Great Lakes Walk Anniversary

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [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*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

Five years ago today I completed my 1,000-mile hike exploring all five Great Lakes.

The yellow line in the map below traces the route of this adventure. I spent time on each Great Lake and also hiked some of the watery connections between the lakes.

The yellow route is my Great Lakes Walk

 Here are some highlights from this journey:

Pictured Rocks along Lake Superior

Hiking along limestone-strewn Lake Huron

Niagara Falls

St. Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge

Hiking along Lake Erie

Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake St. Clair

Hiking the Waterfront Trail along Lake Ontario

Group that hiked final miles with me to finish line of Niagara Falls

  I learned so much about our Great Lakes on this adventure. Each lake has a unique "personality." The geology differs in each basin. And each lake has unique conditions for aquatic life.

The full story of this walk is in my second book (also available as an audiobook):

A Moment from My Second Adventure

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/

On my Great Lakes Walk, I hiked the entire "sunrise side" of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. This included hiking the length of the Detroit River and the St. Clair River.

Here's a moment hiking along the St. Clair River:

Book Tour Travels to Grand Rapids

 This week, the tour with my new book

A 1,000-MILE GREAT LAKES WALK

took me to Grand Rapids and Lansing.

My first stop was at WJRW in downtown Grand Rapids.

The Grand Rapids River is back within its banks after flooding last month

Host Dave Jaconette welcomes me in studio

I had some time before my appearance that evening in Lansing,

so I visited the Gerald R. Ford Museum

AND

the GRAM (Grand Rapids Art Museum). 

Art at the GRAM

Great exhibits at this museum

The Ford Museum is right on the Grand River

The day closed with an evening appearance at the 

B&N at Lansing Mall.

An August Woman's Literary Club

The building where they used to meet

I recently gave a lecture about my Lake Michigan hike in Holland, Michigan.

The group there, the Woman's Literary Club of Holland, has been in existence for over a century and they currently have over 150 members who meet twice-monthly to discuss all things literary.  

They now meet in this Holland church 

This club has rich history. One woman told me that her grandmother was one of the founding members of the club.

Mimi is the president of the group 

Author visits are always followed by 

coffee, dessert, and chatting.

It was a pleasure to meet these 
literary-minded women! 

How to Avoid Being Eaten by a Bear

Here's my trick to avoid 

being eaten

by a 

BEAR:

A Slice of Summer...

This video is filmed on 

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

A little slice of summer for you:

Listen to the waves....

The Evolution of a Book Cover

You might wonder how a book cover comes about...what revisions it goes through...

how it reaches the version you see on the bookshelves.

For my books, it always begins with a trip to the lake and me standing in the freezing water.

 (Why we never seem to plan this for 
the warmer months is a mystery...) 

Sometimes things go awry.

 Eventually, we get a strong image that evokes

things like:

Great Lakes, Adventure, Long Journey, 
Why is that Woman Standing in the Lake...

 And then we begin the process of working with that image to make the best cover:

An early version had me standing on the right side of the cover.

Then we switched me to the left side and got rid of the pier pylon in the foreground:

That seemed to work, and we arrived at the cover as you see here in the last image.

My editor will tweak the colors a bit before sending it to the printer, but that's pretty much the cover you'll see on the bookshelves.

This book will have a pre-release to select indie bookstores in April, and will be available wherever books are sold in June.

Sign up for updates at the top of the sidebar to find out where the book will be available!

The Adventure Concludes!

The final 15 miles of my 
1000-MILE GREAT LAKES WALK

took place in Niagara Falls, Ontario, along the Niagara River Recreational Trail. 

On October 19-20, I hiked with a fantastic group of people who came to the falls 
to join me for the final miles of my adventure.

We had lovely weather the first day, hiking among the bright colors of fall.  Our break the first day was at a winery along the way. We stopped for wine and cheese. 

That's classy hiking!

My sister (Leslie), Me, and my cousin (Milene)

Hiking amidst the fall leaves

Niagara River merging with Lake Ontario

Hikers Day 1 at Brock's Monument

Hikers Day 2

Overlooking the Niagara River

Hikers celebrate the end of the hike

The Falls

I'd like to thank everyone who came to Niagara to celebrate the finale of my hike, people who have followed my adventure, and to all of you who care about our Great Lakes.

I will continue to blog about issues effecting our Great Lakes.

The book about this hike, 

A 1000-MILE GREAT LAKES WALK,

will be released in early 2013.

Please watch for it at your favorite independent bookstore, and watch the sidebar here for my upcoming book tour and speaking engagements. 

Somebody's Watching Me

While hiking on the remote island of North Manitou, I had a feeling I was being watched.

So...

I looked over my shoulder...

And saw this praying mantis riding ON my shoulder.

Hello...

I dropped him off on a tree and continued my hike.

Insect life abounds at the lake edge. 

Here are a few more photos of butterflies I encountered along the way.