West: To the other side of the 'Mitten'

Lake Michigan?

Leaving Lake Huron, we traveled west across the state to spend several days on the Lake Michigan side of the ‘mitten’ before heading to the upper peninsula.  We stopped at Orchard Beach State Park just a few miles north of Manistee to spend the night.  It was a gray and foggy day and there was no view to be had of Lake Michigan.  People said there was a lake across from our campsite but we didn’t believe it.

 

Downtown Manistee

 

After getting ourselves settled in the park and having a look for the lake that wasn’t there, we decided to drive back a few miles to the cute little town of Manistee and have a look around.  Maybe we would be able to see the lake from there.  As we approached the downtown area there was still no lake view but we noticed that a car show was being held on River Street.  Well at least we could look at downtown and cars.

Manistee Car Show on River Street

Maya checks out the car show and finds a friend

It was actually a good show with quite the variety of vintage and antique cars and trucks.  Lots of people were enjoying themselves listening to classic 50’s and 60’s music and checking out the cool cars.  We got into the spirit of things ourselves and were glad we made the trip into town.
 

Back at the campsite the fog was still there, maybe worse.  We had a good sleep and bright and early the next morning, there was still no lake to be seen.  So, we hiked Orchard Beach’s nature trail and were reminded of our fifth grade geography/geology lessons on glaciers and how the Great Lakes were formed.  Lake Michigan, like the rest of the Great Lakes, was not always a lake.  Before the Ice Age, the Great Lakes were stream valleys.  It was only after the Ice Age, once the glaciers had sculpted the region into much of its present shape, that the lake basins were filled with water from the melting glaciers.
 

View of a meadow from the Orchard Beach Nature Trail

Meadow wildflowers

Following our hike, we struck camp and drove about 60 miles north to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to spend a couple more nights on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Maybe there we would get a glimpse of the illusive lake…

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked:  1        
Total Miles Hiked:   0.94  
Total Elevation Gain:   83