The ferry left from Leland (right-hand arrow below), and the weather was clear as a bell, so we could see South and North Manitou both as we passed by the crib (a lighthouse marking a shallow shoal running from the tip of North Manitou out to the lighthouse. We didn't really know exactly where we were headed even though we'd been able to see the island from our campground (left-hand arrow below) all week.
Once we got to the island, we grabbed our gear and stepped into the boathouse where the ranger met all the campers to give us our orientation and campsite assignments. Pretty standard stuff - tie up your food for fear of chipmunks, be on time to the boat or be left behind, avoid poison ivy, be safe - so we set off for a mile and a half hike to Weather Station campground on the southern coast of the island. The hike was easy enough, and we chose to pitch our tent at site #15, overlooking Lake Michigan (but a bit high for true beach access).
Once camp was set up and lunch - amazing how long tortillas can last unrefrigerated - was devoured, we set off for the biggest hike on the island, one we'd found with the help of 50 Hikes in Michigan and one that did send us a bit off the marked paths at one point, but we'll get there.
From the campground we headed off north and west toward the southwest corner of the island where there's most of the island's more touristy, marked attractions...the cedars, the Francisco Morazan, the perched dunes. First up on the trip was the Francisco Morazan, a ship that wrecked just off the coast in November, 1960...
...then onward to the Valley of the Giants, a stand of the oldest cedar trees in Michigan, the only trees not cut down on the island (or for thirty miles on the mainland) during the logging boom of the mid 1800's.
...and onward to the perched dunes on the western edge of the island...
Once we reached the perched dunes, the official trails petered out, leaving us wandering with only the directions from 50 Hikes for guidance. We found the highest dune, covered with trees and gorgeous, then found ourselves at the edge of a 300-plus-foot slope to the lake shore. According to the book, this was to be our route downward. The book suggested taking the slope at an angle to minimize erosion, but the only way we were making it down the slope was climbing backwards, almost in a controlled slide down the sandy slope. There was no standing up, no sliding down on our bottoms (I tried the latter and just got sand in my tuckus without making any progress)...
Yeah, I went down the slope first, but I knew that if I'd waited, my fear of heights would kick in, and I might not ever make it down the slope. It meant that I got to soak my feet in the cool lake while The Girl worked her way down the slope, but that's the kind of fella I am.
Once we reached the lake, the return hike was a simple one: 'round the island's southern coast via the beach.
Over beaches covered in zebra mussel shells...
...giving us a better, closer view of the Morazan...
...and of trees that had fallen to nearly block the beach path (mentioned in the ten-year-old 50 Hikes)...
...eventually reaching the South Manitou lighthouse...
We finished the evening off with a dinner of rehydrated peas and cheese-filled tortellini in cream sauce...
Saturday, July 16
After yesterday's fairly marathon hike, we decided to take Saturday a little easier, starting with a walk into the village to check the weather forecast (kindly written on the welcome board by the rangers) knowing that Sunday's forecast had been for possible showers earlier in the week. No luck as the rangers apparently had other things to take care of this early in the morning. So we grabbed lunch and headed northward toward Popple campground where we knew they had no water and had heard they had plenty of poison ivy.
Along the way we stopped at the island's lone remaining farm buildings, some of which have been overgrown but some of which are in the process of being preserved and restored. One we saw was being drywalled and painted inside. The overgrown ones didn't interest us enough to stray from the paths. Lunch was taken under a nice shade tree beside the August Beck house where the largest amount of restoration was taking place. The Girl doesn't always like to have her picture taken.
The other stop was for the island's school building, still filled with desks and globes but locked up tightly so that we could only look in through the windows. We headed onward toward Popple but were turned back by encroaching ivy on a narrowing path. We chose, instead, to head east toward Bay Campground to check out how the other folks were living. Turns out they were living with less shade in a scrub pine forest more level with but further from the beach. We were happy with our choice of Weather Station.
We stopped at the village to take advantage of the flush toilets and running faucets then headed back to Weather Station where we changed into swim clothes and sat in the surf, not submerging entirely because the water was still a tick below 70 degrees (according to the ranger's info board). Our tired bodies (after a week of hard hiking) certainly appreciated the cool water.
Dinner was un-photographed but consisted of rehydrated hamburger and peas in rice with tika masala sauce. Excellent and nicely finished with marshmallows in hot chocolate. We think we hiked about 12.5 miles today, less than yesterday's 9 miles but far flatter today.
Sunday, July 17
One of the challenges of the island is that the ferry only comes and goes once per day. If the weather is bad, they depart immediately upon dropping off their passengers, so everybody has to be at the dock at 11am in case they aren't staying through the day. So everything has to be packed up, but as most folks do, we had five hours to kill until the boat left at its regular 4pm departure time.
We spent the time lounging on the beach and primarily waiting for the light house to open up for the daily tours (at 2:00) when they take eight or ten folks up at a time, stopping and storytelling at each landing along the 118 step path to the 100-foot-high topmost level. The beach time was nice and relaxing but lead to some sunburning from which I'm still peeling my ankles. We did get to help a camper newly dropped off on the island. Instead of carrying his supplies the 1.5 miles to Weather Station, he loaded them all up in water-proof bags then onto an inflatable dingy which he was towing through the surf to the campground beach. We met the man when I woke up to the sound of him throwing things back up on the beach. At first I thought he was chucking rocks from the surf, but I quickly noticed that his boat had capsized from the higher-than-usual waves and he was trying to save his food that had fallen from the un-wrapped cooler. We helped him save oranges, apples, and juice boxes as best we could. He thanked us and headed on his way, but he certainly wasn't going to arrive with as much food as he and his wife (who had hiked directly to the campground to claim a spot) would have hoped. We wished him well and went back to sleep.
The lighthouse tour was fascinating. We learned that the lighthouse is 100 feet tall but also extends 100 feet downward to ensure a sturdy foundation along the edge of the lakeshore.
The views from the upper railing were spectacular, the finest on the island.
The ferry headed out at 3:59 (once the last three day trippers made the boat, running the last mile or so along the beach, wearing their swim trunks or bikinis from a day of snorkeling). As we made a much rougher crossing (The Girl almost lost lunch once or twice from the large swells), we were lucky enough to pass through a cadre of sailboats and overhear one of the other ferry riders explain that we were passing through the 103rd running of the Chicago Yacht Club's Chicago to Mackinac race. That apparently explains why we had been seeing so many sailboats since midday Saturday.
Once the ferry landed we headed to Traverse City for a night rather than driving a tired eight hours back to the Queen City. We checked into the Park Place Hotel and took in dinner at the Blue Tractor where The Girl and I split bacon cheddar fries (they'd just run out of fried green beans) and their outstanding Tailgate Burger.
Sadly we got to Traverse a few hours late to take part in their city-wide lip dub filming.
(They had to edit two songs together? Seems kinda sad, but I'll admit that the whole civic pride of such an event - even when the actual lip dubbing is poorly done like this one was - is pretty frickin' cool.)
Monday, July 18
Not much to report from Monday morning. Storms rolled through Sunday night (causing two deaths in that Chicago to Mackinac race sadly but just causing the power to blink in our ninth-floor, bayview room at the hotel). We stopped for breakfast at Cousin Jenny's, each getting a very tasty breakfast bobby. And we rolled homeward. No photos from Traverse City. Sorry.
So, anything you want to know more about?
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