Invasive Plants

 

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

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

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

I like to volunteer to maintain or improve the trails that I hike near my home in Traverse City. Sure, I always pick up trash when I hike, but I also actively search for opportunities to work on these trails. One time I even got to help put in a new trail in one of Leelanau Conservancy's properties. 

This week, I joined with volunteers to help remove the invasive garlic mustard plant from Clay Cliffs Natural Area. This is one of my favorite trails within the Leelanau Conservancy.

Since it had rained the night before, pulling up these invasive plants was pretty easy and we cleared large patches of it.

Here are some photos from the work day:

Go HERE to view a tutorial on how to identify and remove invasive garlic mustard plants.

Leland

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

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

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

One of my favorite lakeshore towns is Leland, Michigan. There is a lot of history here connected to the Lake Michigan fishery. 

Many boats used to come into the Leland River filled with Lake Michigan fish. The historic collection of small buildings used to process the catch are preserved here in Fishtown.

The Carlson family still fishes these waters and smokes the fish here. 

The Joy (below) is one of their fishing boats and is a trap-net tug.

Rising lake levels have recently threatened Fishtown structures and work is underway to elevate the most vulnerable structures. Fishtown Preservation is the group doing this work.

Here are some more shots along the Leland River:

If you go, make sure you get a sandwich at the Village Cheese Shanty. Amazing!

Great Lakes OTTERS

 Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile journeys exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

Did you know that there are otters in the Great Lakes? Have you ever seen one?

During my adventures, I have seen otters on three of the Great Lakes (Michigan, Huron and Superior). I saw otter tracks on North Manitou Island. I watched them feed as the sun set on Lake Huron.

This week I took a drive out to Leland (Michigan) and saw something on the ice in the harbor. I parked as the otter finished chewing what it had caught and slid back into the harbor. 

I walked out on a dock to get a closer look and the otter surfaced again, spent some time chewing, then slid back into the water. 

Otters are fun to watch, especially if there is more than one. They are playful and animated.

Check out my photo and video from this encounter...and keep your eyes open for your own otter sighting.

Whaleback Natural Area

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. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

I moved to Traverse City three years ago to be near "my lake" (Lake Michigan) and, especially, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

While there are over a 100 miles of hiking trails within the National Lakeshore, there are many more miles of hiking in lands conserved by the Leelanau Conservancy and Grand Traverse Conservation District.

I am exploring all of these trails, trying to tick off new ones like in this previous post...(which is difficult, sometimes, because I am constantly drawn back to my favorites).

This month I vowed to hike Whaleback Natural Area just south of Leland. 
From out on the lake, this rise in the shoreline resembles a surfacing whale.

This trail is about 1.5 miles out-and-back with views of Lake Michigan along the way.

Lake Michigan with Pyramid Point in the distance

This trail passes through private land and runs adjacent to a vineyard before getting up into the wooded preserve.

There are wildflowers and patches of thimbleberry plants (surprise!). These plants are common in areas far north of here, but a patch persists this preserve.

Blazes mark the trail

Thimbleberry plants

Vineyard at beginning of trail

I continue to look for opportunities to contribute by doing trail clean-up and trail-blazing with the organizations overseeing conservation areas in the region.

Spring Approaches

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. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

I love watching the ice recede in the spring. 

Today I walked along the shores of Lake Michigan in Leland, Michigan.

The shelf ice is stacked in places, eroding into strange shapes and bridges and icebergs.

There are places where a layer of thin ice has broken, revealing what lies beneath.

Spring approaches.

Perched Dunes

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/

Did you know that there are different types of sand dunes? Along the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (stretching between Leland and Frankfort in NW lower Michigan), you'll find a unique type of dune called a 

PERCHED DUNE.

These dunes will be steeper than dunes formed only from sand because perched dunes have layers of stone mixed in with the sand which helps to stabilize the steeper face of the dune.

Rains wash out the sand revealing the stone layers

These mixed dunes were formed when the glaciers melted, dropping their loads of rocks and sand into huge piles. Often, a glacier would be melting at the same rate it was advancing, acting like a conveyer for the tons of sand and rocks carried within the mountain of ice. 

The glaciers were over a mile tall when they covered the Great Lakes Basin!

Stone layers at base of dune

 The stones within the dune have not been tumbled by the lake, so they have sharper edges.

Stones from within dune

 There are a lot of granite stones and boulders along Lake Michigan, but ALL of these stones were transported here by glaciers from the Canadian Shield.

Granite found along Lake Michigan

Enjoy a bit of video from along Lake Michigan, south of Leland, MI:

Ice on Lake Michigan

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/

In the middle of March, I hiked the edge of Lake Michigan near Leland, Michigan.

The beach had been cleared of ice the week prior, but low temps had allowed ice to form again. Wind stacked up slabs of ice near the shoreline.

Some of the ice had that lovely blueish color. Icicles formed along edges...one even formed inverted.

Check out the photos from that sunny day:

Ice slabs stacked up along the shoreline -- up to 8 feet tall in places

Blueish tinge to some ice slabs

This icicle is probably the bottom half of an icicle off the tree

Ice has power as it is moved by wind and waves. The glaciers transported rocks as they moved through the region, scraping, pushing and conveying rocks hundreds of miles on their journeys. 

Ice moves rocks

Even larger stones can be carried along by ice slabs

Leland, Michigan

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

My book tour recently took me to Leland, Michigan where I spoke at the library...

The Library in Leland

...and then signed books at the lovely bookstore in town, Leelanau Books. 

The bookstore always has fresh flowers for their authors!

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear me speak and to get their book at the lovely indie bookstore. Leelanau Books has signed copies in stock, so hurry to get yours!

Friends along the way

The idea of a 1000-mile hike probably sounds pretty lonely, but I have times where I meet up with friends, am tracked down by family members, and even make new friends along the way.

I caught up with Mary Catterlin and Amy Lukas on my way north for this last leg of my hike. 

Mary and Amy have spent the summer paddling and sometimes sailing this little, handmade dugout canoe (with outriggers) around Lake Michigan.

Mary and Amy with their boat called Makeba

Amy and I had met for lunch to discuss the Lake Michigan shoreline before they began their adventure in July. They are now in the homestretch of their adventure and I was delighted to see their boat and drive them to Ludington for lunch. We had a great visit and discussed the importance of having adventure in our lives!

Me, Mary, and Amy (L to R) in Ludington

I caught up with Stef Staley, the Executive Director of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. We had met back in 2009 shortly after my first hike when I was a volunteer keeper at the lighthouse. Stef rolled out the grill and cooked up a great dinner at the lighthouse to greet me on my hike this time. It was a perfect night on the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. 

Me with Stef Staley

My sister, cousin and her daughter (Leslie, Milene, and Allie) caught up with me in Leland and I took a day off to hang out (and SHOP!!) with them. 

Allie, Milene, and Leslie (L to R)

There's nothing like a day of shopping to make me long to hike all day!

They saw me off at the dock when I caught the ferry to North Manitou Island

I caught up with my friends Bill & Jan in Glen Arbor. They came to several events on my book tour last year and we became fast friends. 

Me, Bill, & Jan 

One nice thing about visiting with friends is that they sometimes snap a photo of me as I'm leaving and then send it to me later (thanks Bill & Jan!).