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.

The Break-Up

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/

This time of year when the days warm above freezing, then the nights plunge back down to recrystallize the world, the effects on the icy cover on our world are evident.

Icebergs develop cracks...

and fissures.

Ducks in the water give scale to the 

stacks of Lake Michigan shelf ice.

Trapped bubbles long to be liberated.

Pancake ice bumps up against fracturing shelf ice. 

Spring 

is 

creeping.

Awakened to the Call of Loons

My hike has taken me through industrial and urban areas. Now as I head farther north, I am entering the more wild and rugged places along the edges of our Great Lakes.

Arriving in the small community of Presque Isle, I stayed at The Presque Isle Lodge, a B&B with almost a century-long history. This rustic loge was built in 1920 by a furniture manufacturer based in Bay City, Michigan. They made rustic, handmade furniture and wanted a place to showcase their creations. They built the lodge before electricity was even available in the area!




The Spencer family purchased the lodge over 25 years ago. It had been vacant for many years, so they spent the first couple of years lovingly restoring the place.


The inn is huge --around 10,000 square feet -- but much of this is common area as seen in these two photos. There is also a wrap around, screened porch and lots of seating in the quiet back yard. The lodge has the largest remaining collection of the handmade "Habitant" furniture found anywhere.






The Lodge also has frontage on Grand Lake across the street. I spent a restful hour there swinging on a lakeside hammock. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My bedroom faced Grand Lake and in the morning I awoke to the loons calling to each other across the calm waters.

Location:Presque Isle, MI

Beginning of Book Tour