Sleeping Bear Point Trail

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/

One of the iconic hiking trails within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is the Sleeping Bear Point Trail.

The trailhead is near the Maritime Museum. The loop takes you to within sight of Lake Michigan (a trail spur takes you down to the edge of the water), along the back of the sleeping bear dune, then through a ghost forest, through the dunes, then a forested area, before returning to the trailhead.

The trail is labeled #9 at the top of this map

Check out some photos from my hike in the dunes.

A Merlin falcon hovered above me

Into the ghost forest

There is SO MUCH to explore

in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Wood Grain Dunes

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 love hiking the dunes along 

Lake Michigan in the winter.

Wind and snow and ice conspire 

to change the face of the dunes in ways you only see in this season. 

Some sand may freeze, while the wind blows free sand around, sculpting the frozen sections.

Recently, I came across part of a dune that resembled wood grain. 

This was at The Dune Climb in

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Check out these photos 

(click on photo to see expanded view):

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:

Post Viewed Most in 2009

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

Thank you all for reading my blog! It has now surpassed 158,000 page views.

Our fascination with the black sand found along the shores of our Great Lakes made this the 

post with the most views in 2009:

Black Sand

The wide stretches of beach on Lake Michigan usually appear tan or even whitish in color, but if you pick up a handful of sand and look closely, there is a mixture of colors. Silica and quartz give the sand its light color, but there are specks of black from the mineral magnetite. This mineral is heavier than the other grains, so it often gathers in bands or patches on the shoreline, sorted by wind and waves.








































Right at the waterline, magnetite often looks like a smeary, oily stain. On the face of dunes the patterns can approach art. And when blown around an obstruction, the black lines lend definition and depth to the shore.

The glaciers ground rock to these tiny grains. The wind has lifted these grains into lofting dunes. And the water continues to sort and smooth the shoreline.

The next segment of the journey will be some of the rockiest I will encounter in my adventure. The geology of the lake is interesting to study, but even more fascinating to walk step-by-step.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

I'm often asked about my favorite parts from my over 3,000-mile exploration of the Great Lakes.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 
on Lake Michigan is always on that list.

While touring with my newest book, I took some time to hike the Empire Bluff Trail along this stretch of lakeshore.

And I played around with the panorama setting on my camera to try to capture the scale of this overview...

 This last shot bowed the water out into an arc giving new perspective on that junction of land meeting water.

Handfuls of Lake Superior

Rough sand along Agate Beach in Grand Marais

The geology of Lake Superior fascinates me. This lake was formed by forces beginning long before the ice sheets scraped away at the Great Lakes Basin.  

Mix of colorful stones on Agate Beach

Hundreds of millions of years ago, a continental rift opened where the middle of Lake Superior is today. Lava (lava!) spewed from this rift for eons, and the weight of that lava depressed the crust of the earth into a deep bowl that existed before the last ice age. 

It is due to this ancient lava flow that you will find (if you are observant and lucky) agates along the shoreline of Lake Superior. 

Powder-fine sand along river in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Mix of stones in river in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

I enjoyed researching the geology of the Great Lakes for my upcoming book, A 1000-MILE GREAT LAKES WALK. I learned so much about these vast inland seas and I put the best, most interesting things into the book.

Clay mixed with sand at the Log Slide in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

{*That's the trick about writing: put in the good stuff and leave the boring stuff out.*}

Rust-colored stones near Copper Harbor

The same stones as above after Lake Superior tosses them around for a few decades.

My new book, A 1000-MILE GREAT LAKES WALK, will have an early Pre-Release to select indie bookstores in April. This is my way of thanking them for what they give to their communities and for being so supportive of my first book.

The book will have wide release and will be available wherever books are sold in June.

Keep an eye out for the new book, or "LIKE" my Facebook Fan Page for updates.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Part 2

Lucas had the day off of school when I drove over to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, so I took him along for the ride. The shelf ice goes out pretty far now, but we could still hear the icy open water lapping at the far edge.


Ice is good for the lake because it slows down evaporation in the early spring.




Snow on the dunes can take interesting forms as the blowing sand covers, shapes, then moves off to reveal miniature snow sculptures.












I mentioned in my previous post that this area has incredible biodiversity and some habitats not found anywhere else on the planet. There are arctic and desert plants growing side by side here, trees normally found in the south grow on one dune, and trees normally found further north on the next. There are endangered plants and insects here.

A preserved specimen of the endangered Karner blue butterfly sits on wild lupine flowers in the photo to the left. The numbers of Karner blues are dwindling due to loss of habitat. The wild lupine flourishes in areas post-burn, and as parks have tried to suppress the natural cycle of fires, they have reduced the available area for the lupine to thrive.

Rangers are trying to reverse this by doing controlled burns in the park.

The next time you're driving around the bottom of Lake Michigan, take some time to explore the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It's your park.

Black Sand

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

The wide stretches of beach on Lake Michigan usually appear tan or even whitish in color, but if you pick up a handful of sand and look closely, there is a mixture of colors. Silica and quartz give the sand its light color, but there are specks of black from the mineral magnetite. This mineral is heavier than the other grains, so it often gathers in bands or patches on the shoreline, sorted by wind and waves.

























Right at the waterline, magnetite often looks like a smeary, oily stain. On the face of dunes the patterns can approach art. And when blown around an obstruction, the black lines lend definition and depth to the shore.





The glaciers ground rock to these tiny grains. The wind has lifted these grains into lofting dunes. And the water continues to sort and smooth the shoreline.





The next segment of the journey will be some of the rockiest I will encounter in my adventure. The geology of the lake is interesting to study, but even more fascinating to walk step by step.