Segment 9 Day 1 Manitowoc->Whistling Straits 17 miles

High of 74 degrees.
August 26

I began this segment in Manitowoc and made my way south along the shore. It was great to be back on the lake trek.

This stretch of shoreline varied from sand to rock to very tall reeds. I met Lisa along the way. She was picking up trash on the beach. She said that she used to think, "Someone should pick that up," when she passed trash on the beach. Then it occurred to her that she was someone, so she began picking up trash regularly.

There was an enormous algae bloom (cladophora) along this stretch [bottom photo]. I'd seen patches of this algae other places along the lake, but never like this. The zebra mussels are contributing to these blooms by clearing the water and allowing more sunlight to penetrate the water. The algae can fasten itself to the mussel shells and then feed on the waste from the mussels. When they team up, they can cause these massive, matt-like blooms that the waves then toss up onto the beach. This is a complicated problem to solve.

Lake Crossing

I crossed Lake Michigan on the Lake Express, high speed ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee for the beginning of Segment 9. This catamaran zips along at 35 knots and crosses the lake in 2 1/2 hours.

I drove north and dropped in at LaDeDa Books & Brew in Manitowoc and met Bev Denor, the owner and fantastic cappuccino brewer. She has a funky store that I immediately loved.

Bev set up a dinner for me and Phil and two of Bev's good friends, Terry and Jackie. We talked about books and plays and movies and musicals. It was a delightful evening and I was happy to make new friends in Manitowoc.

Dune Research

In May (during Segment 4) as I was hiking through the P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, I came across areas that were roped off. This time, it wasn't the nesting areas of the piping plover, but a research area on the formation and destruction of dunes.
This month, I finally caught up with woman in charge of this research, Dr. Deanna van Dijk, professor of geology at Calvin College. We had lunch together, and I was fascinated with her research on Lake Michigan dunes.

Some of her research is summarized HERE

By setting instruments into the dunes (like sand traps and erosion pins), Dr. van Dijk can measure sand movement and deposition along with changes in dune size. She sent me several of her published research papers on southwest Michigan dunes. Some of her research has even led to the protection of dunes that were being harmed by human activities.

Carfree Chicago

Carfree Chicago promotes living (you guessed it) without a car in Chicago. The Windy City is certainly set up for people wanting to break free of the car culture. It's a walkable city with great parks and paths and, of course, great public transportation.

They heard about my Lake Trek and did a Q&A with me. Read it HERE.

Wolf Lake Hatchery

It was back in the 1920s that the Great Lakes fish population took a drastic drop. Overfishing, deforestation (which changed the river habitats), introduction of invasive species like the lamprey and alewife, and even pollution contributed to this calamity. Some fish species -- like the blue pike -- were wiped out. Others -- especially the Lake Sturgeon which must live 20 years before it can reproduce -- were almost eradicated.

By the 1960s, the alwife had become the main fish species in the lakes because there were few predator fish to eat them. It was in the 60s that large scale hatcheries were finally established to 'grow up' large numbers of fish (mostly trout and salmon) to 'seed' back into the lakes.

I visited the Wolf Lake Hatchery just west of Kalamazoo to see their operation. The hatchery gathers eggs and sperm from salmon and steelhead migrating early in the spring and grows them up for almost a year (steelhead are 7-8 inches long by then). Then, they 'plant' them back in the rivers and streams which feed into the Great Lakes.



It's quite an operation. The Great Lakes ecosystem is managed and monitored, and the DNR plays an important role in this. Hopefully, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative can bring the lakes back to a healthier state than they are in currently.

Grand Rapids Independent Bookstores

I was in Grand Rapids (Michigan) today and I stopped in at three independent bookstores there: Schuler Books downtown, Argos Books, and Literary Life Bookstore.

I met Zachary, an aspiring poet and writer of short stories, at Literary Life Bookstore. We talked about literature for quite some time, about books and stories, writers and literary journals. And we talked about Lake Michigan.

People passionate about books--and life--hang out in independent bookstores. Another reason to keep it indie.

Find the independent bookstores near you at indiebound.org.

Grand Mere State Park

I miss the lake. I'm on one of my longest breaks from the lake trek, and I was going a little nuts without the waves by my side. So, I headed west with my son, Lucas, and my brother, Phil, to Grand Mere State Park. This park is just south of the town of Stevensville along Segment 2 of my trek.

When I walked this segment with my son, Ben, we were diverted inland by a nuclear power plant south of Stevensville. We had to cross over I-94, and by the time there was another overpass to take us back to the lake, we were just two miles from our hotel. We would have had to backtrack south in order to walk through Grand Mere State Park. After hiking many miles that cold day, we weren't up to the extra miles.

I regretted missing this park because it was one of the few along the west side of Michigan that I have not been to. This is a unique park in that the parking lot is away from the shore and you have to hike over dunes to get to the lake. We had a lovely 2-mile hike over the dunes and along the shore. These 2 miles bring the total miles in the trek to 820 miles.

After our hike, we drove in to South Haven and stopped in at Black River Books. We had a lovely visit with owners Pam and Dick Haferman and their smiling employee, Lynn. Booker and Dewey, their labradoodles, were also there. I always find a book (often several) there that I MUST have.

What's in that BIG pack?

I used my large pack for all of Segment 8 since it was such a long segment and I camped part of the way.





The first photo is of the overall contents (minus food).










Next:

These are the things I need to navigate my way around the lake and take notes on my adventures.

















Then, there are the items I need to shelter me at night when I camp.















Clothes.














Hat.









First aid/sunblock/bug stuff.
















And, of course, rain gear.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

The EPA is holding public meetings all around the Great Lakes basin to solicit input and feedback about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GRLI). This is a bold plan to target five issues that need to be addressed to make the Great Lakes healthier. They are: addressing toxic substance, combating current invasive species and preventing further introduction of new species, nearshore health and nonpoint source pollution, habitat and wildlife protection and restoration, and, finally, accountability (including monitoring, evaluation, communication, partnerships).

President Obama pledged $5 billion over the course of ten years to restore the Great Lakes. The first installment, over $400 million, should be approved by Congress for the fiscal year 2010.

The meeting I attended yesterday was in Lansing and had over 250 attendees representing such diverse organizations as Ducks Unlimited, The Alliance for the Great Lakes, Kalamazoo Watershed Council, and the Saginaw Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau. There were also government officials including the Mayor of Grand Rapids (Mayor Hartwell), and representatives from some of Michigan's Congress members. There were also a handful of concerned citizens who love the lakes. That's why I was there.

The GRLI comes with a well-developed plan on how to turn the funding into action and results which target the areas that need the most improvement. It was encouraging to hear Cameron Davis from the EPA talking about swimming in Lake Michigan with his family this summer before he talked about policy and funding. And it was fantastic to know that this money comes with a plan so that actions can result in positive, measurable change for the lakes.

Learn more about the GRLI at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/index.html

The EPA will take feedback on the plan until August 19 through their site.