Circle Around Lake Michigan
Part 1
Clockwise or counter-clockwise? This was our initial debate as we were planning our route around Lake Michigan. At first we decided to go north (clockwise) and leave Saturday morning, but Topher got home Friday sooner than expected and we were eager to start the trip. So we decided to leave and changed our initial route to go south traveling counter-clockwise around the lake which turned out to be a better use of time. We hit the road and set our sights towards the first destination, Silver Lake State Park. We hoped to beat the traffic out of Chicago, but unfortunately, I am not sure that is ever possible. We arrived at Silver Lake later than expected; partly due to we had forgotten to take into account the 1-hour time change. We quickly got checked it, set up camp, and then took a stroll to the beach to put our feet in the beautiful blue water. As the sun sat low on the horizon and highlighted the sand dunes across the lake we were treated to an amazing sunset. After returning to camp we planned out the next day as we fixed up a batch of Korean tacos for dinner before calling it a night.
The following morning we got up around 0630 took our showers, got the baby (Kaylee) ready, grabbed a Poptart for breakfast and made our way over to Mac Woods to catch their 0930 dune ride. If you are in the area, you should definitely check this out. Much to our surprise Kaylee could not stop smiling or laughing the entire ride. She loved the breeze in her face and the slopes of the hills. At first, she crunched into a small ball every time we went down one, but by the middle of the trip she was putting her hands in the air as if she were on a roll roaster. Our tour guide, Joe had no shortage of corny jokes that added to the fun. After the dune ride, we set our GPS and headed to Crystal Lake. When we got there the lake reminded us of tropical waters and made us slightly miss our time spent in Hawaii. We took a short cruise around the edge of the lake along the M-119 as we were worked our way up to Sleeping Bear National Shoreline. This night we gambled on a first come, first serve campground in the area and unfortunately everywhere close by was full. So instead of wasting time and daylight and pushing our limit with our 8 month old at the time. Kaylee’s tolerance in the car seat is only around 3 hours at one time, we decided to take the Pierce Stockton Scenic loop and stop and walk around the lookouts. We joyfully watched about 2 dozen people many of whom did not have a pleasant look on their face attempt the climb back up from the shoreline of the lake.
As we pushed towards Traverse City to see if the state forest campgrounds had any openings. We got lucky and found a spot at Scheck's Place State Forest Campground nestled along the Boardman River. After unpacking we took a stroll around the rustic campground and checked out the river and picked wild apples before setting up camp and making lettuce wraps for dinner. The mosquitoes started coming out around 9 and that meant it was time for us to retreat to the safety of the camper. It actually got pretty chilly that night, down to around 55 degrees and it was a bit of a rough night for Kaylee as the cooler temps made her a bit congested causing her to waking up several times during the night.
The next morning, all of us got up, made some oatmeal, packed up and hit the road. Topher set our route to Mackinac City via the M-119’s Tunnel of Trees and then caught the Star Line ferry over to Mackinac Island. After grabbing some whitefish tacos at the Pink Pony, we took the horse carriage tours around the island, where we were able to enjoy the Arch Rock and the historic Fort Mackinac! After the tour, we got back to camp around 7:30, cooked up some mini English muffin pizzas and took a walk around the camp. We walked out to the lake and played a little bit, visited with a couple that had a little pop-up camper for a motorcycle and then checked out the camp store. Kaylee was starting to get fussy for bed, so we gave her a quick outdoor shower (which she absolutely did not like as it was hard to adjust the temperature without wasting too much water) and then fed and laid her down. I whipped up some s’mores for dessert before the fire was completely out and then called it a night.
The next day was planned to be semi short to give us all a break from being in the truck. With a stop at the famous Great Lakes Ship Museum. The history of Lake Superior and the multitude of shipwrecks, including that of the legendary SS Edmund Fitzgerald, is quite interesting. They had several buildings you could walk through and by paying a $5 donation, you could go up to the top of the lighthouse and see the view. There was also a deck you could walk out on or even walk to the beach. The lake looked like glass and is so hard to believe that it could get so bad as to have 30ft+ waves that have taken out so many ships. Getting hungry, we stopped at the Brown’s Fishery House and enjoyed some local whitefish and chips (very yummy). We then checked out the Tahquamenon lower falls before camping at the Rivermouth campground. This was a neat little campground with modern facilities and electricity. We had the second campsite from the river and had some fun playing on the little beach there, which was a perfect spot for launching a canoe. We spotted a few crawfish and played around with them with Kaylee. We circled the two loops of the campground to check out the different rigs. Still full from lunch, we had a potstickers for late dinner and then settled down to watch a movie, make our plan for the next day, and hit the hay.
Because Monday wasn’t as short as we hoped, we decided to forgo dirt roads and seeing Crisp Point lighthouse and made our way to the log slide overlook. We actually happened to hit a dirt road on the way due to our GPS knowing that we like to explore. The log slide overlook was quite awesome! Warning: take your shoes off before the hike or they will be filled with sand even if you don’t go down the slide. If you get lucky, you will be able to pick some wild raspberries along the trail.
