Winter Hiking

I went out to the lakeshore today to hike my trail for the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes. This volunteer organization does important work to help maintain and improve the gorgeous National Lakeshore. Volunteers do a variety of tasks, including:

• Adopt-An-Access Point (Accessibility)
• Adopt-A-Beach
• Adopt-A-River
• Adopt-A-Trail 
• BARK Rangers
• PSAR Log
• Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail – Trail Ambassadors
• Track Chair Report
• Administrative Projects

I have been a volunteer trail hiker for a couple of years now. I periodically hike the Bay View/Farms Loop trail and report on any down trees or other conditions on the trail.

Chilly, but gorgeous hike

Panoramic of the overlook

I'm not sure what made this tiny little trail in the snow

Lake Michigan from the trail

I love getting out on the snowy trails. 

First Hike of 2021

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/

Happy New Year!

My first hike of the New Year was out at the Dune Climb in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The first dune off the parking lot was dotted with kids on sleds. It's a great ride, even when there's just a dusting of snow.

I love to watch the interplay of sand and snow on these dunes:

And the sand and snow reveal which creatures are on the move in the landscape.

I love this landscape in any season. It's an extra-challenging workout when the snow begins to drift amongst the dunes.

A late season freighter moved through the Manitou Passage today (below).

Happy 2021 everyone. 

We made it through 2020. Yay!