip, and relaxed some more. During the late afternoon, groups of people began swarming towards the beach. Friday, it was a group of four, a soloist, my brother and I. Last year, there were only two small groups at the beach for the entire weekend. I guess my little secret got out. I blame the economy.
We decided to search for the Pot Holes and do a bit of exploring. For the past two years, we wondered what the Pot Holes were and how they looked. We headed north. Partway through our journey, solitude joined us. There were many tracks on the beach left by deer, coyote, gulls, and people. We came across two campers slightly illegally camped on the beach. I don’t blame them. It was a great spot. An idyllic beach greeted them at their tent’s at the door. The sand bluffs were screening wilderness behind them. They were staying in an REI Hoodoo 3 tent like mine and the amazingly cute girl was wearing a Moosejaw t-shirt. My two favorite stores plus an extremely cute girl equals heaven. I digress. Further north we reach a pot hole. It was THE Pot Holes but a pot hole or at least what we expect them to look like. What we found was a deep erosion creating a creator in the the side of a sand bluff. When climbing up through the crevice of the beast, the sand was hard as rock but the area outside the erosion area was typical beach sand.
We wanted to press further but decided to head back to catch another sun set. We found a spot for a great photo of the sunset creating a silhouette of the sand dune grass. despite my camera hungry for new batteries, I managed to take a few great photos. We cooked our dinner at the beach under the light of the full moon and Matt spent an hour or so photographing the night sky.
The next day, I woke up early to photograph Swenson’s Barn in the morning. Missing boards have been replaced. I’m glad they decided to keep this old barn standing. I love that barn. We spend time with water workouts while our gear dried from the morning dew. We finally packed up. Matthew decided to go along with a boneheaded idea I had.
A Good But Boneheaded Idea
I REALLY REALLY wanted to hike down the coast to see something new. We’ve been meaning to check out Dimmick’s Point to see piping plovers. We found a staircase leading up a bluff, a couple of sun bathers, a smelly marsh, and a nice beach. It wasn’t too exciting. This part of the island had much more garbage landing on shore. We eventually reached Dimmick’s Point and found the plovers. They entertained us and we started to make comments about these birds are endangered. It’s not because of man’s encroachment on their nesting grounds nor is it because of some impact by us. We jokingly concluded it was because they weren’t too bright. The hike took longer than I expected and we couldn’t find a spot to camp until 11p. We were lucky to see the moon wake up with her blood shot eyes. We cooked and went to bed at 1:30a. Next time, we’ll set up camp first before going on an adventure like that.
Post Island
We woke up at 5a to prepare to leave and took more night photos of a structure in the village. We cooked breakfast in the village area while the sun woke up. While waiting on the docks, we talked to one of the groups that arrived on the island with us and the soloist. Marcie, a friend of my ‘Nokia Bro’, told us about Art’s Tavern great nachos and beer. Matthew became friends with the solo backpacker. Matthew and I enjoyed our traditional post North Manitou ice cream at Leland Harbor House. Before heading home, we set our sights on Art’s Tavern. I think Nokia Bro’s friend overhyped the nachos. I really enjoyed Art’s Ale. Ultimately, we decided the place was not t-shirt worthy that day. It’s good enough to give it another shot next year.
There’s a lot to enjoy, see, and do on North Manitou. I want to bring a light inflatable raft on North Manitou and go fishing. I’d like to circumnavigate North Manitou Island if I ever become competent in a kayak on Lake Michigan. I want to reach the Pot Holes and a few other homesteads on my next trip. North Manitou was a fun and relaxing trip to end the summer.