Lighthouses of Lake Michigan

Travel on the Great Lakes can be treacherous. 

 As early as the beginning of the 19th century, lighthouse construction was commissioned to guide vessels around dangerous points and into safe harbors.

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

On the Lake Michigan leg of my 

1000-Mile Great Lakes Walk 

I came across some wonderful lights that guided ships long ago.

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

South Manitou Lighthouse

Point Betsie

Manistee channel light

Ludington Lighthouse

Ludington (Big Sable) Lighthouse

I have completed 987 miles of my journey and will finish my hike along the Niagara River 

-- culminating at Niagara Falls -- 

in October!

Tales from the BOOK TOUR...part 11

The book tour took me to NW Michigan in mid-August.


A big thanks to the bookstores that hosted me along the way and to the indie booksellers who recommended
A 1000-MILE WALK ON THE BEACH
to their patrons, and to their patrons who told
friends and family about the book.

Revisiting the Lake Trek: Segment 5

This segment spanned the 105 miles between Ludington and Suttons Bay, Michigan. It included the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, one of my favorite stretches of lakeshore. You can truly see the hand of the glacier here.

I hiked this segment alone and did some camping along the way. Note the serious backpack.

Note: You may want to press the 'play' button, then pause it and let it completely load before resuming play. This will allow it to play smoothly.

You can find all videos from the Lake Trek on YouTube at: www.YouTube.com/lniewenhuis

Walk with me:

Train Car Ferry Across Lake Michigan

I have enjoyed exploring the history of Lake Michigan and finding books in the independent bookstores that I've visited about all aspects of the lake. One fascinating book I found in Frankfort, Michigan, tells the story of the fleet of massive ferries that for 90 years took loaded train cars across the lake. Beginning in 1892, the Ann Arbor Car Ferries ran between Frankfort and Kewaunee, Wisconsin, a distance of 62 miles. These ferries even continued during the winter, breaking the ice as they crossed.
Grant Brown, Jr., is the author of this book, Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan, a fascinating account of these boats and their crews.

Many of these ships are at the bottom of the lake, victims of ice or storms on the unforgiving lake. One of the ships still survives, though, and is docked in Manistee, Michigan. The 'City of Milwaukee' is over 70 years old but is still in great shape and is open to tour.

Details at www.carferry.com
This summer, the crew quarters on the top of the ferry will be converted into a bed and breakfast. You can stay on board overnight in this piece of floating history and learn about the ship and the history of taking trains across the water.




I had a great time touring this living piece of history, and was pleased to meet the people who so lovingly continue to restore the ship and share it with all who visit.

Segment 5 Complete!

Segment 5 took me from Ludington to Suttons Bay, May 14-20. It mapped out at 107 miles and took 7 days. A gear mishap on day one of this segment necessitated me omitting some miles from Ludington to Manistee. I will head back north this coming week to cover those missed miles.

I passed the 350 mile mark in the trek, and the total now stands at 355.

The lake has a wild side and I got my first real taste of it in this segment. There were bobcat tracks and deer who had been taken down by a larger predator. While camping in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore I heard owls and coyotes and deer and one extremely loud raccoon.

I visited one new bookstore in this segment. Check out the link for Brilliant Books in beautiful Suttons Bay. And I stopped in at The Bookstore in Frankfort again.

UPDATE: On June 3, I went up to Manistee and covered the missing 18 miles between Manistee and Ludington.

Segment 5, Day 1 Ludington->Manistee 3 + 18 miles = 21 miles total

High of 63 degrees.

I began this segment in Ludington's State Park. I wore my larger pack on for this portion of the trek because I would be camping part of the time.

Since my pack was new, I had to figure out where to store everything in it. I decided to attach my filtering water bottle (which allows me to drink Lake Michigan water) to a strap using a carabiner clip.

Just three miles into this lovely day's hike, I reached back for my water bottle to find that it had detached at some point along the first three miles. I back tracked, hoping to find it nestled among some of the driftwood piles I had climbed over, but had no luck. The waves were reaching up the beach that day, so it was probably swept out into the lake.

I called my brother and he came back to the lake and picked me up. I was hoping to find a replacement bottle in Ludington and resume my day's walk (~17 more miles to Manistee), but we couldn't find one in Ludington. We heard about an outfitter store in Manistee and went there, but they suggested trying Traverse City. By this time, it was getting too late to complete the miles for that day, so we drove to Traverse City, got a new filtering bottle, then Phil dropped me in Manistee where I resumed this segment the following day.

On June 3, I covered the 18 missing miles in this segment.

It made sense to begin in Manistee and hike south to Ludington, but it felt strange to have the lake on my right side the entire way. The day was gorgeous and most of the way I had flat beach to hike on. There were areas where the lake was cutting into the shore and old, wooden seawalls. I had to climb the rolling dunes to get around these obstacles. In a low spot in the dunes, I almost stepped on a sleeping fawn. We scared each other, and it jumped up and ran off.

Below is the lighthouse at Big Sable in Ludington State Park.