The 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Adventures

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Wolves!

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures: 

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach  [A Heartland Indie Bestseller]

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk   [Winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award] 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure  [Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize]

 


To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/



The National Park Service has completed the final administrative hurdle to authorize the transport of wolves to Isle Royale.
Press Release HERE.

This is good news for this wilderness island with its exploding moose population. Currently there are an estimated 1,500 moose "...with the potential to double in the next 4-5 years without wolf predation" 
(Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale Annual Report 2017 - 2018 
by Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich, and Sarah R. Hoy).

The two wolves currently on the island are  7 and 9 years old. They are a male and female, closely related, and not likely to breed successfully. 

New wolves will bring significant changes to the island which will be observed by scientists and volunteers hiking Moosewatch Expeditions.

A huge fallen tree on the island (& Me)


Balsam fir browsed by moose during the winter


Bull moose skull gathered by Moosewatch team 2018

I will lead an all-women team of hikers in 2019 on a Moosewatch Expedition.

If you'd like more information about hiking a Moosewatch Expedition next year, please email me at: 
LakeTrek@gmail.com



Sunday, July 15, 2018

Ancient Reefs in Our Great Lakes

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures: 

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach  [A Heartland Indie Bestseller]

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk   [Winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award] 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure  [Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize]

 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/


Many people searching the lakeshore for petoskey stones are unaware that it is a fossilized coral. Vast coral reefs grew in the shallow sea covering the middle of this continent long before the glaciers gouged out the basins for our Great Lakes.

I recently visited a remote (and undisclosed) portion of the lakeshore to visit some giant pieces of that ancient reef:




Piece of reef with fossilized corals [size 11 foot included for scale]


Petoskey stones are abundant along some stretches of the lakeshore




Here's another piece of reef with fossilized corals

And I saw a new (to me) moth on this hike, 
the Leconte's Haploa Moth.




Can you find it here?


How about here?



Close-up of Leconte's Haploa Moth






Sunday, July 8, 2018

Bay Books in Suttons Bay

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures: 

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach  [A Heartland Indie Bestseller]

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk   [Winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award] 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure  [Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize]

 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/



I love a good indie bookstore, and I'm always thrilled when a new one opens near me.
Bay Books opened this May in the lovely town of Suttons Bay. This community has been without a bookstore for several years, so this is an important addition to the stores there. 


BAY BOOKS, 419 N Saint Joseph Street, Suttons Bay, Michigan 

[I don't know about you, but I need to visit a bookstore when I'm exploring a town!]




Tina Greene-Bevington (L) owner of Bay Books and Me (R)


The store has a homey vibe since it is housed in a former house. Books are shelved in several rooms and you can wander from room to room. 


Nicely curated selection of books


Notice the small sign on top of shelf that reads: 'SWEAT IS FAT CRYING'

The front room is where the great selection of children's books are kept. 

Children's books in front room


I found a great book for a gift, and Tina said she'd order and stock a book I asked about 
(Florida a short story collection 
by Lauren Groff).

After reading about Groff's work as she ordered the books, Tina got as excited as I was about the new book. Indie bookstore owners and workers have such passion about their stores and for literature. 


Next time you're in Suttons Bay, stop in at Bay Books. Next door to Martha's Table restaurant.

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, WI

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures: 

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach  [A Heartland Indie Bestseller]

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk   [Winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award] 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure  [Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize]

 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/



If you find yourself in northern Wisconsin near the Apostle Islands, make time to stop in at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center.




Colorful murals grace the walls of the center

 Here you'll find abundant information about the region. 



Lake Superior Art 


Displays about the formation of Lake Superior


And copper artifacts from region

 And the top floor of the center is a lookout platform with views of the Apostle Islands.