The Dune Hike!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted about the rest of my vacation yet! We were so busy, it was hard to sit down and blog! I'm home now, but last Monday (the 12th of August) we hiked across the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes!

Here's the view of the dune as we hiked up the very first part. I wasn't too tired yet, so I decided to run up this first part.

That wasn't a good idea.

We still had to climb that and everything beyond it.

I looked out over the dune at everything that I had just hiked. It felt like I was in a desert! The water in the upper left is Little Glen Lake, where I spent a lot of time swimming and tubing.

I worked my way through the loose sand. I could feel the muscles in my legs pumping. 

Here's the view from the top of the mound shown in the second picture of this post! In the upper middle, right across from where we were looking, is the sandy mound I hiked to the top of in my last post, Day One in Michigan--Exploring the Dunes!

I decided that was a nice place to stop and rest for a few minutes. I chose a comfortable, shady spot and took a few sips from my water bottle.

Once we were done resting, we continued on the path (always being careful of poison ivy--it seemed to be all around!). Pretty soon we came to this huge, steep eroding cliff.

I felt the need to climb across it. My feet sunk into the cold sand up to my knees, and I slid down the hill with each step. It wasn't tiring, though, as the sand helped to carry me.

We went down a hill after that, and I thought Lake Michigan would be on the other side. So, you can imagine my surprise when this was what I saw.

Once I was on top of that hill, I could definitely see Lake Michigan. It didn't seem too far, either!

After running down the other side of the hill, I could see the path leading to the water. I could even hear the waves! I threw up my hands in excitement and ran the rest of the way.

I stopped just short of running into the water. I didn't feel like getting all wet, especially since we still had a few more miles of walking before we got back to the car.

I looked out across the lake. I couldn't believe how much it looked like the ocean! I couldn't see the other side, and there were waves, some even bigger than the ones at my favorite beach back in Maine, Popham! However, the water was much bluer than the ocean water in Maine, and it didn't smell at all like salt.

The beach was covered in rocks. I was hopeful that some of those rocks would be Petoskey stones. Petoskey stones are the official stone of Michigan, and are fossilized coral formed by the glaciers thousands of years ago. They used to be more common, but now depending on what beaches you go to, they can be very hard to find.

I remained hopeful, and kept an eye out for the distinct hexagonal pattern as I walked.

While walking along the beach, we came to this gargantuan dune! This is how it looked while looking up at it.

Here's how steep it is compared to the beach.

I just HAD to climb up it! It was so steep, I had to go up on my hands and knees.

The sand slipped out from underneath me and blew in my eyes. I continued until I got to the top, though. Then, I sprinted down! I got going so fast, I lost my footing, and rolled the rest of the way, almost into the water. 

Once everyone had had their fill of climbing, we continued to walk along the beach until we got to the coast guard station, where we were being picked up and driven back to the campground. This was such a fun hike! Sleeping Bear Dunes are so beautiful. Have you ever been to Michigan? Have you ever hiked Sleeping Bear Dunes? Leave a comment below! I'd love to know!
This has been Dani, dabbling at the dunes. Over and out!