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| Sunday 3rd July......we head north 60 miles on SR22 to The Sleeping Bear Dunes, part of the National Park system.....what ever possessed us to venture out on a holiday weekend we do not know !!!! But it was a pretty drive on a very quiet road so after getting the information we needed for a return visit we meandered back down past beautiful Crystal Lake (as well as the Great Lakes there are many many other lakes of varying sizes in this area) to Betsie Point Lighthouse and the adjacent small beach on Lake Michigan for our lunch sandwich... |
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| Tuesday 5th July.......Sleeping Bear Dunes revisited.... We drove the 7 mile scenic drive through the park stopping at view points and hiking the one and half mile Cottonwood Trail through the dunes overlooking Glen Lake....this is part of the trail with Glen Lake in the background and as the information leaflet said it is strenuous and will feel like 3 miles in the soft sand of the dunes !! Great for the calf muscles !! |
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| Unlike the dunes in Oregon there is far more vegetation here and masses of wild flowers and grasses.....we haven't investigated but we feel this is probably due to the salt water influence in Oregon over the fresh water of the Great Lakes... |
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| The Dune Climb....a large area set aside for visitors to the park to climb the dunes... |
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| Fascinating....we are still on the scenic dunes drive and as the info says moving from the open sunny environment to the cool lush shade of the woods is a startling contrast....sugar maple and American beech are the predominant trees....the forest is home to deer, coyotes and bobcats... |
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| Just had to include this.....as a good friend of ours would say "you can't teach stupid" !!!!....as the next photo shows many ignore the posted advise !!! We are 450 feet above the lake.... |
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| I have tried to show how steep it is and it's VERY hot.....the specks are people....basically on their hands and knees..... |
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| Dune grasses on the short hike to Seeping Bear Overlook.... |
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| Lake Michigan and dunes.....with North Bar Lake in the foreground... |
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| North Bar Lake....once a bay of Lake Michigan it is slowly "closing itself off" as the sand bar continues to build up..... |
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| Wednesday 6th July...we drive back north to Grand Traverse Bay and Traverse City ........it's a similar drive to yesterday as on around the coast from the dunes... Built in 1930....Park Place Hotel with it's lighthouse beacon..... |
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| It's cherry festival week, held annually in the first week of July.... lots of entertainment especially along the beach front....stalls, live music and fun fairs... |
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| This and next photo some of the original buildings of Traverse City.... |
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| We drove a little farther around the coast of Traverse Bay then back home via the grocery store and fuel station...tomorrow me must hitch up and leave this lovely campsite and move north to St Ignace, Michigan... More soon from... The Contented Campers..... |
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